Sports Betting Futures Odds: Stoops Favored to be Next Florida Coach
by Ricky Dimon - 11/20/2014
Thanksgiving is near-exactly one week away in fact-and that can only mean three things: football, football, and more football. The college regular season
is on the home stretch. While guys like Melvin Gordon are battling for the Heisman Trophy, other players-such as those on Florida's roster-will be looking
to send coaches out with some dignity. One of those coaches is Will Muschamp.
All odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook
.
Head coach of Florida in 2015
Bob Stoops (+375)
- Muschamp resigned as head coach of the Gators after last week's loss to South Carolina, effective at the end of the regular season. The search is already
on, and Stoops seems to be the leader. The current mastermind behind Oklahoma's team was defensive coordinator at Florida under Steve Spurrier from 1996
through 1998.
Mike Gundy (+450)
- Gundy, of "I'm a man; I'm 40!" fame, does not have any real ties to Florida or the SEC. He played for Oklahoma State and has coached there, at Baylor, at
Maryland, and now back at his alma mater as the head coach. Currently in his 10th season in Stillwater (and not a particularly good one), Gundy
has led the Cowboys to eight bowls and three years with double-digit wins.
Jim McElwain (+600)
- McElwain has a few check-marks in his favor. The current Colorado State head coach has an offensive mind, which is exactly what Florida wants. He has
ties to the SEC as well, having worked as Alabama's quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator from 2008 through 2011. In just his second year with the
Rams, McElwain led them two eight-win seasons, and they are currently 9-1 this season.
Dan Mullen (+700)
- Mullen is a no-brainer choice. He has ties to the SEC, to Florida more specifically, and is an offensive guru. He was the Gators' QBs coach and offensive
coordinator from 2005 through 2008 before getting the head job at Mississippi State. The question is: would he be willing to leave the Bulldogs? After all,
Mullen really has something cooking in Starkville.
Marilyn Monroe Letters Auction, Highest Bid
Joe DiMaggio (Even)
- Letters written to Monroe-not to mention one of her bras-will go up for auction Dec. 5 and 6 at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, Calif. A heartfelt
letter from DiMaggio is expected to command at least $2,000. If there are a lot of sports fans in the house, the missive of the Yankee great will get the
highest bid.
Arthur Miller (+175)
- One of the famous playwright's letters to Monroe is especially vivid in detail. It is really good stuff, at the entertainment level and for its
writing-as it should be given Miller's profession. At +175, this is probably the best value play of the four to command the highest bid.
Marlon Brando (+600)
- Brando's penmanship that is up for auction is a birthday card. Quite simply, that is not as interesting as a love letter-not even as interesting as
DiMaggio's less graphic note. Still, it's Marlon Brando. The actor was an absolute legend, and in his autobiography he claimed to have had an affair with
Monroe.
Cary Grant (+1000)
- Twenty-two years Monroe's elder, Grant starred with the blonde bombshell in the 1952 hit "Monkey Business." It is unclear whether there was any monkey
business going on between the colleagues, but Grant at least wrote her some kind of letter in some capacity. It's hard to see this one bagging the most
bucks.
NCAA Men's National Championship
Kentucky (+200)
- UK finished runner-up last season, and among those returning are the Harrison brothers (Aaron and Andrew), Alex Poythress, and Willie Cauley-Stein. Throw
all kinds of McDonald's All-Americans into the mix, and the Wildcats are scary. That's exactly how they looked on Tuesday in 72-40 beatdown of Kansas.
Arizona (+750)
- 'Zona barely missed out on a Final Four appearance in 2014, losing a Regional Championship thriller to Wisconsin. Aaron Gordon is gone, but freshman
phenom Stanley Johnson is on board to team up with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon Ashley. The Wildcats have won their first three games all by at
least 17 points.
Duke (+900)
- Not unlike Kentucky and Arizona, Duke reloads with diaper-dandies when other freshmen depart. Jabari Parker has taken his talents to the NBA, but Jahlil
Okafor may be even better. The 6-foot-11 center out of Chicago has scored at least 17 points in each of his first three games and delivered 17 points, five
rebounds, two blocks, and two steals in an impressive 81-71 win over Michigan State.
Wisconsin (+1000)
- Wisconsin is different from most other top teams. It is not particularly flashy, and it keeps largely its same team from the previous year intact. The
Badgers have a ton of senior leadership in the form of Traevon Jackscon and Wooden Award candidate Frank Kaminsky. Junior forward Sam Dekker seems to be on
course for a breakout season, too.
Melvin Gordon
Heisman Trophy (+225)
- Gordon was already enjoying an incredible junior season and had put himself in serious Heisman contention. Then last Saturday happened. Wisconsin's star
running back rushed 25 times for a ridiculous 408 yards and four touchdowns against Nebraska. Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is the leader, but Gordon
will surge to the top of the list if Mariota stumbles and/or if the Ducks lose another game.
"Over/Under" 155.5 rushing yards vs. Iowa (both -120)
- Gordon is averaging a ridiculous 190.9 yards per outing. He has rushed for more than 155 yards six times this season, with all six such performances
coming in his last eight games. Iowa's defense is not bad, but it is not anything particularly special. The Hawkeyes are sixth in the Big Ten against the
run, giving up 147.8 yards on the ground per game.
Break Barry Sanders' rushing record (+400)
- Sanders, who starred at Oklahoma State, set the NCAA's single-season rushing mark by racking up 2,628 yards in 1988. Gordon has 1,909 yards with possibly
four games-including the Big Ten Championship and Wisconsin's bowl-remaining. That means he must amass 720 more yards to break the record. For those
counting, that would require an average of 180 yards per performance. The Kenosha, Wisc. native is -800 to fall short of the record.
Read more articles by Ricky Dimon
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