This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z 11/11/2016

This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z

by Ricky Dimon - 11/11/2016

A. Andy Murray . For the first time in 122 weeks, Novak Djokovic is not the No. 1 player in the world. That distinction belongs to Murray, who ascended to the top spot on the ATP Tour for the first time in his career on Monday. Murray has won seven of his last nine tournaments, a streak that continued at last week's Paris Masters and also includes titles at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics.The Scot is a +125 favorite at Bovada Sportsbook to win the upcoming World Tour Finals in London.

B. Breeders' Cup . California Chrome went down last weekend at Santa Anita. He had not lost in six previous starts this season and was cruising for most of the race, but Arrogate tracked him down at the finish. It was Arrogate's fifth consecutive win. "I was surprised I beat him," trainer Bob Baffert said of California Chrome. "I didn't think I could beat him going in." I? I? I think you mean Arrogate beat him.

C. Cristiano Ronaldo . On Monday, Ronaldo signed a contract extension with Real Madrid that will pay him approximately $450,000 per week until June of 2021. That's right; per week. On Tuesday, he inked a new deal with Nike that will pay him roughly $24 million per year for the remainder of his entire life. "I have to say that Nike is the best for me," Ronaldo said. Ya think?

D. Darius Rucker . Channeling his inner Jay Z, Rucker has become a partner at MGC Sports. The agency represents golfers (Steve Stricker and Ben Crane among them), football players, and coaches.

E. Edwards, Carl . No, not the Carl Edwards Jr. who helped the Cubs win the World Series. This Carl Edwards led with 41 laps remaining at last week's Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. He did not even have to run the last 41. Rain cancelled the rest of the proceedings and Edward was declared the winner, thus automatically booking his spot in the final round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup later this month at Homestead.

F. Five million . One of the most memorable World Series in baseball history gave way to the largest gathering of people in United States history. The Cubs came back from 3-1 down against Cleveland to win it all, capping off their first title since 1908 with an epic 8-7, 10-inning win in Game 7 last Wednesday night. They were rewarded not only with the trophy, but also with five million fans lining the streets of Chicago for the championship parade.

G. Granderson, Curtis . Granderson earned Man of the Year honors at the Players Choice Awards earlier this week. He left the studio after accepting the award to return to his mission of ending food insecurity in impoverished neighborhoods. Well, that does make sense.

H. Hudler, Jiri . The Stars' forward has missed 10 games this season because of an illness and was placed on injured reserve last Sunday. How bad is the team's injury situation now? Well, let's just say head coach Lindy Ruff used defenseman Patrik Nemeth as a forward in a recent loss to Chicago. Dallas is a +143 underdog at Edmonton on Friday, as indicated by BetOnline Sportsbook.

I. Injured . Chad Kelly, Ole Miss' senior quarterback, saw his career come to an end last weekend when he suffered a torn ACL during a 37-27 victory over Georgia Southern. Kelly has racked up an SEC-leading 3,090 yards of total offense this season, including a conference-best 2,758 passing yards. The Rebels are +10 underdogs at Texas A&M on Saturday, according to GT Bets.

J. James, LeBron . Good news: LeBron moved up to 10^th on the NBA's all-time scoring list last weekend, passing Hakeem Olajuwon. Bad news: LeBron blinked during the Cavaliers' mannequin challenge at the White House on Thursday.

K. Kelce, Travis . The Chiefs' tight end got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing a no-call of what he thought should have been defensive pass interference in the endzone during last week's win over Jacksonville. He compounded the problem by throwing a towel at an official, for which he got ejected. At least it made for good television. 5Dimes Sportsbook has Kansas City as a +3 underdog at Carolina on Sunday.

L. Linwood, Shock . Baylor's all-time leading rusher is suspended for this weekend's game against Oklahoma because of "attitude issues." You can't make this stuff up, folks. Of course, you can't make up a lot of stuff that happens at Baylor.

M. Mayweather, Floyd . Boxing promoter Bob Arum indicated earlier this week a possible rematch between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Arum said Pacquiao will "definitely" fight again this spring, with a 75 percent chance that the bout will come against Mayweather. Oh, please, no. Was one not enough?

N. Nick Saban . In regards to Tuesday's election, Saban said he "didn't even know it was happening." You don't have to wonder if he was kidding or not (at least let's hope you don't have to wonder), but you do have to wonder what the point of him saying that was. Alabama is a -125 favorite at MyBookie.ag to win the College Football Playoff.

O. Oakland Raiders . Break up the Raiders! They are 7-2, leading the AFC West, and would have a first-round bye if the playoffs began this week. Derek Carr is in the MVP discussion with 2,505 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and just three interceptions.

P. Pampling, Rod . Rod was hot at last week's Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas. The 47-year-old Australian, who had not won on the PGA Tour since 2006, carded a 6-under 65 on Sunday to prevail by two strokes over Brooks Koepka.

Q. Qualifier . A World Cup qualifier between the USMNT and Mexico will take place on Friday. Given the recent political development that transpired a few days earlier, the atmosphere in Columbus for this one could be…well…interesting. BookMaker has the United States as a +186 underdog.

R. Ray Smith . It has not been a good preseason for the Arizona Wildcats. Smith, a former four-star recruit, announced last week that he is done with basketball after suffering a third torn ACL. Additionally, sophomore Chance Comanche has been suspended indefinitely for academic reasons and Allonzo Trier's status is up in the after after he missed a recent exhibition game.

S. Stephenson, Lance . Stephenson, who is out with a groin injury, was waived by the Pelicans on Monday. They finally won their first game on Thursday, 112-106 at Milwaukee.

T. Tatum, Jayson . The country may be divided right now, but outside of Durham, N.C. it can unite on at least one piece of common ground: hatred of Duke. Three of the Devils' heralded freshmen (Tatum, Harry Giles, and Marques Bolden) are injured right now, but all should be back this month and Duke is the preseason No. 1 team in the nation. BetOnline Sportsbook has the Devils as +300 favorites to win the National Championship.

U. Uber . That's how Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert traveled to Cleveland's game at Philadelphia last Saturday. They arrived about 65 minutes before tipoff after maneuvering through traffic stemming from Vice President Joe Biden's motorcade.

V. Vikings . Minnesota was the NFL's last undefeated team this season. Now, suddenly, it has more losses than five teams and the same number of losses as five other teams. The Vikings dropped their third straight game last Sunday, falling at home to Detroit 22-16 in overtime. Minnesota is a +3 underdog at Washington in Week 10, per Bovada Sportsbook.

W. Winless . One day, the Browns will win another football game. Last Sunday was not that day. Neither was this Thursday. Cleveland lost to Dallas 35-10 in Week 9 and then fell 28-7 to AFC North rival Baltimore. The team is now 0-10, and the worst opponents remaining on its schedule are Cincinnati (3-4-1) and San Diego (4-5).

X. XIII . Stephen Curry threes should be written in roman numerals, because that is how epic they have become. Curry set the all-time record for three-pointers in a game with 13 (while missing only four) during Golden State's win over New Orleans on Monday. The former Davidson star then went 4-for-8 from downtown in a 21-point destruction of Dallas on Wednesday and 7-for-13 from the land of plenty in a 24-point blowout of Denver on Thursday. The Warriors are -125 favorites at GT Bets to win the NBA title.

Y. You're outta here! Wizards' guard John Wall has been tossed from two straight games. He got the boot on Monday against Houston and was fined $25,000 for an inappropriate interaction with an official. He then got ejected on Wednesday against Boston after being assessed a Flagrant-2 technical for fouling Marcus Smart. It's like Wall thinks he's on the Bengals all of a sudden.

Z. Zero . That's how many points LSU scored against Alabama last weekend.Considering five other teams have scored no more than 10 against 'Bama, that's not that bad. Then again, Ole Miss scored 43 and Arkansas scored 30, so….

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