Betting Picks

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, it isn't so much about how the West was won as it is about who will win the West. You can make a legitimate case for all four of the remaining teams being the last one left standing. The Nashville Predators were last spring's finalist, while the San Jose Sharks were there a year earlier. And you can't discount the Winnipeg Jets or Vegas Golden Knights.

Unlike the 2018 Kentucky Derby, which features several legitimate contenders, the 2018 Kentucky Oaks is shaping up to be a two-horse battle between Midnight Bisou and Monomoy Girl. Those two sit first and second on the Oaks qualifying list, and have dominated their prep races. Here's a look at those two favorites, and a third thrown in for good measure.

Twenty-eight. That's a number that haunts the Cleveland Browns every bit as much as the 0-16 record they posted during the 2017 NFL season. Since 1999, the Brown have gone through 28 starting quarterbacks. That's a lot of QBs, on average a new one every 10.85 games. And there's Cleveland with the first pick in the NFL draft, trying to decide which QB to draft.

The winner of the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and the Two-Year-Old Horse of the Year, Good Magic has been under a lot of scrutiny this spring on the road to the 2018 Kentucky Derby. He was a 12-1 oversight back in November when he won the BC Juvenile, and he'll be in that same range come Derby Day.

Along with Justify, Magnum Moon is the second horse to make the 2018 Kentucky Derby field who did not race as a two-year-old in 2017. Given that a horse unraced at two has not won the Derby in more than 130 years, these horses are usually a toss for handicappers of the race. But this year, both of these horses are legitimate contenders to win.

Although almost all of the 20 horses set to race in the 2018 KY Derby were born and bred in Kentucky, the Derby almost always sets off a debate over West coast versus East coast horses. As a betting angle, horses that have been doing most of their prep racing in California have had an edge in the past few years.

The winner of three straight races to start his career, California-based Bolt d'Oro appeared to have a lock on the Champion Two-Year-Old Colt title in 2017 until running third in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He came into the 2018 season with an eye on redemption and a Kentucky Derby title and he remains a solid contender on the first Saturday of May.

We don't know whether Rafael Nadal is a fan of the film Spinal Tap but not unlike Nigel Tufnel's amplifiers, Nadal seeks to be the first one to go to 11 at the ATP Monte Carlo Masters 1000 tournament. Nadal has won 10 titles in the event, and as the current World No. 1, as well as the two-time defending champion, you have to like his chances.

They say to be the best, you must beat the best, and in the NBA playoffs, two proud past champions are teetering. In the West, the defending champion Golden State Warriors will start postseason play minus injured all-world guard Stephen Curry. In the East, the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers haven't looked like themselves all season long. Are we about to see the crowning of new title holders?