Can Sam Burns hang on for his first major? Matt Youmans and Kelley Bydlon have their opinions as we head into the final round of the U.S. Open.
The College World Series games and jello shots will continue for another week, but the VSiN crew is headed back to Las Vegas.
A heartfelt thanks to our hosts and behind-the-scenes staffers who put on such tremendous shows . . . to Rocco’s owner Kevin Culjat for his hospitality and for carving out coveted space in the Jello Shot Room . . . and to Circa owner Derek Stevens for sponsoring our first trip to Omaha. As Derek said to me late Saturday, “I think we definitely made an impression.”
Most of all, I want to thank the many loyal VSiN fans who stopped by to say hello and hang out with us.
Special honorable mention goes out to my liver for hanging in there for four straight Vegas-like nights in Omaha.
Last night, I caught the LSU-Arkansas game, won by the Tigers 4-1. College Baseball Insiders proprietor Matt Grissom, a tremendous resource for us during the CWS, told me that we shouldn’t count out Arkansas, which will have to play its way out of the losers bracket for a likely rematch with its SEC rivial.
Makinen’s NASCAR simulation
Steve Makinen has posted his final simulation for today’s race in Mexico:
NASCAR ventures into Mexico for the first international race of the modern era. Thus, it figures to be a coveted checkered flag. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course hosts the Viva Mexico 250. As a road race, it’s no surprise to see road ace Shane Van Gisbergen on the pole and atop the final projections. He is followed closely by his Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs. There is a pretty big dropoff to the 5th place projected driver, Chris Beuscher.
There are several other regular series drivers who have excelled on road courses and should be a factor, but some of them will have to come from deep in the field, a tall task on a road course. This list would include Michael McDowell (projected 10th), AJ Allmendinger (11th), Chase Elliott (12th), William Byron (15th) and Christopher Bell (16th). The other driver that could wind up being a top underdog is Daniel Suarez, the only Mexican-born driver in the field and a teammate of the top two projected drivers at Trackhouse. The other story to watch is that Denny Hamlin will be skipping this race after the birth of his son, so Ryan Truex will step in for him.
Here are my projections for the race:
Top 5: Larson, Van Gisbergen, Gibbs, Chastain, Elliott
Top underdogs to consider: Gibbs, Preece, Briscoe, McDowell, Allmendinger, Suarez
Favorites to struggle: Bell, Busch, Reddick, Bowman
Quick Hits
NHL: The Panthers took a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup Final with a 5-2 victory over the Oilers. Florida is now a -350 favorite to win the Cup with a potential Game 6 clincher on Tuesday in Sunrise.
MLB: Greg Peterson has posted his plays for today. Josh Appelbaum and Steve Makinen will file later this morning.
Soccer: NIgel Seeley has posted his analysis and plays for the Club World Cup.
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