Right before the start of the March Madness, I outlined my objectives for the NCAA tournament in this column.
Help my better half build a pair of winning office pool and deliver a profit with my best bets for the tournament.
It turns out securing a profit was the easy part.
Apparently, top five finishes in the men’s and women’s brackets weren’t enough for me to get a passing grade from my loving wife.
The goal was to win, not finish top five.
I must admit, I respect the hustle.
Also, shout out to the UCLA Bruins for an epic title run.
If you tailed by best bets, you’re up over six units with another four pending with Michigan to win the title +410 on the line in tonight’s men’s championship game.
In case you missed it, the Wolverines are a 7.5-point favourite for tonight’s title game versus UCONN.
That means we have a couple of options to consider.
Do we play the Huskies +7.5 and look for a middle?
Do we let Michigan +410 ride and hope the Wolverines jump out to a commanding lead and extend that spread?
We know that Michigan wants to play a fast-paced game the way they did in a 91-73 blowout win over Arizona in the Final Four, while UCONN will prefer to sit in the half-court and slow the game down.
Huskies head coach Dan Hurley is 18-3 straight up and against the spread in the NCAA tournament, so while I like the Wolverines to win the championship I won’t overlook UCONN’s potential to cover the number.
We’re still more than 10 hours away from tip-off on TSN and I’m in no rush to make a final decision, so make sure you follow me on X if you want to know whether I hedge or ride with Michigan to win the title at +410.
Regardless of the outcome, tailing my March Madness futures has been a much more profitable option than backing Canada’s baseball team early on this MLB season.
The Toronto Blue Jays opened with three wins in a row.
Since then, they’ve dropped five of six, including a rare three-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago White Sox over the weekend as the favourite to win each game.
Tonight, the Blue Jays welcome the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to town for the start of a three-game series.
Will Toronto get back in the win column in a World Series rematch in front of its home fans?
Let’s dive into the club’s early season struggles and lock in a FanDuel Best Bet for tonight’s game in this Morning Coffee column for Monday April 6th, 2026.
Blue Jays Will Be An Underdog For First Time This Season In World Series Rematch
We’re nine games into the 2026 Blue Jays season and I’m already exhausted by the comparisons to the 2025 team.
Expectations in Toronto are considerably higher after the team went all-in to win now following last year’s stunning postseason run.
After opening with a three-game series sweep against the Athletics, a friend of mine floated the idea that it would be cool if the Blue Jays and Dodgers were undefeated by the time we got to their World Series rematch.
Remember this?
In case you’re wondering, he’s going to the game tonight.
I’ll be watching the NCAA men’s tournament title game.
LA swept the Washington Nationals to improve to 7-2 over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Toronto was swept in Chicago to fall to 4-5.
It’s the second year in a row that the Blue Jays have started 0-3 on the road.
This time around, they’re a top 10 choice to win the World Series at FanDuel and not a 100-to-1 long shot.
Toronto was also a heavy favourite in all five losses.
If you bet one unit on the Blue Jays’ opponent to win in every game since their sweep of the Athletics, you’d be over eight units in profit.
Meanwhile, Toronto is 2-7 on the run line this season.
That’s the second-worst mark in the majors behind the San Francisco Giants.
The losses of Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger won’t help the team’s chances to turn things around this week.
Kirk is out at least 10 days with a fractured left thumb.
Barger left Sunday’s game with ankle discomfort, and even if he plays against the Dodgers, it’s more likely than not that he isn’t 100 per cent.
Tonight, the Blue Jays will be an underdog at FanDuel for the first time this season against LA.
Toronto will face Justin Wroblewski, who have up three earned runs in just four innings of work in a 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in his first start.
Wroblewski tossed six strikeouts over 5.0 shutout innings of relief work against Toronto in the World Series.
It will be interesting to see whether the Blue Jays offence can get going against the lefty in tonight’s opener.
Meanwhile, Max Scherzer will make his second start of the year for Toronto after he led them to a 5-1 win over the Rockies in his season debut.
Scherzer’s 298 career quality starts are the second-most in the majors among active pitchers behind only Justin Verlander.
The Blue Jays could really use No. 299 from him tonight as they attempt to snap their slide as a +120 underdog.
The Dodgers should have momentum on their side after they rallied from down 6-1 in the fourth inning to beat the Nationals 8-6 on Sunday.
The NL MVP favourite Shohei Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in the comeback victory.
Ohtani has now reached base safely in 40 straight games dating back to last season.
Despite a relatively slow start by his lofty standards, Ohtani is batting .273 with six RBI through nine games.
The Dodgers lead the majors with 16 home runs and a .285 batting average this season.
The fact that Andy Pages leads LA with three home runs, 10 RBI, and a .471 batting average is remarkable.
Remember, Pages is just 25 years old on a deep roster.
After batting .361 with 31 runs scored in Washington, the Dodgers offensive depth will represent a tough test for the veteran Scherzer as he attempts to help Toronto get back in the win column tonight.
The fact that the Blue Jays offence has been so cold and could be without Barger – in addition to Kirk – could be a problem against an opponent as talented as LA.
Despite the increased expectations, it’s too early to panic about Toronto’s slow start.
The Blue Jays will be in the underdog role for the first time this season, and you must think they will be motivated to bounce back with the Dodgers in town.
Then again, there will also be a ton of pressure to deliver in a World Series rematch that baseball fans in Toronto have waited a long time to see.
I’m going to roll with the Dodgers -142 as a best bet.
I don’t love laying the juice with LA, but perhaps the reverse jinx will work in the Blue Jays favour.
Let’s see how Toronto responds tonight.
