Duke is the fifth favorite to win the 2014 national championship, according to online sports book Bovada, behind Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville and Michigan State. Bovada gives the Blue Devils 12-to-1 odds at cutting down the nets next April.
But maybe you don’t care about other teams. Maybe you want to bet on Duke and only Duke. Maybe this is your lucky day.
Before the season starts against Davidson on Friday, here is the 2013-14 Duke prop bet sports book:
Over-under 1.0 — Josh Hairston’s ratio of points to fouls. He finished last season with 2.6 points and 2.4 fouls per game.
Over-under 10 — Josh Hairston’s chest bumps with teammates per game. Pounding himself on the chest from the bench counts as half of one.
Over-under 100 — Combined number of times Quinn Cook pushes a teammate with two hands after a big play, slaps the floor and pumps up the crowd. Alright, this line is too low.… I’m taking the over.
2:1 — Odds Miles Plumlee ends up on the Holy-Moly-Nobody-Saw-This-Coming Team at the end of this NBA season. It’s only three games into the NBA season, but the eldest of the Plumlee brothers is averaging a double-double for the Phoenix Suns after barely playing as a rookie. Holy moly, I didn’t see that coming.
Mason Plumlee’s points +400 — The point spread on Brooklyn Net Mason Plumlee scoring as much as Miles this season. Mason may not play much, but at least he gets to play behind Kevin Garnett.
Marshall Plumlee’s points +80 — The point-total spread on current Blue Devil Marshall Plumlee scoring as much as much as Mason this season. (You can also take Marshall +480 against Miles.)
Over-under 4.0 — The number of times Rasheed Sulaimon is thrown in the doghouse this season. He missed the last exhibition game of the season because he was sick but Coach K’s postgame line—“hopefully this week he will get himself into shape”—leads one to believe this count is already at one this season.
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Over-under 2.5 — The number of times Andre Dawkins is thrown in the doghouse.
Over-under 2.5 — The number of times Alex Murphy is thrown in the doghouse.
Over-under 2.0 — The number of times Quinn Cook is thrown in the doghouse.
Over-under 8.5 — The number of times Tyler Thornton starts, likely because one of these guys is in the doghouse.
(Note: This introduces the Doghouse Power Rankings. Currently, based on not much, it’s 1. Sulaimon 2. Dawkins 3. Murphy 4. Cook. Just like any subjective power rankings, these are to be taken extremely seriously and hold paramount importance.)
Rodney Hood +150, Jabari Parker +200, anybody else +300 — Money line odds on who leads the team in scoring at the end of the season.
Over/under 5.5 — The number of set plays Duke runs for Todd Zafirovski this year. Take a look at the schedule, and there should be some sure blowouts and some “We want Todd!” chants at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He scored his first five points last season and could be in line for more in his final campaign. Sorry to freshman walk-on Nick Pagliuca: You’ll have your time to shine, but this is Todd’s year.
Matty Ice -125, Basketball Jones +135 — Money line bet on Matt Jones’ nickname. Matty Ice is already catching on among the players and Cameron Crazies. I really can’t believe Matty Ice is catching on. Please people, bring Basketball Jones signs.
2:1 — Odds Semi Ojeleye throws down a ridiculous dunk in any given game. He did it with a put-back against Drury and had a SportsCenter Top 10 Play with one of his practice slams. On a side note, I really hope he helps make flat tops a thing on campus.
Over-under 2.5 — The ratio of Andre Dawkins’ 3-pointers to two-pointers by the end of the season. In his career at Duke, he has hit 79 twos and 167 threes. Launch away, ‘Dre, launch away.
3:2 — Odds Coach K says the opposing team “knocked Duke back” in any given postgame press conference. It already happened against Drury, and that was just an exhibition game.
Over-under 1.5 — The number of “Kumbaya moments” Coach K and I have this season. He said during his last presser that he and I had one, so you’re just betting on whether there’s another by April.
10:1 — Long-shot odds it’s not obvious that this is a joke, and the federal government contacts me for opening an illegal sports book.