Vegas Play of the Day: Vanderbilt at Stanford

By Taylor Bern

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 | 2:15 p.m.

Here’s the latest installment of the Play of the Day, which uses odds from the South Point. Our three sports writers started with a $10,000 bankroll — fictional, of course.

Vanderbilt plus-4 at Stanford: $220 to win $200

I must admit I haven’t really kept up with this year’s NIT (or any year, except 2003 and St. John’s since-vacated run to the title) so it’s a small wager today. But I still like the side with Vanderbilt traveling west to Stanford, which is playing its third straight home game in the tournament.

The winner goes to the semifinals in Madison Square Garden, the only real prize of being in the tournament, so there is something tangible on the line. And the Commodores will keep this close or maybe even grab the outright victory on the back of their 3-point shooting.

That’s not usually something I want to rely on — Vanderbilt won its first NIT game at St. Mary’s, despite hitting 23.5 percent from deep — but the combination of the Commodore’s proficiency from deep (top 20 in the country) and Stanford’s perimeter defense (bottom 40) should be enough to make this one go down to the wire.

Standings: Keefer (71-70-2, $10,887), Bern (69-64-1, $9,706), Brewer (62-75-3, $2,805)

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.