UFL Kicks Off New Season This Weekend

It all started yesterday with the UFL kickoff. The new league, comprised of former XFL and USFL teams, got the 2024 season started Saturday with two games on the schedule. The Birmingham Stallions and the Michigan Panthers claimed the first two victories in the new UFL. The Panthers did it in thrilling fashion.

Trailing 16-15 with just seven seconds remaining in the game, Michigan kicker Jake Bates hit a 64-yard field goal to give the Panthers the win. That victory came after Birmingham picked up the first win of the 2024 season in the UFL. The Stallions defeated the Arlington Renegades behind 201 passing yards from QB Matt Corral. 

The UFL in 2024

If you are unfamiliar, the UFL brought the old XFL and USFL together into a new league – the United Football League (UFL). The two leagues merged to form the UFL, which will have two divisions. One is the XFL Division and the other is the USFL Division.

There are four teams in each division. Four old XFL franchises and four USFL franchises made the cut and make up the eight-team UFL. Each team in the UFL will play a ten-game schedule. The regular season will end on the weekend of June 1-2. The postseason will begin following week with the division championship games. The first UFL Championship will be held on June 16.

Unique UFL Rules

What will make the UFL fun to watch in 2024 are some rules that are unique to the league. The two biggest involve the kickoff and points after touchdowns. The UFL kickoff rule generated so much buzz that the NFL is rethinking its kickoff rules. The UFL will kick the ball off from the kicking team’s 20-yard line. This will encourage more kick returns.

Points after touchdowns in the UFL are much different than in other football leagues. There will be no kicks. Teams can run a play from scrimmage from the two-yard line and receive one point for a successful try. A successful play from the five-yard line gets two points and one from the ten-yard line earns a team three points.

Uncle Sal to the Rescue

After a couple slow days on the leaderboard, Uncle Sal Lombardi kicked it up a notch and added a whopping $810 to his fat bankroll. It’s the home stretch of the NHL season and the 2024 MLB season has kicked off. The new UFL also kicked off, but Sal probably won’t have much to do with it. Anyway, if you were lucky enough to tail Sal yesterday, you’re pockets are jingling!

Let’s see how our handicappers did yesterday.

• Uncle Sal: As mentioned, Sal took home $810 yesterday. To get there, he went 11-2 on 13 picks. Sal’s specialty is baseball and yesterday he went 8-2 on his MLB picks. So far this season, Sal is 14-5 and is up $835 just on his baseball picks. It’s gonna be a great season!
• Big Ben: Ben Miller is used to this. Yesterday, Ben went 5-0 and cashed in $500. He nailed both Elite Eight point spreads. Ben is 8-5 on his NCAAB picks over the last seven days.
• The Hawk flies: Mike Hawk had another strong day hitting on five of his six picks yesterday. He earned $337 in profits, which gives him $1440 over the last 30 days. He is No. 3 on the overall 30-day Sports Hub leaderboard.
• Why Sports Hub rules: On a given day, you can visit the Sports Hub members’ area and find a number of handicappers that will put up days like Logan Wilson, Ross Walker, Diego Garcia, and Sports Hub’s own Free Picks. All four of these elite cappers went 3-0 yesterday and took home $300 in winnings. A couple 3-0 days here and a couple more there makes for a good month for any sports bettor.

Can Anyone Stop UConn?

There is a freight train running through the NCAA tournament and its name is UConn. The Huskies did it again last night. Another college basketball team punched its first-ever ticket to a Final Four. Outside the basketball world, the Dodgers other Japanese pitcher rebounded from an ugly opener, but the Boys in Blue still had trouble.

Here is what’s trending.

• UConn uses 30-0 run: With 1:49 left in the first half, Illinois tied last night’s game with UConn. Eight minutes later, the Huskies were ahead by 30. UConn has now won 10 straight NCAA tournament games by double digits. They dismantled Illinois, beating the Illini 77-52 to move onto the Final Four.

• Alabama first Final Four in history: It looked like Clemson might pull yet another upset. The Tigers led by 13 in the first half, but Alabama found its three-point shooting touch and beat Clemson 89-82 to advance to the Final Four. 
• Yamamoto better but Dodgers lose: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, acquired by the Dodgers this offseason for a mere $325. The Japanese ace started the Dodgers opener in Seoul against the Padres and got shelled for five earned runs in one inning. He was better last night. Yamamoto pitched five innings, allowed just two hits, and did not give up a run. Unfortunately, the Dodgers would go on to lose to the Cardinals 6-5.

UFL Week 1 Continues, Elite Eight Continues

Today’s sports schedule will, of course, revolve around the biggest event of the day. That would be the two remaining games in the Elite Eight. While all eyes are those games, bettors should remember that plenty of other betting opportunities exist today.

The NBA has a number of games today and the first week of play in the new UFL continues. The eight-team league will play on Saturdays and Sundays from now until the end of their season.

Let’s take a look at today’s schedule.

1. Elite Eight continues: Purdue and Tennessee will get today’s CBB action started at 2:20 p.m. ET. Duke and NC State play for the third time this season starting at 5:05 p.m. ET.
2. NBA today: While the NCAA tournament rules the basketball day, the NBA is still playing. There are 10 games on the schedule. Defending NBA champ Denver hosts Cleveland to get the day started at 3:30 p.m. ET.
3. NCAAW Elite Eight: The women’s Elite Eight starts today. Oregon State will face South Carolina and NC State takes on Texas. 
4. UFL kickoff weekend: As mentioned, the Birmingham Stallions and Michigan Panthers kicked off the UFL season yesterday with victories. There are two more games today. The DC Defenders play the San Antonio Brahmas and the Memphis Showboats tangle with the Houston Roughnecks.

5. NHL on Sunday: The only two teams that didn’t play yesterday – Anaheim and Vancouver – are on the ice today. The puck drops at 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast by TNT.
6. Tennis: It’s the men’s final at the Miami Open. The No. 2 seed Jannick Sinner will face No. 11 Grigor Dmitrov.
7. NASCAR: The NASCAR Cup Series is in Richmond today for the running of the Toyota Owners 400. Kyle Larson holds the pole and Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell are co-favorites to win the race.
8. Soccer: Liverpool and Brighton are playing right now in the Premier League. Manchester City hosts Arsenal in a match that begins later this morning in Sports Hub time. There are La Liga, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 matches today as well as one MLS match – Atlanta United FC plays Chicago Fire FC.

The Elite Eight will rule today’s schedule, but don’t forget the UFL kickoff weekend. The new spring league should be a hit. There are plenty of great players and the games can be seen on ESPN and ESPN+. 

Football bettors can find odds on the major markets like point spreads, moneylines, and totals. There won’t be as many props as you’ll see in the NFL, but there is plenty of opportunity to cash in on what should be niche markets this spring.

Have a winning day and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!