The Key for the week of February 2, 2026
The groundhog saw his shadow…
That means six more weeks of wondering whether the salt melt will run out before the snow does. But one thing that can warm up your days is the vision of Reds pitchers and catchers reporting to Goodyear next Monday. Combine that with the return of Eugenio Suarez to the Reds’ lineup, and baseball fans have something to light the fire of the hot stove league in the dead of winter. Will there be a return to the post season? Will the starting rotation stay healthy for the entire 162 game schedule? Hope springs eternal, especially in Reds Country.
But we’re not done with football just yet
Two unlikely teams, the Seahawks and the Patriots, face off Sunday in the NFL’s title match with Seattle going in as a less-than-touchdown favorite. But let’s set aside the usual bets and look at the wacky world of the prop bet. Of course, favorites are whether the coin toss will be heads or tails (tails won the last time the Super Bowl was in Santa Clara), how long the national anthem will be (Charlie Puth already has said he will invoke the iconic Whitney Houston version), what color the winning team’s Gatorade will be, and whether there will be a scoring drive that will be shorter than the anthem. If you’re feeling particularly musical, you can also bet on what Bad Bunny’s first song will be for the halftime show. Sadly for fans of the Chiefs, most regulated sports books in the US didn’t allow for a bet last year on how many times a Taylor Swift cutaway would show up on our TVs during the Super Bowl.
Down the stretch they come…
With both UC and Xavier’s men’s basketball hovering around the .500 mark for the season, February is a make or break month for both teams when it comes to conference play positioning. You can argue that the Bearcats and Musketeers play in the toughest two basketball conferences this season, and both need a spectacular run in their respective conference tournaments to get a sniff at the post season. And then, of course, is the spectre of the future of Bearcats coach Wes Miller. In his fifth year in Clifton he has a .571 winning percentage, but perhaps the most glaring stat is that UC is 1-4 in Crosstown Shootout games in those five seasons. You can’t have a rivalry if the other team consistently wins.
Ben’s Best Bet
With the Olympics starting this weekend in Milan-Cortina, Ben says it might be fun to take a look at which country the sharps say is the one to beat. Right now BetMGM has Norway as the favorite to bring home the most gold medals, while Team USA is a solid runner-up. Speaking of Team USA, you can also bet on how many golds the US will earn—the over-under right now is 12.5. With a record 232 athletes representing the Red, White and Blue this Olympiad, Ben says be patriotic and take the over. USA! USA!