2025 Futures wagers, best bets by Chris 'The Bear' Fallica

Chris Fallica

FOX Sports Wagering Expert

“Bear Bets” are real wagers that Chris “The Bear” Fallica is actually making.

People who have been following me know that, during football season, I have weekly picks on NFL and college football. But with both of those seasons behind us — or ahead of us, depending on how you look at it — I’m giving you some non-football futures wagers that I like.

Nothing makes sports better than having a few bucks on some futures tickets that you can watch throughout the year.

From March Madness to MLB, I got you covered on a variety of sports.

So let’s dive into it.

VCU to make Final Four

The Rams might not have a ton of Quad 1 and 2 wins, but this is not a team you’re going to want to see pop up as a 10 or 11 seed in your region. The Rams play elite defense. They’re ranked 19th in KenPom and are deep. Max Shulga and Joe Bamisile are two of the better players in the A-10 and have multiple scoring threats. VCU has made the Final Four as a low seed, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see another run this year from Ryan Odom’s bunch.

PICK: VCU (+5000) to make Final Four

Cornucopian to win Kentucky Derby

You’ll have to do some searching to find fixed-odds Derby futures. Caesars Las Vegas is one spot I know that has them. But this is worth the search. Bob Baffert’s exciting three-year-old just broke his maiden in impressive fashion. The figures suggest he ran four lengths faster than the colt that won the Rebel Stakes later in the day. There’s no margin for error; Cornucopian will have to run first or second in the Arkansas Derby to make the Derby starting gate and stay healthy. But Bob Baffert has won a Triple Crown with a latecomer on the trail before (Justify) and if Cornucopian makes the Derby field, he’s going to be one of the favorites in the race. You’ll be happy to be holding 33-1.

PICK: Cornucopian (+3300) to win Kentucky Derby

Joao Fonseca to win French Open

The exciting 18-year-old Brazilian just won the NextGen Finals in December on hard court and backed it up with a win in the Argentina Open on Clay last month. Most will be willing to hand the French Open title to Carlos Alcaraz, but I’m not. Clay is not Jannik Sinner’s best surface. It’s anyone’s guess as to how Novak Djokovic’s body is going to hold up. And can we really take Sascha Zverev seriously to win a slam at this point? There are a lot of questions as we dive into the men’s field, so why not take a flier on someone with tremendous upside?

PICK: Joao Fonseca (+3700) to win French Open

Mark Vientos to lead MLB in home runs

You never fully expect to cash with a 50-1 shot, but maybe Mark Vientos is the Met who benefits the most from the Juan Soto addition. Vientos backed up a 27-home-run regular season (in 111 games/454 AB) with three huge bombs in the Mets postseason run. Depending on where he settles in the lineup, he might see some pretty good pitches to hit in some batter-friendly NL East stadiums.

PICK: Mark Vientos (+5000) to lead MLB in home runs

Cole Ragans to lead MLB in Strikeouts (22-1)

Ragans was fifth in the majors in strikeouts last year with 223 — just five behind leader Tarik Skubal — and his K/9 was actually slightly higher than Skubal (10.8 to 10.7). That was his first complete season in the bigs. Ragans benefits from multiple starts against the White Sox and a couple of other teams that I think will regress this year in the AL Central (Detroit and Cleveland). There’s a chance he takes an even bigger leap forward this year, and if he does, we’re looking at Cy Young level-type stuff.

PICK: Cole Ragans (+2200) to lead MLB in strikeouts

Tanner Bibee to lead MLB in strikeouts

Speaking of dart throws, here’s an 80-1 shot in Bibee to lead the league in Ks. Bibee had trouble working deep into games at times last year but finished with 187 K and 9.7 K per nine. Like Ragans, the upside here is huge. Bibee finished second to Gunnar Henderson in AL ROY voting in 2023 and also, like Ragans, benefits from pitching in a division with the White Sox. Hey, I’ve thrown lunch money on worse things!

PICK: Tanner Bibee (+8000) to lead MLB in strikeouts

Bobby Witt Jr. to lead MLB in doubles

Witt was second to Jarren Duran in doubles last year and there’s no reason to believe he will not be a threat to lead in this category this year. Health is never guaranteed, but Witt has played in 150, 158 and 161 games in his three seasons and led MLB in hits last year from his 709 plate appearances. His speed makes him a threat to turn singles into doubles, which is why I ultimately landed on Witt here.

PICK: Bobby Witt Jr. (+900) to lead MLB in doubles

Mookie Betts to lead MLB in runs

Betts has led the league in runs three times, and he nearly made it a fourth in 2023. He could get there this year in a loaded Dodgers lineup. It is truly bizarre that the Red Sox let this guy walk after the 2019 season. I’m expecting some positive regression in the health department as well, after Betts played in just 116 games last year. When Betts returned from injury last season, that’s when the Dodgers really took off and a 150-plus game season from him could produce 125 runs or more.

PICK: Mookie Betts (+900) to lead MLB in runs

Chris “The Bear” Fallica has covered sports for nearly three decades. While college football has been his focus, he also enjoys the NFL, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MLB, NHL and Horse Racing, with an “occasional” wager on such events. Chris recently won the inaugural Circa Football Invitational and finished in the Top 10 of the Golden Nugget Football Contest. He’s a multiple-time qualifier for the NHC Handicapping Championship. Remember, “The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!” Follow him on Twitter @chrisfallica.

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