Craig Wilkinson had a pretty great day on Monday. He’s hoping to have an even better day on Tuesday.

The odds are against it, of course. Staggering, infinitesimal odds.

But why not? Why not give it a shot? That was Wilkinson’s thinking as he stood outside Lucky’s Place Lottery on the Tennessee-Alabama border Monday afternoon wearing a Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirt – hours before his college football team throttled TCU 65-7 to win their second straight national championship.

“It’s a fun thing to do,” Wilkinson said.

Related: Mega Millions now $1.1 billion: When is next drawing?

Indeed, the Mega Millions jackpot is projected to be $1.1 billion with the next drawing Tuesday night. That’s why Wilkinson and a steady stream of others were buying tickets just across the Alabama line in Tennessee to play. There is no lottery in Alabama, of course, which leads to the state’s borders being populated by outlets where tickets can be bought in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Alabama is one of five states that doesn’t have a lottery.

“If Alabama ever gets a lottery system, Tennessee is going to be mad,” said Ken Johnson, a co-worker with Wilkinson who bought some tickets Monday, too.

It’s the fourth time in four years that Mega Millions has topped the $1 billion milestone. The cash payout to the winner would be about $568.7 million.

Wilkinson and Johnson are working construction in Huntsville but neither live in Alabama. Wilkinson, the Georgia fan, is from Atlanta and Johnson is from Houston. Both also had tickets purchased in their hometowns.

Johnson, incidentally, did not have as good of a day Monday as Wilkinson. As a Houston resident and a Texas Longhorns fan, he said he had “jumped on the bandwagon” for TCU to support a fellow Big 12 school – the same conference Texas plays in.

Christopher Pearson also works in Huntsville, commuting daily from Cullman – which is about 100 miles round trip. But the billion-dollar jackpot lured him to the Tennessee state line after work Monday. But he made a “little detour” driving home to buy tickets – adding about another 40 miles to his commute.

“The fact that it’s $1 billion made it an attractive detour,” Pearson said.

He said the jackpot has been a popular topic at work. Playing the lottery was “rare” these days, Pearson said, but he decided to make an exception. Back when tickets were only $1 – they have since doubled in price – Pearson said he played more frequently. It was fun and, in moderation, he didn’t miss the money.

Should he win, Pearson said he planned to still show up for work Wednesday morning.

“My wife and I have plans; we’re not necessarily going to stop working,” he said.

Anthony Solano of Huntsville had a different idea. If the tickets he bought Monday at Lucky’s Place came through, “I’d probably do whatever I wanted for the next three years.”

After that, it would be time for some self-evaluation. That’s his goal-oriented outlook on life – every three years, it’s time to look back and look ahead and maybe set some new goals.

“After three years, you either plateau or start to decline,” he said. So even hundreds of millions of dollars aren’t changing that.

Solano also observed that a life change in winning the lottery might be a little different than expected.

“You wouldn’t have money worries,” he said. “But you might have money problems.”

But for those playing the lottery who know their chances are so slim it would be like, well, winning the lottery, exchanging worries for problems is likely an acceptable risk.

“My wife sent me up here,” to buy tickets, Johnson said. “My wife plays (the lottery). I personally don’t play. I play through her vicariously. But if she wins, I’m a billionaire.”

At the suggestion that Johnson might buy his wife some roses if she won, Johnson laughed and said, “I would buy her a rose farm!”