The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament in 2008 is like Adrienne
Barbeau: quite top heavy. The Wisconsin Badgers,
Purdue Boilermakers, Indiana Hoosiers, and Michigan State Spartans are all
nationally ranked and likely going the Big Dance.

For sports handicappers who believe in betting the
motivational factor, the Ohio State Buckeyes are one of the “last four in”
according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology.

The sportsbooks say that Purdue is the slight favorite to win
it all at 7/4, with Wisconsin
nearly neck and neck at 7/4. Michigan
State is only 7/2. If anyone has
had almost as much success in March Madness as GodsTips,
anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com, it is Tom Izzo, head coach of
the Spartans.

Despite all the distractions of the Kelvin Sampson firing,
the Indiana
Hoosiers are just 5/1 to earn the automatic bid. Purdue and Indiana have
the shorter odds as the tournament is being hosted at Conseco
Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers will have to play their way
in to the 2008
Men’s College Basketball Tournament, but they are 14/1 odds to win it
all—the conference title that is.

Once highly regarded Illinois
is 20/1, the Iowa Hawkeyes at 22/1. Surprisingly ahead of both is perennial
doormat Penn State
at just 18/1. At 25/1 Michigan
is given little chance and Northwestern at 100/1 no chance. Odds are courtesy
of NewBodog.

Considering the Wildcats went 1-17 in conference play, perhaps the
bookmakers are being too generous.

The author, Joe Duffy, is former General Manager of the
Freescoreboard scorephone network and CEO of OffshoreInsiders.com,
the premier hub of world-class handicappers.

Although they are considered in a rebuilding year, Xavier
is the favorite to win the 2008 Atlantic 10
Tournament. The Musketeers are posted at even money at NewBodog. “It’s
not a good year for the A-10,”
says Cy McCormick of MasterLockLine.com.
He points to the fact that Temple was second in the conference at 11-5, but has only 18 wins
overall.

The sportsbooks say the Massachusetts Minutemen are
5/2 and the aforesaid Temple Owls
are 3/1. The erratic Saint Joseph’s
Hawks and the Richmond Spiders are next at 5/1. At one time, Temple,
LaSalle and St. Joe’s were at an advantage because the tournament was usually
at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia,
home city of those three colleges.

Though Atlantic City
is still a regional advantage for the Philadelphia
based teams, it does not give the edge they once had when the game was played
at the University of Pennsylvania
and Philadelphia Big 5 home.

Charlotte and La
Salle are next at 10/1; the slow down Bilikens of Saint Louis and
the Rhode Island Rams follow at 15/1.

The Duquesne Dukes at 20/1 and the Fordham Rams at 35/1
are given little chance. “With 11 of the 13 teams within six games of each
other in the conference standings, we look for some moneyline dogs to come
barking,” says forensic handicapping founder Stevie Vincent of BetOnSports360.com

It’s time for GodsTips famed Million Dollar March. We burn
the midnight oil, brew the coffee and
again will win more than any other sports service on earth. It’s all at GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com

The Big East has five teams ranked in the Top 25: Georgetown
Hoyas, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Louisville
Cardinals, Connecticut Huskies, and whatever the Marquette Warriors are now
called. Two more teams have 22 wins: West Virginia Mountaineers and the Pittsburgh
Panthers.

To say the least, the 2008 Big East Men’s Basketball
Tournament should be one of the most hotly contested ever. This is perhaps why
the Vegas odds
are so close. John Thompson Jr. and the Georgetown Hoyas,
led by Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace, are the
favorites at 3/2.

However, Louisville
is very close behind at 5/2 and Connecticut
and Notre Dame are 5/1. Rick Pitino and his Cardinals have very much rebounded
from early season injuries that saw David Padgett miss 10 games, Juan Palacios
out for nine and Derrick Caracter have some off court
distractions.

Marquette and Pittsburgh
are both fairly long shots at 12/1. Pitt though won 3-of-4 to enter the
postseason after a midseason conference swoon. Marquette
has only one conference tournament win in six years and stumbled across the
finish line.

The once highly regarded Villanova Wildcats can be had at
15/1. Bob Huggins current team, the West Virginia Mountaineers are at 15/1 and
the team he made his name with, the Cincinnati Bearcats are 30/1, the same odds
as Seton Hall. The Providence Friars backed into the tournament, but with a
recent win to Connecticut,
perhaps the 40/1 odds a a
bit steep.

Though most sportsbooks
have posted the March Madness tournament lines, these quoted odds are courtesy
of NewBodog

As the post All-Star Game stretch run is set to begin, sportsbooks have the Boston Celtics and
Detroit Pistons as the favorites to win the 2008 NBA Championship.

Boston is +265
while Detroit is +275 according to Bookmaker. NBA betting expert
Curt Thomas from GodsTips, anchor of OffshoreInsiders.com says the oddsmakers recognize the Eastern
Conference Champion will have an easier road than the Western Conference. “We
could see a team win 50 games in the West and not make the playoffs,” says
Thomas, “thus no team had an quick path while the East should come down to the
Pistons and the Celtics.”

Phoenix and
newly acquired center Shaquille O’Neal are next at +500, followed very closely
by the Spurs at +505. Cy McCormick of MasterLockLine.com
emphasizes, “The Spurs have been there, done that,” and adds that they
are better than their record indicates because of several injuries.

Perennial bridesmaid and first-round upset victim last
year, Dallas is +600. The Lakers,
who recently added Pau Gasol
to the equation, are +700.

Can LeBron James repeat and exceed last year’s one-man
show? The Cavaliers are +2000, showing little respect for the defending Eastern
Conference Champions.

Who is the best long shot? Thomas says it’s New
Orleans at +1100. “Their starting five is their
strength and benches shorten up in the postseason,” says the NBA betting guru.

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