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.

To win your bets for the NBA stretch run, March Madness
and more, visit OffshoreInsiders.com

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain and Rudolph
Giuliani respectively are the current favorites to win the US
Presidential election according to one of the European sportsbooks Ladbrokes.

Hillary Clinton is the slight favorite at 5/4, followed
closely by Obama at 2/1, John McCain at 4/1 and Giuliani at 8/1. Surging
Republican Mike Huckabee is 12/1, potential
third-party candidate Michael Bloomberg is 16/1, and Mitt Romney at 20/1.

Pro-choice when it comes to betting online candidate Ron
Paul is at 66/1. Also-rans include “two-Americas” John Edwards and Fred
Thompson each at 100/1. Disgraced potential Green Party candidate Cynthia
McKinney does not even show up on the radar screen.

Our preferred online casino is NewBodog but
they currently do not have updated POTUS odds. Republican
voters proved sports
betting expert Joe Duffy correct when he correctly stated, “A comeback by
the Arizona Senator would surprise few Presidential historians,” when we
previously previewed the potential Republican
and Democratic
nominees.

Regardless of the nominee, Democrats are heavily favored
to take the White House at 2/5 while the GOP is 7/4. This is quite surprising
considering the Democratic controlled Congress has approval ratings double
digits below the Republican President George Bush.

OffshoreInsiders.com will continue
to update political odds and previews.

It was only a question of by how much. The 16-0 New
England Patriots are the overwhelming favorites to win the 2008 Super Bowl.
Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Randy Moss and company are probative -139 favorites
to win Super Bowl XLII.

The defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts are
next at +550. While we could find no credible NFL or sports betting expert who
believes anyone other than New England should be the
favorite, several agree they are far from a lock.

“If Marvin Harrison can get even 80-percent healthy, the
Colts will be a very live dog.” says Cy McCormick of MasterLockLine.com

The Dallas Cowboys are next at +685, though it is unknown
at this time if Jessica Simpson will attend any games in her pink Tony Romo jersey. Green Bay,
in Brett Favre’s sixth annual “might be his last
hurrah” checks in at +950.

Two years ago, Pittsburgh
became the first team road wild card squad in win the Super Bowl. The Jaguars
are +1900 to do the same. Ironically, they open up in Pittsburgh,
but the Steele City
boys get no respect at +5000.

Mike Godsey, the top NFL betting expert at GodsTips.com, believes the Chargers are
without question the best dark horse at +2004. “They no longer have the worst
postseason coach in NFL history (Marty Schottenheimer) and the fact Norv Turner underused LaDainian Tomlinson early in the year
may make Norv look like a mad genius”.

Godsey adds, “Ala Jake Delhomme, Philip Rivers can be
feast or famine, but he can carry a team when he’s on.”

Rounding out the AFC, the Tennessee Titans are very long
shots at +11250. The NFC teams that oddsmakers give little chance to are the Seattle
Seahawks at +4243, Tampa Bay Buccaneers +7500, the other Manning, Eli and the
New York Giants at +7000 and the Washington Redskins at +6613.

Stevie Vincent of BetOnSports360.com,
add that “If a riverboat gambler likes riding the hot hand, he may want to take
a long look at Washington” a team
that played much better when Todd Collins took over at quarterback.

The author Joe Duffy is CEO of sports handicapping website OffshoreInsiders.com

This is Part-3 where the Center of the Handicapping
Universe Joe Duffy’s GodsTips.com breaks down the statistical comparisons of
the bowl games. This report entails games of Dec. 28-Dec. 29.

Michigan State-Boston College

To say the least, these two teams are closely matched
statistically on both sides of the ball. BC does get 3.3 more first downs per
game but they are dead even in yards per play. Michigan
State gets 93.5 more rushing yards
per game but Boston College
accrues 103.8 more passing yards. It’s a net edge of 10.3 for the Eagles.

However, the Spartans do get .9 more rushing yards per
attempt and .8 more passing yards per reception.

Boston College allows19.9 fewer total yards per game on .7
less yards per play and 66 fewer rushing yards per game. However, MSU allows 46.1 fewer passing yards per game. In the key
areas of yards per play, BC has the upper hand in rushing yards per attempt
allowed of 1.6, passing yards per attempt of .6 and passing yards per reception
of .9. Even the turnover ratio is close with Mich State
having a net edge of two.

TCU-Houston

It’s Houston
as the mathematically superior team on the offensive side of the ball, but TCU on defense. Houston
gets 3.7 more first downs per game, 124.8 more yards, 1.4
more yards per play. This is on 1.3 more rushing yards per attempt, 1.8 more
passing yards per attempt and 1.2 more passing yards per reception. The Cougars
also complete 9.5 more percent of the passes.

The only exception to Houston
winning every offensive and TCU every defensive matchup
is Houston allowing 2.6 less
percent pass completions on defense. Other than that, the Horned Frogs are
allowing 46.6 fewer total yards per game, on 1.1 less yards per play. The
biggest edge is in yards per catch allowed at 3.6.

Maryland-Oregon State

Oregon State
has slight total yards advantages on both sides of the ball, but not so much in
all the yards per rush/pass/play categories. OSU has a 20.3 yards per game upper hand on
offense. However the Terps get a slight .2 yards per play edge. Maryland
gets 1.8 more passing yards per attempt and 1.3 more passing yards per
reception. The Terrapins also complete 8.8 more percent of the passes.

Oregon State
allows 42.9 less yards per game and .8 less yards per play. Maryland
though does allow 18.8 fewer passing yards. The Beavers allow 1.8 fewer rushing
yards per attempt, but Maryland
allows .2 less passing yards per attempt and 1.9 less passing yards per
reception. Oregon State
allows 7.4 less percent of their opponents passes to
be completed. Maryland has a
turnover ratio advantage of six.

Central Florida-Mississippi State

Central Florida has accrued 121.3
more total yards per game on 1.4 more yards per play. UCF
gets 1.6 more rushing yards per attempt and 1.6 more passing yards per attempt
as well as 1.3 more passing yards per reception. The Golden Eagles complete 7.2
more percent of their passes.

Mississippi State
has the advantage in more defensive categories though. They allow 66.1 less
passing yards, though Central Florida allows 27.9 less
rushing yards. The biggest edge is in turnover ratio where UCF
is 10 better.

Penn
State-Texas A&M

The teams could not be closer offensively with A&M
getting a measly 3.8 more yards per game but they are dead even in yards per
play and close in ever other category.

Penn State
sweeps the defense, allowing 109.4 less yards per game on 1.3 less yards per
play. The Nittany Lions allow 1.5 less rushing yards per attempt and 1.3
passing yards per attempt.

The Aggies have a turnover ratio
of seven better.

OffshoreInsiders.com
is offering complete bowl packages for Joe Duffy’s GodsTips for $149, Stevie
Vincent’s BetOnSports360 for $199 or both for $299. Both handicappers give
detailed analysis on every pick. Sign up now at OffshoreInsiders.com