 Basketball betting has two niche markets, professional and college ranks. Of the two, the college ranks has more online betting options, as the March Madness basketball tournament tends to attract more sports bettors outside of the regular basketball gambling audience. However for fans that bet on football and enjoy to place their money on the March Madness tournament, this is no problem, as basketball and football wagering are very similar. Basketball like football uses two types of bets, the point spread, and totals. Below we offer tips on all three forms and describe how they are used in basketball.
1. Point Spread - This form of betting is predetermined by the bookies in order to even out the wagering line. Essentially the favorite is team chosen by a number of points to defeat the underdog who is the team chosen to lose by that number of points. If the favorite wins by the amount of points the bookie lays, or exceeds the points, then that is called covering. If the underdog keeps the spread close for example Celtics are favored by -13 over the Raptors and the Raptors lose 97-93, fans betting on the underdog to cover will win the bet. Tip: Look at offensive statistics prior to choosing a side for point spread betting. By doing so, it allows you to make a better decision on which teams looks like it will cover the spread and make you the most money. 2. Totals - Similar to all other big four sports, basketball uses a totals over/under system in which the bookie sets an expected total amount of points accumulated by the combined final score of the game. The bettor's job is then to wager on whether or not the point total will go over the bookies prediction or under the bookies prediction. Tip: See where teams rank in terms of defense as this will factor on the overall total of the game.
 Outside of 2010 World Cup betting, the big news in the sports world comes from the NCAA, where realignment is happening and teams are jumping conferences. So far, the biggest switch is Nebraska leaving the Big 12 for the Big Ten, but just because they're not playing with Texas and Oklahoma anymore, won't make life easier for the Cornhuskers.
The Cornhuskers still have to deal with Ohio State, the kings of the Big Ten in both football and basketball (the two major sports we'll be talking about), and the Buckeyes don't look like they're ready to hand over the crown. The potential is there at Michigan to be good in both programs, but it's do-or-die time for the football program, and coach Rich Rodriguez may be out if the Wolverines go through a losing season. Penn State and Wisconsin will be tough to deal with on the gridiron, along with last year's surprise, Northwestern, while they'll have to go through Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois and the Badgers again to make it on the basketball court. Their best bet would be to hedge their bets on the football field, as Nebraska was 15-18 last year in hoops, and a miserable 2-14 in conference play. The football team is obviously what is carrying this move from the Big 12 to the Big Ten, but they're going to have to through Columbus, and coach Jim Tressel won't be ready to hand over the crown just yet. It's going to be a very intriguing year for sports betting players in the Big Ten.
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 World Cup betting players have been watching for injuries to their squad ahead of the big tournament in South Africa, and there are a couple of ailments to keep your eye on the NBA Finals as well, and one player is following the action of his famous teammate. Kobe Bryant had his right knee drained 12 games ago, and the Lakers have won 10 of those games since their star went through the procedure. It's paid off for the Lakers, but for Bryant as well as the former MVP has averaged 31.3 points since getting his knee drained, shooting 51.5% from the field. Bynum has a small tear in his right knee, which happened during the clinching game of the Lakers' six-game win over Oklahoma City, and his minutes have been going down each series, which means that his production has gone down as well. Bynum averaged just 18.2 minutes in the six-game win over Phoenix, and with the pace of that series, there was no way that Bynum could hold up. The Lakers are going to need Bynum, who averaged 16.5 points and 10.0 boards in two games against the Celtics during the regular season. He had a dislocated kneecap during the 2008 Finals loss to Boston, and the Celtics are a big team with the likes of Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis. Having a healthy Bynum in the lineup would be a boost to the team that is already the online betting favorite to repeat.
 For the last couple of years, the NCAA football betting scene has had two powerhouse conference duking it out for the rights to be the best, and a bunch of others that can't even come close. According to Legends Sportsbooks odds makers, it's going to be just one power conference ruling them all this year. In the last two years, the Big 12 has been pushing the SEC for the No. 1 spot but we all know that the SEC is king. After all, look at the last two teams who won the BCS Championship - what conference did they come from (Florida and Alabama)? The Big 12 will be taking a year off this year as everyone is rebuilding. The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns both passed their record-setting quarterbacks to the NFL. As a matter of fact, the Sooners had four first round picks and three of the top four picks were off their team. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State, who was supposedly a BCS contender last year, also lost a couple of key players in Dez Bryant and Russell Okung and will be rebuilding. Same goes for Texas Tech, who fired head coach Mike Leach. How about the Nebraska Cornhuskers? Well they lost defensive stud Ndamukong Suh to the NFL and their defense will take a step back. The Big 12 is still a power conference and their teams will be favored in lots of non-conference games on the NCAA point spreads but they won't be competing for a BCS Championship in 2010. None of their teams are ready to do so. At least they'll be able to admire their players from an NFL football betting perspective on Sundays this coming year.
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One of the best parts of the college football betting season is right before the action gets underway. Everyone has a clean slate, and projections can be made with conviction given that nothing anyone has said up until that point has been proven wrong. Here is one of those predictions: North Carolina will be a national championship contender in 2010.