While 2011 March Madness betting players are watching Ohio State roll through the NCAA Tournament, there are some issues with the football program, which has been known as the flagship program in Columbus. The Buckeyes will be without their coach and a big part of their offense, so we wouldn’t recommend laying a bet on Ohio State.

It was announced that quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Dan Herron, offensive lineman Mike Adams, receiver DeVier Posey and defensive lineman Solomon Thomas sold rings, jersey and trophies, which earned them a five-game suspension. Then it was revealed that coach Jim Tressel knew about it but tried to cover it up, and he received two games. Finally in what we hope will be the final part of this story, Tressel asked that his suspension match that of his players, so the NCAA obliged and now the Buckeyes are in a hole, even though four of their first five games will be at the Horseshoe in Columbus. Still, a meeting with Michigan State won’t be easy, and their trip to Miami, where the Hurricanes will be out to avenge a trouncing they took at Ohio State last year, will likely derail their national-title hopes.

People shouldn’t praise Tressel for asking that he be suspended as long as the players. In fact, he should have gotten more games as the leader of the program, who tried to cover up his players’ indiscretions, and it sounds more than anything that he’s sorry that he got caught. Either way, this story probably isn’t over, but it does spell doom for Ohio State’s online sports betting odds in 2011.

March Madness betting is the only thing that can take attention away from the NFL lockout right now, but there are headlines around the league that actually deal with, you know, the game of football. News has emerged that Randy Moss may be looking to go back to New England, but a lot of things would have to happen in order for the receiver to return to the Patriots.

Moss made news last year when he complained about his role in the Patriots’ offense, and New England answered him by trading Moss to Minnesota, who then moved him to Tennessee. Moss’ finals numbers for 2010 were 393 yards and five touchdowns on 28 catches, but his best time came in New England, where he had nine catches for 139 yards and three scores. Moss didn’t really build a rapport with Brett Favre in Minnesota, and he was a non-factor in Tennessee, where he spent most of his time on the bench. Moss took for granted that he was being coached by a Hall of Famer in Bill Belichick and getting thrown to by a future Hall of Famer in Tom Brady.

But what about the Patriots? They really missed Moss’ ability to stretch the field when it came to the playoffs, and say what you want about Moss, he still demands a double team. That would open things up for Wes Welker and their great and young tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Moss and the Patriots were made for each other, and if they can put the past behind them, watch New England’s Super Bowl odds improve when you’re betting online.

While March Madness betting has taken over your sportsbook, the NFL is always looming, whether there is the possibility of a lockout or not. The draft will take place in late April, even if the players and owners haven’t come to an agreement, and it’s completely possible that Carolina will take a Heisman winner with the top overall pick for only the third time since 1987.

The combine didn’t tell us anything new about Cam Newton. He’s an extraordinary athlete who needs to work on his accuracy, but he has the capacity to improve and may have the most potential of anyone in the draft. Newton looked more comfortable throwing at his pro day at Auburn, but he still has some way to go. That shouldn’t stop the Panthers from taking him with the first pick in New York City. Let’s face it, the Panthers need everything, so why not start at quarterback? Newton may already be better than any pivot on the Panthers’ roster, including last year’s second-round pick Jimmy Clausen, and his intangibles is what makes him a better option than Clausen.

Newton exudes a leadership quality that not many young players have, and that was proven as he dragged an Auburn squad that would be average without him to the national championship game. His ability to scramble and make plays with his legs is another thing that sets him apart from the current Carolina quarterbacks, and Newton is known in the Carolina area, which is technically ACC territory, but the SEC is never far away. When it comes to NFL props, picking Cam Newton to go first in the NFL draft wouldn’t be a bad bet at all.

Even MLB betting players had to catch the NFL Combine last week as teams evaluated the talent for the 2011 draft with a series of workouts and tests to see if they were up to the rigors of the league. Patrick Petersen of LSU went into the combine as the No.1 corner available, and he probably still is, but he now faces serious competition from Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara.

Peterson did nothing to hurt his draft stock, running a 4.34 in the 40-yard-dash, along with a 38-inch vertical jump, a 10-6 broad jump and he was fourth in the three-cone drill. Peterson has excellent hips, which allows him to turn and run, and he has an excellent change of direction.

Amukamara isn’t far behind, though, as he ran a 4.43 in the 40-yard-dash, also posted a 38-inch vertical and a 10-8 in the broad jump. He isn’t as explosive as Peterson, but Amukamara may be more technically sound, and can play in zone as well as man coverage. Amukamara is also stronger than Peterson, which will help as he jams receivers at the line of scrimmage.

All in all, Peterson is likely still the No.1 corner, and he has an added bonus as he was one of the best return specialists in the country, so whichever team picks him will be getting a weapon for their special teams. However, Amukamara is also a top-10 talent and could end up starting right away. He wouldn’t be a major detriment for a team’s sports betting odds.

You would have received a sports betting bonus if you would have predicted a few of the coaches that were either fired or left their job during this turbulent NFL offseason, including the longest tenured coach in the league. Here is a look at the new coaches in the NFL, with the previous coach in parentheses.

Carolina – Ron Rivera (John Fox)

Cleveland – Pat Shurmur (Eric Mangini)

Dallas – Jason Garrett (Wade Phillips)

Denver – John Fox (Josh McDaniels/Eric Studesville)

Minnesota – Lesley Frazier (Brad Childress)

Oakland – Hue Jackson (Tom Cable)

San Francisco – Jim Harbaugh (Mike Singletary)

Tennessee – Mike Munchak (Jeff Fisher)

Fisher is the biggest surprise, leaving Tennessee after 17 seasons, although Munchak was a longtime assistant and has spent his entire career (both playing and coaching) in Tennessee. Frazier and Garrett were named the full-time coaches after taking over for their fired predecessors during the season. Fox found a new job quickly, taking over in Denver, while Harbaugh left a successful program at Stanford in the NCAA to join his brother John, who just received an extension in Baltimore. Jackson was promoted from the offensive-coordinator position in Oakland despite the progression of the team under Cable, although we don’t think Cable got along with owner Al Davis (but has anyone, really?). Shurmur left the OC position in St. Louis to take over in Cleveland.

The longest tenured coach in the league is now Andy Reid, who has been in Philadelphia since 1999, while New England’s Bill Belichick has been with the Patriots since 2000, and we’re willing to bet these guys can leave on their own accord.

Baseball betting players are getting ready to see what their teams have heading into spring training, but the NFL, players are looking to the draft to decide who needs what. We’re here to point you in the right direction for the first five teams.

Carolina

The Panthers were going to pick Stanford’s Andrew Luck, but the pivot decided to stay in school. A year after taking Jimmy Clausen, the Panthers probably still need a quarterback, but they’re just aiming for the best possible player.

Denver

The Broncos will likely go with a defensive back because, for whatever reason, they aren’t offering an extension to Champ Bailey, who just got sent to his 10^th Pro Bowl and doesn’t look like he’s slowing down.

Buffalo

The Bills need help on either the offensive or defensive line, although a quarterback isn’t out of the question. The offensive line is the bigger need, but how far can they go with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center?

Cincinnati

The Bengals are a mess, and they have to figure out what they’re doing with Carson Palmer before they do anything. If they trade Palmer, they’ll like go for a quarterback, and they also have to see if they let go of Chad Ochocinco.

Arizona

Again, the Cardinals are looking for a quarterback, and they may decide on a player already in the league like Donovan McNabb or Kevin Kolb. But they have one of the best receivers in the league in Larry Fitzgerald and if they don’t get a pivot, we wouldn’t lay a sports bet on him staying in the desert.

Super Bowl XLV betting is about to heat up as the big game gets closer, and Sunday’s matchup between Pittsburgh and Green Bay should be one for the ages. There is one major injury worry, but Pittsburgh should be able to overcome their missing center.

Steelers Packers Betting -Sunday, 6:00 PM ET

The Steelers will likely be without Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey, who suffered an ankle injury in their 24-19 win over the New York Jets in the AFC championship game. Pouncey, a rookie, was the constant on a Pittsburgh offensive line that has been through a lot this season, and the onus is on Doug Legursky to not do anything to hurt his team. But the Steelers still have Ben Roethlisberger, who is going for his third Super Bowl in seven seasons, and a defense led by the Defensive Player of the Year, Troy Polamalu.

The Packers have travelled a tough road to get here, beating Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago away from home just to make it to Dallas. Aaron Rodgers is now being discussed as one of the elite quarterbacks in the game, and their defense is just as good as Pittsburgh’s, powered by former Defensive Player of the Year Charles Woodson, as well as Clay Matthews, who some feel should have won this year over Polamalu.

Green Bay comes into this game as a 2.5-point favorite, and there will not a 37-36 shootout like the Steelers’ win last season over the Packers. We expect the defenses to come out and strut their stuff, and this game will be decided by a couple of plays. We expect those plays to come from the battle-tested Roethlisberger, who will lead Pittsburgh to a sports betting victory.

Those betting on Super Bowl odds should expect a relatively low-scoring affair when Pittsburgh and Green Bay get together next Sunday, but this Sunday, there will be a shootout in Hawaii when the AFC and NFC meet for the Pro Bowl.

Pro Bowl Betting – Sunday, 7:00 PM ET

The AFC will be led on the field by New England’s Bill Belichick, who will be making his third trip to Hawaii, but he’ll be without the injured Tom Brady. Instead, he’ll have Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers at his disposal, along with Matt Cassel, who played for Belichick. There is an impressive trio at running back with Jamaal Charles, Arian Foster and Chris Johnson, which makes up for injuries to Andre Johnson and Antonio Gates. Defensively Belichick will have the top corners in the league at his disposal in Nmandi Asomugha and Darrelle Revis, while the Baltimore duo of Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs are also on the roster.

The NFC also has a pair of linebackers from the same team in Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, but they’re just two of the many defensive players who are injured for this game. The offense may have to carry the load with an impressive quarterback trio of Michael Vick, Matt Ryan and Drew Brees. Roddy White and Calvin Johnson will have their hands full against the AFC corners, while Larry Fitzgerald joins the roster for Greg Jennings, one of six Green Bay players excused because of the Super Bowl. Atlanta’s Mike Smith will make his Pro Bowl coaching debut.

This game is now a pick’em after Pro Bowl odds had the NFC as a 1.5-point favorite, and the AFC has won six of the last 11 meetings with an average of 73.9 points in those games. This game will get competitive in the second half as no one wants to lose, but we’re going with Belichick to figure out the right combination to put on at the end of the game. Bet on the AFC on Sunday.

Having laid waste to the league’s upstart bad boys and a longtime rival respectively, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers are now set to compete for the 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas on the NFL schedule. With two storied franchises slated to contend, legacy will be a proud topic as kickoff draws closer. The Steelers have won the most Super Bowls in league history with 6 while Green Bay is the all-time leader in original NFL championships with 9. Pittsburgh Head Coach Mike Tomlin’s second trip to the big game before turning 40 will be a living testament to Steelers’ owner Art Rooney’s successful campaign on behalf of African American coaching candidates, the Packers aim to win the trophy dubbed after their legendary coach and godfather; Lombardi, the league’s most revered name. So, with those classic logos and colors swirling amid the debauchery of the Dallas night, two players long departed from Starr and Bradshaw will compete for a place in history. Aaron Rodgers and Ben

Roethlisberger are the latest names in the hallowed records of their teams but their impact as players is unavoidable. Roethlisberger has staked his claim to becoming one of the best players, let alone Steelers, ever with his third trip to the Super Bowl, having won the previous two, while Rodgers is entering the prime of his career as one of the league’s premier quarterbacks and the torchbearer of this resurgent era for Green Bay. Both are supremely talented and iconic in their own way – dichotomous leaders of the NFL’s golden teams, battling for possession of the trophy.

Roethlisberger’s talents and accomplishments as a player are generally summed up by stating that he is the game’s premier “big game”, “crunch time” quarterback. With two league titles to his name, a 10-2 record in playoff games and too many improvisational late-game heroics to count, such an attribution would seem fitting. Big Ben will never be looked to as an example of pivoting perfection – he has never put up mind-bendingly efficient and grand statistics nor does he appear on the field like a football robot designed to execute each play without a flaw. It is Roethlisberger’s imperfections that have come to identify him. Things never appear easy for the quarterback – the score is tight, the pressure is heavy, he’s halfway to the ground, but Roethlisberger has a way of inevitably rising to the occasion and winning ugly. No quarterback in the league is better at converting a broken play into production other than perhaps Michael Vick. When it’s cold outside and the chips are down, Big Ben finds a way. The sealing play against New York in the AFC Championship is definitive of Roethlisberger’s style – as three Jets broke free to chase him, Roethlisberger rolled right, using his athleticism and size to ward off the defenders and complete a running throw to his receiver past the first down marker. Where other quarterbacks might have been sacked or forced into an incompletion, Big Ben coolly delivered victory. Roethlisberger’s 6’5 frame, mobility and arm strength are his tools for evading defeat but it is confident demeanor as a team leader which allows him to do it with such ease.

While Big Ben is the unlikely hero, a lucky leviathan who wears cold mud with pride, Aaron Rodgers is the pure bred pivot. Rodgers operates under center with a fluidity that comes from honed skills and dedicated preparation. The quarterback is seemingly adept in all phases of playing the position; he is sharp at recognizing defenses, expedient in his drop back and throwing motion and swift in adaptation should the initial plan be affected. Rodgers has the accuracy of a Soviet sniper at Stalingrad, a guiding hand that allows his quartet of speedy receivers the best possible positioning when the ball reaches their hands, and also possesses a great awareness of the chasers that surround him as he prepares to loft another perfect spiral. The combination of mindset, precision passing and elusiveness makes Rodgers a text book example of quarterbacking and his playoff numbers certainly back up that notion. In three games, Rodgers has completed %71 of his passes for six scores and nearly 800 yards. There is a sense that Rodgers’ streak of strong play might be all the Packers need to walk away with the trophy after New Orleans’ Drew Brees proved last year that a quarterback playing insanely well can carry a team to a championship. Rodgers seems to have completely mastered his offense and gained a firm understanding of the opposition’s methods for stopping it. With the quarterback operating at the level he is now, halting the Packers’ production might be impossible.

There is no “right” way to play quarterback though Rodgers and Roethlisberger make compelling arguments for their style with every game. Both pivots have led their teams to the upper echelon of the NFL standings, both put up impressive numbers and both are supported mightily by their squads. At this point Roethlisberger has two trophies in his favor but if the Packers win this year’s, Rodgers will be near equal based on the fact that this is his team, while Ben’s first championship came as a game-managing youth. Arguing the championship credentials of the quarterbacks gets at a larger point; that so many factors go into the successes and failures of a pivot. Beyond Rodgers’ laser tosses for 400 yards and Roethlisberger’s 4^th quarter scrambles are hard-working rosters, inspiring coaches, dedicated owners and deep, proud histories.

With the transfer window wide open, Europe’s top clubs are engaging in their annual shuffle of expensive players – shopping for the latest, flashiest catch and bidding farewell to those who failed to live up to that billing they were given in the past. The competition for the top prizes can be fierce but with so many capable options on the market no club should go hungry in their mission to please fans and field a competitive squad. At this time it is difficult to sift through the rumors to find nuggets of fact. Names such as Tevez, Arshavin and Forlan have been floated as potential movers but with nothing in writing it is easy to dismiss such hearsay. Perhaps the most intriguing potential signing is the suggested move of FC Porto striker Hulk to Tottenham. Spurs are set to part with Robbie Keane and Roman Pavlyuchenko and are seeking a forward to pair with an in-form Jemaine Defoe.

Hulk is the next in a long line of powerful Brazilian strikers set to make an impact for a top club in Europe. The 24-year old has notched 16 scores in 15 matches for Porto this campaign and is one of the most sought after players in the world. Givanildo Vieira de Souza lives up to his nickname with his strength and stocky build, but he was given the moniker instead for his resemblance to actor Lou Ferrigno, who portrayed the comic book character on television. Hulk also possesses great speed and acceleration along with a cracking shot to finish.Hulk’s performance and impressive physical skills have drawn interest from other clubs as well, including Manchester City and several Spanish and Italian teams. The competitive bidding should drive up the player’s cost and the winning club would surely be sending in an offer of at least €35 million to pull Hulk away from Portugal.

Spurs are currently ranked fifth in the BPL table and are seeking a spark. The club has already acquired South African midfielder Steven Pienaar from Everton and has been linked with a few other strikers as well. Luis Fabiano of Sevilla is one of Tottenham’s targets; a slim, fleet-footed antithesis of Hulk (despite being countrymen) who is enduring a down season in Spain. Fabiano’s agent has denied hearing anything about Tottenham’s reported €15 million bid for his client, but in the smoke and mirrors of transfer season such a quote is to be taken with a grain of salt. Other names being reported to be on Spurs’ shopping list are Luis Suarez and Giuseppe Rossi.

Though the field of available center forwards to play for manager Harry Redknapp is endless, it is suspected that the choice will come down to the two Brazilians, and which of their two clubs is more willing to part with a star striker. Redknapp is looking for a player to join Peter Crouch and Defoe to provide instant offense and produce a positive BPL result. Transfer season always promises hope for clubs that are rich but middling and Tottenham certainly fits that category. Locked in intense competition with other wealthy clubs such as Chelseas, Manchester United and Manchester City, Spurs feel constant pressure to shake up their roster and try as many combinations as they can to rise to the top of the BPL table. Whether it is the powerful figure of Hulk or the hyper-skilled Fabiano who next takes the field at White Hart Lane, Tottenham figures to freely spend their funds in this most frivolous of terms in the football world.