The 2008 NBA Draft is set for June 26th, but it’s never to early to start making predictions about who will be selected as the #1 overall pick.  The Chicago Bulls won the first pick in the lottery and they will have a tough choice to make.  The two favorite candidates right now are Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley.  Rose should be a solid NBA guard.  You might remember him tearing it up for Memphis throughout the regular season and the NCAA Tournament.  In 2007, Rose averaged 14.9 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals.  While those numbers don’t exactly jump out and say “superstar”, keep in mind he had a lot of teammates who could score, and he’s consistently shown he has NBA talent.  The Bulls already have a decent back-court, but Rose would certainly be an upgrade.  According to reports around the major sports networks, the Bulls aren’t sold on Beasley’s ability to have an immediate impact, so Rose is being touted as the favorite to be selected at the top spot.  It should go without saying, however, that the Bulls have to be considering drafting the services of Kansas State power forward, Michael Beasley.  Beasley was the most prolific scorer in college basketball in 2007.  He averaged 26.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  At 6-10 he has the size to be an immediate impact player on any team.  The Bulls could certainly use a presence in the paint, but we’ll have to wait and see which direction they decide to go.  Beyond these two outstanding players, there isn’t another #1 overall pick in the class, but SportsBook.com has posted the odds for a few of the other players that have entered the NBA draft for 2008.

2008 NBA Draft - Odds to be Selected with the #1 Pick from Sportsbook.com

Brock Lopez - Forward - Stanford:  50-1

Derrick Rose - Guard - Memphis:  10-13

Kevin Love - Center - UCLA:  250-1

Michael Beasley - Forward - Kansas State:  1-1

O.J. Mayo - Guard - USC:  50-1

*Field - Any other player to be selected #1 overall:  50-1

Popularity: 14% [?]

Now that the field has been set for the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament, we’d like to take a look at who Vegas thinks is going to win it all.  As you might expect, the #1 seeds have the best odds.  North Carolina and UCLA are the odds-on favorites, both coming in at 4 to 1 to win the tournament.  Kansas and Memphis, the other two #1 seeds, are coming in at 5/1 and 6/1 respectively, so, according to Las Vegas odds makers, one of the number one seeds is likely to win the NCAA Championship.  But you don’t need us to tell you that the #1 seeds are the favorites to win the tourney, that’s why they are ranked #1, right?  What we’re more interested in, and what you’re probably more interested in, is which teams could make a run at the tournament that have odds that are a little more in your favor.  The first two teams I’d consider are Texas and Duke, both with 14 to 1 odds to win it all.  You aren’t looking at a monster pay off if one of them does win it all, but I feel that both Duke and Texas have just as good a chance to win the title as a team like Memphis or UCLA and you have to love 14 to 1 compared to 6 to 1 or worse.  Other teams I like in the field to possibly make a run are Wisconsin at 20/1, Stanford at 25/1, and Pitt at 30/1.  These are teams that, if they catch fire, could make a legitimate run in the tournament.  Granted, it would be difficult to do, but the possibility is enough for me to put them on this list.  There are two 40/1 teams that I also like, UConn and Clemson.  These are teams that struggled a little down the stretch, but teams I could see making it deep into the tournament and possibly upsetting one of the big guns in the bracket.  Well, those are our opinions on the recently released odds for the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Here is the complete listing of the odds from BodogLife.com so you can form your own opinions: 

American 2000/1
 
Arizona 80/1

Arkansas 150/1
 
Austin Peay 1000/1
 
Baylor 150/1
 
Belmont 1500/1
 
Boise State 750/1
 
Butler 100/1
 
BYU 200/1
 
Cal State Fullerton 1500/1
 
Clemson 40/1
 
Connecticut 40/1
 
Coppin State 2500/1
 
Cornell 750/1
 
Davidson 150/1
 
Drake 80/1
 
Duke 14/1
 
George Mason 500/1
 
Georgetown 14/1
 
Georgia 250/1
 
Gonzaga 125/1
 
Indiana 100/1
 
Kansas 5/1
 
Kansas State 75/1
 
Kent State 200/1
 
Kentucky 150/1
 
Louisville 18/1
 
Marquette 55/1
 
Memphis 6/1
 
Miami Florida 100/1
 
Michigan State 50/1
 
Mississippi State 80/1
 
Mississippi Valley State 2500/1
 
Mount St. Mary’s 2500/1
 
North Carolina 4/1
 
Notre Dame 60/1
 
Oklahoma 150/1
 
Oral Roberts 500/1
 
Oregon 150/1
 
Pittsburgh 30/1
 
Portland State 2500/1
 
Purdue 70/1
 
Saint Joseph’s 250/1
 
Saint Mary’s 150/1
 
San Diego 500/1
 
Siena 500/1
 
South Alabama 200/1
 
Stanford 25/1
 
Temple 300/1
 
Tennessee 18/1
 
Texas 14/1
 
Texas A&M 200/1
 
Texas Arlington 2000/1
 
UCLA 4/1
 
UMBC 2000/1
 
UNLV 250/1
 
USC 45/1
 
Vanderbilt 50/1
 
Villanova 250/1
 
Washington State 40/1
 
Western Kentucky 500/1
 
West Virgnia 125/1
 
Winthrop 500/1
 
Wisconsin 20/1
 
Xavier 35/1

Popularity: 38% [?]

We’re going to pass on the NBA All-Star game today, but there are three top 25 games going in College Hoops that I you don’t want to miss.  Here are the odds and our picks for Sunday’s NCAA Hoops action:

Odds by SportsBook.com

12:00 PM EST
#18 Notre Dame @ Rutgers +10
Pick:  Rutgers +10

10:00 PM EST
#6 UCLA @ USC +5.5
Pick:  UCLA -5.5

7:30 PM EST
#2 Duke @ Wake Forest +9.5
Pick:  Duke -9.5

Popularity: 9% [?]