Football has long been America’s most popular sport.

While baseball is the American pastime and holds a special place in the hearts of sports fans, it has yet to surpass football in terms of either broad appeal or revenues especially now with the 2010 NCAA college football season just around the corner.

Nor is the National Football League the only beneficiary of football’s enduring popularity. Indeed, in parts of the country with unsuccessful NFL teams (or no NFL teams), college football is just as popular – and just as lucrative. Likewise, an accomplished head coach at a prestigious college program can easily command several million dollars per year in salary, and the football teams themselves figure prominently in the entire cost structure of their universities.

So what are these teams you ask?

Let’s start with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Valued at $108 million and boasting profits of $38 million – the Fighting Irish have long been one of the most widely followed teams in NCAA football. Seven Heisman Trophy winners have played for Notre Dame, as well as 95 consensus All-Americans.

Furthermore, Notre Dame Stadium (where the team plays its home games) seats more people than some NFL stadiums do – 80,795 at last count. The team has also won eight national championships, and owes much of its current value to consistently being a contender year in and year out.

Another highly valued NCAA football team with a rich history is…

College football is back baby.

And for the first time in quite a while, the Alabama Crimson Tide will come to the 2010 NCAA college football season as the national champions, looking to defend that title in the BCS title game come January.

The popularity of the Alabama Crimson Tide is hard to exaggerate. According to Forbes, the team’s “waiting list to obtain season tickets for the Crimson Tide is currently 15,210 names long.”

Furthermore, simply being next up on the list is no guarantee of getting tickets. The only thing coming up on the list entitles you to do is “make a donation to the athletic department ranging from $5,000 to $500,000″ depending on the location of seats you wish to buy tickets for.

Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is the fourth highest paid coach in college football, raking in about $3.9 million per season. No wonder the guy was determined to bring the title to Alabama since bamboozling Dolphins fans into thinking that he’ll stay with them for the long haul.

With everything going for the Tide, just who can challenge these guys heading to the season in terms of being the most valuable commodity on the gridiron? Of course, one team comes to mind and that’s last year’s runners-up, the Texas Longhorns.

The Texas Longhorns is the most valuable college football team right now…

Are you ready for this?

At one end, we have the powerhouse Duke Blue Devils trying to reclaim their spot on top of college basketball. At the other end, we have the Butler Bulldogs who are looking to conclude their Cinderella run with the national title.

That is what we’re looking at heading to the 2010 NCAA college basketball national championship game between no.1 seed Duke and no.5 seed Butler. After the very exciting roller coaster ride we’ve been through this March, it all comes down to this one game for all the marbles.

As of this writing, the Duke Blue Devils are favored to win by seven points over the Butler Bulldogs. It’s not surprising really as Duke just cruised to a 78-57 win over no.2 seed West Virginia Mountaineers before punching in their ticket for the national championship game. Oh, the Eagles were just 2.5 – point favorites then.

The Blue Devils are in search for their fourth national championship in the history of their program while the Butler Bulldogs are looking for their very first title this Monday night.

And in case you haven’t noticed, yeah, Butler will have the odds stacked against them when they play Duke. Hell, they just barely edged the Michigan State Spartans, 52-50, to get to play for the 2010 national title and on Monday night, things won’t get any easier.

The good thing about all this is, the Bulldogs will get to play for the national title in their hometown in Indianapolis.

”We’ve been talking about the next game all year, and…”

Which of them will fall flat on their faces first?

The 2010 March Madness bracket tournament has been set and the top four No.1 seeds have been announced, that being the Kansas Jayhawks, the Kentucky Wildcats, the Duke Blue Devils and the Syracuse Orange. That being said, basketball aficionados looking to score some major winnings will wait which No.1 seed will falter first since these guys know how big underdogs pay off.

So who’ll get the boot first? Let’s start with the Duke Blue Devils. Among all of the no.1 seeds in this year’s tournament, many people are expecting Duke to have the easiest matchup, well, at least in the first round. Duke has all the materials to go deep in this tournament and since the Tar Heels won’t be playing this March, not many people think otherwise.

Next we have the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas has one of the best defenses in college basketball as they held opponents to 63.8 points, the best average in the Big 12, the very conference the Jayhawks dominated with a 15-1 record before claiming the conference tournament championship for the seventh time. Betting against these guys is pretty much, not a good idea.

We also have the Syracuse Orange. They will slug it out against the Vermont Catamounts in the first round of the 2010 NCAA tourney. Looking back at the history of these two teams, Vermont, champions of the America East Conference, beat Syracuse 60-57 in overtime in the first round of the 2005 NCAA tournament, a stinging loss the Orange have not forgotten. And if you’re looking for an upset in the first round, this matchup can very well give you one.

Syracuse had finished the 2004-05 regular season at 24-6 and…

Heeere we go.

An intriguing game in the 2010 March Madness bracket tournament will be played on Thursday as 11^th seed Washington faces 6^th seed Marquette. This is the third straight year Marquette has been a number six seed in the NCAA tournament. Two years ago they beat 11^th seed Kentucky in the first round before losing to third-seeded Stanford in overtime in the second round. Last year, Marquette beat 11^th seed Utah State and lost to third-seeded Missouri in the second round. It is the fifth straight year the Eagles have made the tournament.

The Marquette Golden Eagles are 2-point favorites at SBG Global.

Not much was expected of Marquette this season since they lost three starters, but the Eagles really came together late in the season, winning 11 of their last 14 games. The Eagles don’t have much of a bench so the starters are a big key. Marquette had some nice wins this year over Villanova, Georgetown and Xavier so they are capable of making a little run in the NCAA tournament.

Lazar Hayward is their big scorer. He was named second team All-Big East this season. Marquette is a good shooting team, especially from long range. The Eagles averaged 72.9 points per game this season while they allowed 64.2 points per game.

The Washington Huskies, on the other hand, had what could be considered a disappointing regular season but they made up for it by winning the Pac-10 Tournament. Washington has some players who can make an impact including Quincy Pondexter who leads the team in scoring.

Marquette and Washington have met twice in history but it was a long time ago. Marquette won 75-74 in 1966 and 71-63 in 1978.

The Huskies are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall but…

Since it’s that obvious anyway.

Arguably the greatest three weeks in sports are upon us with the 2010 March madness bracket tournament tipping off. And of course Bodog will have everything a basketball bettor could ever need.

Yes, it’s that time of year when even the most amateur sports fan becomes an expert in basketball with the men’s NCAA tournament here. From the play-in game through the 2010 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis, Bodog will have it all covered with basketball news, odds, contests and more.

That’s right, the road to the Final Four runs through Bodog and you won’t find any gaming site with as many basketball betting options on the NCAA tournament than those guys. They’ve been doing this for 15 years and they should already know what bettors want when it comes to the Big Dance. From odds to news to brackets, you’ll find it all at Bodog.

This year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament appears to be one of the most wide-open tourneys in recent year, and that could be good news for those basketball bettors. While the North Carolina Tar Heels were huge favorites going into last year’s Big Dance and came home with the title, the Heels are not even in the field this year.

The Kansas Jayhawks, the Kentucky Wildcats, the Syracuse Orange and the Duke Blue Devils are your four No.1 seeds in the bracket this year, but none of those four could be considered a lock Final Four team.

Last year’s tournament was very chalk, as for the first time since seeding began, all 12 teams seeded No.3 or better made it to the Sweet 16, and three No.1 seeds reached the Elite Eight for the third straight year.

There are probably about 20 or so teams that have a real shot at…

They should, because, I don’t know about you but, I’m sick and tired of coin tosses deciding the outcome of an NFL game.

A standard NFL game consists of four quarters each with 15 minutes. The clock stops after certain plays. If an NFL game is tied after four quarters, the teams play an additional period called overtime game lasting up to 15 minutes.

NFL overtime rules say that in an NFL overtime game, the first team that scores wins, even if the other team does not get a possession. This is known as the sudden death. On the other hand, if neither team scores during the overtime, then the game is considered as a tie. In an NFL playoff game, additional overtime periods are played, as needed, to determine a winner.

The sudden death overtime rules call for a 15 minute period to follow the end of regulation. The first team to score wins. During the regular season, if after the end of the overtime period, no team scores, the game is recorded as a tie.

Playoff games will continue with multiple overtime periods until somebody does end up scoring. At the end of regulation time the referee will immediately toss a coin at the center of the field in accordance with the rules pertaining to the usual pregame toss. Unfortunately, the key to the game often rests on the flip of the coin.

There has been a public clamor to change the rules of the overtime for the longest time because of the problems the teams face. Some of the problems with the current system include; only three, or in rare cases, two points are required to…

You ready?

As we move deep into the month of March, we inch ever closer to the 2010 March Madness bracket tournament and the madness that ensues each and every spring in college basketball. With just one week remaining in conference play, the right to automatic bids are already up for grabs.

On that note, here are the top five teams lording over the college basketball right now, starting with the best of ‘em all, the Syracuse Orange. Syracuse’s rise to the top of the national polls produced an Orange infusion in the college basketball power rankings.

The Orange’s 95-77 victory Saturday over Villanova helped Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim regain his position as the no.1 coach in the power rankings too, them rankings that measure the nation’s top performers at each position. Picked before the season to finish sixth in the Big East, Syracuse already has clinched at least a share of the conference title. With a 27-2 overall record and an incredibly effective two-three zone defensive scheme, Syracuse should be the team to beat once the brackets are here.

Following at the second spot are the Kansas Jayhawks. After suffering their first conference loss, the Jayhawks are determined to bounce back. Coach Bill Self said, ”I am believing we can get something out of (the OSU loss). I don’t think the thing is broken. I do think we need to evaluate our things. We need to take great pride in the things that help us win, especially this time of year.”

The loss at Oklahoma State could be a sign of fate for Kansas as the last time the Jayhawks visited Stillwater back in 2008, they suffered a one-point defeat. Then they went on to win out, capturing the NCAA title. The defeat also meant that the only team to ever go undefeated in Big 12 play remains the 2001-02 Jayhawks squad coached by…

You ready to rake in some cash on March?

What’s the biggest betting event of the year in North America? Not so fast if you guessed the Super Bowl. While the Super Bowl lays claim to being the largest wagered event of the year, March Madness surpasses the NFL’s crown jewel in total wagering volume, probably because the tourney stretches over three weeks.

There is still a little more than a month of college basketball to be played this 2010 NCAA college basketball season before Selection Sunday, but the talk of ”Bubble” teams and tournament seeds is starting to heat up as we hit the most exciting part of the NCAA hoops schedule.

One of the marquee games of every college b-ball schedule, Duke Blue Devils vs. North Carolina Tar Heels, tipped off already. It was the spotlight game for sports bettors as well, as it attracted the most action on the board. The sports betting public scored a solid win as the Tar Heels took it on the chin.

Online sportsbooks had Duke as a -5.5-point favorite, a number they easily covered and with approximately 75 percent of all the betting volume on the Blue Devils, it was a winner for the players. While NC won the NCAA basketball championship last season, they lost power forward Tyler Hansbrough to the NBA and have been a shadow of their former selves this season.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are near the bottom of the…

You read it, we’ll see more of Tim Tebow soon.

In case you didn’t know, Tim Tebow will be in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida even before he officially gets drafted to the NFL.

Confused? Don’t be. It’s just about this little 30-second TV spot for Tim Tebow during the CBS broadcast of the Super Bowl. And since Florida will host the Super Bowl this year, you shouldn’t be surprised to see only one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever come from Florida in the state’s take on the NFL’s annual extravaganza.

The 30-second TV ad will feature the former Florida Gators quarterback and his mother Pam. Tebow and his mother will share one of their many personal family – affirming stories, one of which could be her decision to carry him to term despite a life-threatening pregnancy in the Philippines where she and her husband Bob were serving as Christian missionaries.

You read it, doctors advised Pam to have an abortion or risk a life-threatening pregnancy. Pam chose the latter and nine months later, she gave birth to Tim Tebow who later became a Heisman Trophy winner, a BCS national champion and one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play college football.

The TV ad is produced by the Colorado Springs – based ministry, Focus on the Family.

Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said Tebow agreed to appear in the ad because the issue of life is one he and his family feel so strongly about. Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, is known for being home – schooled…