March Madness betting players are getting ready for the conference tournaments, but there is still the final weekend of the regular season and there is plenty on the line. Here is a look at just three of the many matchups in your sportsbook this weekend.

Notre Dame UConn Betting – Saturday, 2:00 PM ET

The Huskies should be favored at home in this Big East affair, and they’ve owned the Fighting Irish in Hartford since 2000, going 9-1 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 at home against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are 4-6 ATS away from home this season, while the Huskies are 6-5 ATS on their home court. Notre Dame needs a win and a Pitt loss to earn a share of the regular-season title.

Duke North Carolina Betting – Saturday, 8:00 PM ET

The Tar Heels will be favored in Chapel Hill, even though they’re 2-3 SU and ATS in their last five meetings at home against the Blue Devils, who are 6-4 ATS away from Cameron Indoor Stadium. North Carolina is 7-8 ATS at the Dean Dome this season, and this should be a crazy game with the ACC regular-season title on the line.

Wisconsin Ohio State Betting – Sunday, 4:00 PM ET

As they aim to clinch the Big Ten regular-season title, the Buckeyes should be the home favorites in Columbus, where they are 8-8 ATS, while the Badgers are 5-6 ATS on the road. Ohio State has gone 4-1 SU and 3-2 ATS in their last five meetings at home against Wisconsin, who ended the Buckeyes’ run at a perfect season in Madison, and now Ohio State is a No.1 team again for this online sports betting rematch.

NBA betting online enthusiasts looking for the latest edge over the have come to the right place.

Each season, several telling trends form for basketball sports betting handicappers to consider. Through almost half of the 2010-11 seasons, here are several trends we have noticed.

Straight Up Trends:

In a rather intriguing revelation, it was discovered that home teams had a higher win percentage at 58.79 percent than road teams at 38.14 percent. Essentially through the first quarter of the season, away teams had a win loss record of 222 to 360. Meanwhile, home teams formed a record of 348 wins and 234 losses.

What’s perhaps most astounding were the straight up stats between favorites and underdogs. Thus far in the season, bettors taking the favorite, would have won their bets with a win percentage of 66.01 percent. Yet if you took the underdogs in that same span, you would have only won 31.84 percent of your games.

Moreover, home and away favorites shared almost identical win percentages thus far in the 2010-11 NBA betting season. For instance, home favorites had a win loss record of 279 – 136, good enough for 67.23 winning percentage. While the road favorites had a win loss of 90-54 good enough for a win percentage of 62.50 percent.

Against The Spread Trends:

When it comes to point spread betting trends, fans should expect a little closer of a win percentage between away and home teams. For example, so far this season, road teams have a record of 274-271-14 against the point spread for a win percentage of 50.28.

On the other hand, to find the home team’s record against the point spread, simply reverse the wins and losses for the road team. This would form a record of 271-274-14 good enough for a win percentage of 49.72 percent.

NFL betting players only have one matchup on Christmas Day, and it’s not even that good, so they should make their way over to the NBA portion of their sportsbook for a full slate of games. Here are tips for three of the five Christmas Day matchups.

Bulls Knicks Betting (Saturday, 12:00 PM ET)

The Knicks should be favored in this clash of two teams making their way up the Eastern Conference ranks, and they’re 3-2 SU and ATS in their last five at Madison Square Garden against the Bulls, who are 9-4 ATS on the road. The Knicks are 7-6-1 ATS at home this season.

Celtics Magic Betting (Saturday, 2:30 PM ET)

The Celtics should be favored on the road in Orlando, where they are 3-2 SU and 4-1 ATS in their last five trips. Boston is 9-4 ATS away from home in 2010, while the Magic are 6-8-1 ATS at Amway Arena. Both teams have issues (Boston with injuries, Orlando with new players), but they’ll want to make a statement in this matchup of Eastern Conference powers.

Heat Lakers Betting (Saturday, 5:00 PM ET)

The Lakers should be favored at home on Christmas Day, and they’ve played on this day every year since 1999 (this is Kobe Bryant’s 13^th Christmas game). The Lakers are 5-8 ATS at home, while the Heat are 9-6 ATS on the road. There will be a ton of star power at the Staples Center, and the Heat will be out to show they can push the champions. You should be watching this game whether you’re a betting player or not.

I wonder what the sports betting odds were on how long it would take Allen Iverson to return to the NBA. “The Answer” made his return to the team that drafted him, the Philadelphia 76ers in a 93-83 loss to Denver, where Iverson was traded to last year from Detroit. Iverson played 38 minutes, going 4-of-11 from the floor for 11 points, while adding six assists and five boards for the 76ers. Quite frankly, this is the best scenario for Iverson, and for the 76ers’ NBA betting odds.

First, Philadelphia fans LOVE Iverson. I mean, the last time they were good, he was the reason for it. They’ll follow that dude through a fire if they have to. Second, Iverson seems to realize that it’s Andre Igoudala’s team, as Iggy had 31 against the 76ers. Now, I have no problem with Iverson playing major minutes….as long as he understands that he’s no longer a superstar and starts jacking up 30 shots a game. Iverson is an excellent complementary piece if he keeps his head together, and you never know: the 76ers could be an NBA betting darkhorse in your sportsbook if Iverson sticks to the script.

Cleveland is finally playing like the sportsbook favorites we allkknew they were, and they played very well in a 111-104 win over Miami on the road, their third straight win away from home. But that’s neither here nor there. I’m wonder if the kids still hang up posters on their wall, because THIS is the epitome of a posterization:

AND THEN…..he goes back to walk over him, Allen Iverson-Tyronn Lue style:

This has no bearing on either team’s online betting odds, but you may look back on this later in the season, and I’m willing to bet you won’t see a better posterization than that. Then, Anderson Varejao (Sideshow Bob) had the nerve to try and talk smack to D-Wade after the play was done. He got a technical foul for his efforts. You know, he’s a talented player, but someone needs to tell Bob to shut up sometimes. Actin’ like you’re worth $10-12 mil a season,  you know what that gets:

My pick for Saturday’s Pacquiao Cotto odds: Miguel will give him a run, but he doesn’t have the patience to hang with Manny, who will frustrate him into making a mistake.

College football betting is my main focus until the NBA season heats up, even though many are dying to make a World Series bet, so here’s my three picks to watch this weekend, with odds from BetOnline.com:

No.13 Penn State vs Michigan – Saturday, October 24, 3:30 PM ET

BetOnline.com odds: Penn State -4.5

The Nittany Lions have lost five straight trips to the “Big House”, and they’re facing a Michigan team that is getting better each and every week. With two road losses by a combined eight points (one in overtime) and coming off an almost-criminal 63-6 destruction of Delaware State, the Wolverines have momentum. With the charges rallying behind Tate Forcier, bet on the home underdogs.

No.1 Florida vs Mississippi State – Saturday, October 24, 7:30 PM ET

BetOnline.com Odds: Florida -22.5

The Gators haven’t come close to being as good as they were last year, and they were gambling with their 16-game winning streak last week with four turnovers in a last-second win over Arkansas. They’ve lost their last two trips to Mississippi State as road underdogs, and their play hasn’t been convincing at all, it’s like Urban Meyer is in a gambling ring or something. Florida may squeeze out another win, but there’s no way in this world they’re covering that spread.

No.3 Texas vs Missouri – Saturday, October 24, 8:00 PM ET

BetOnline.com Odds: Texas -12.5

Colt McCoy says he’s fine after getting beaten up all over the field in last week’s 16-13 win over Oklahoma in the “Red River Rivalry”, and he’s surely better off than Sooners’ counterpart Sam Bradford, who re-injured his shoulder, is now out for the season, and may need to go into employment as a district attorney after turning down last year’s guaranteed NFL money. The Tigers have dropped two straight and are starting to show their stripes. They’re a very young team, which is usually  something to stay away from when you make a bet on sports. However, their defense is quick but small, and they’re starting to wear down. The Longhorns will make it six in a row over the Tigers, easy enough to cover in your sportsbook.

Oklahoma City’s NBA odds are awful in the first place, but then, Henry Abbott came out with an column on ESPN that said Kevin Durant is hurting his team. Okay, here goes:

I’m not going to look at the numbers, because I’m sure they’re all very pretty and Abbott probably did a lot of research, but really? Kevin Durant hurting the Thunder? The kid averaged 25.3 points and 6.5 boards last year, and I’m pretty sure there is no way to quantify the load that Durant had to carry last year. You know: pretty much an entire franchise on the back of a 21-year-old (then 20). Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook are great wingmen, but they couldn’t carry the team like Durant, who is moving up the sportsbook ranks as an MVP candidate.

Let’s not even mention that he makes going to a Thunder game worth the price per head (most of the time, anyway). Durant does more for that franchise than what is shown in the box scores and stats (and he fills those, too). So if you see Henry Abbott out and about, don’t let him make any of your sports picks for you.

This weekend’s big matchup comes the Florida vs LSU odds, and the No.1 Gators are favored by a touchdown at Death Valley. However, they began as 9.5-point favorites in your sportsbook, and it’s all because of the health of one man.

Tim Tebow is a game-time decision due to the concussion he suffered two weeks ago at Kentucky, and the former Heisman winner (as well as one of this year’s favorites) hasn’t participated in any contact drills yet. Contact is basically the most important part of Tebow’s game, and this will change Florida’ place dramatically. However, he has to consider if future as one of the top NFL picks next year, and he shouldn’t do anything stupid.

LSU has won 32 Saturday night games in a row at Death Valley, and they can’t be happy about being an underdog at home. The Tigers are coming off a big win at Georgia, yet they still haven’t played to their expectations. They’ll make a statement and blow the championship race wide open with a win. Regardless, the atmosphere alone in Tiger Stadium will be well worth the price per head.

Perhaps in an effort to increase Orlando’s betting chances, it’s been reported that Rashard Lewis has been suspended for the first 10 games of the season for using DHEA, a multi-functional steroid which has been banned by many leagues, including the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Well, at least we know that NBA players do, in fact, do other drugs outside of smoking weed. The surprise here is that it’s Lewis, who’s never really got in any trouble and would probably be the last person you’d think of if this was an offshore sportsbook prop. It’s supposed to buld muscle, but, um…..have you seen Rashard Lewis lately? Dude’s not exactly Arnold Schwarznegger. He must not be using it right.

We’re betting management of the Magic must be THRILLED over this.

Well, so much for any US Open betting taking place today. Bethpage Black was turned into a virtual lake this morning, allowing the group of Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington to complete only three holes. Cabrera leads the group at even par, while Woods is +1, and Harrington is struggling at +4. Bethpage is hard enough as it is, but as waterlogged as the course was, they probably should have even went out this morning. I’m betting management at the course didn’t want to see this happen.

So how does this affect the players? Well, the players who went out this morning are at a disadvantage because they had to play through crap, while the players who haven’t teed off could be getting much better conditions. Then again…..it could be even worse tomorrow.  It’s calling for showers for the next four days. I guess it’s a good way for golf betting players to practice up for the British Open.