Bishop Whitmore

The defending national champion Duke Blue Devils opened as the top seed in 2011 NCAA Vegas odds after their title win in the ACC Tournament over arch rival North Carolina. Duke will open tournament play Friday from Charlotte when they take on Hampton. The Blue Devils opened in West regional bracket picks as a prohibitive 5/4 basketball betting favorites to win the West and 9/2 selection to repeat as national champions.

The Kansas Jayhawks earned the number 2 overall seeding in NCAA basketball Vegas odds and the top seed in the Southwest regional as the regular season and conference tournament champion of the Big 12 conference. The Jayhawks will open up action in the Big Dance on Friday from Tulsa against Boston University.

The Ohio State Buckeyes garnered the top seed in both the NCAA Tournament and in East regional odds. Despite having their athletic director, Gene Smith, as chair of the selection committee; it appears as if the AD did his own team no favors as the 2011 bracket predictions for the East includes such powerhouse teams as Syracuse, North Carolina and Kentucky.

The Pitt Panthers are somewhat of a longshot at +800 but the Duke Blue Devils are definitely deserving of their #1 seed, are +400 favorites to win the NCAA tournament and are expected to be one of the final teams on many bracket contest.

The time is finally here... so get your pen and paper ready as we break down our top Vegas college basketball picks and 2011 NCAA bracket predictions for the men's national championship set to begin on Tuesday evening. TruTV will host the "first four" games to start off the NCAA tournament

ABC will televise a critically important SEC Tournament game between the #16 Kentucky Wildcats and the Alabama Crimson Tide that will start at 1:00pm EST. For Alabama a win is likely to be necessary in order to get a ticket to the "Big Dance" and for Kentucky they cannot afford any slip ups that could damage their seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

The Oklahoma City Thunder emerged last year as an up and coming team in NBA betting picks that gamblers had to take serious after their surprisingly strong challenge to the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs last year. Despite the fact that the Lakers won in 6 games, the series was hard fought and far more competitive than expected.

NASCAR betting picks at online sportsbooks have opened with Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards as co +500 favorites to win in Sunday's 2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500 odds from Phoenix International Raceway. The race will be broadcast on FOX television with a scheduled starting time of 3:00pm EST.

A very busy stretch of top mixed martial arts bouts kicks off on Saturday night when UFC betting odds return to Sydney, Australia, for the second time for a main card headlined by a 170-pound showdown between former two-division champion B.J. Penn and welterweight contender Jon Fitch.

The first big event of the PGA Tour betting schedule will take place beginning on Wednesday with the 2011 World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship from the Ritz-Carlton Golf Course in Marana, Arizona with a total purse of $8.5 million at stake.