The Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots both have identical records of 11-5 in the 2008-09 NFL regular season, but by virtue of the tie-breaking rules for the NFL Wild Card, the Baltimore Ravens clinch the last Wild Card slot of the AFC and earn a shot against the AFC East Division champions Miami Dolphins.

Actually, the Miami Dolphins also ended the 2008-09 NFL regular season with an 11-5 record, but because of the tie-breaking rules, the AFC East Division title was given to the Miami Dolphins instead of the New England Patriots. The New England Patriots were hoping to earn another trip to the Super Bowl, but that’s not going to happen.

The Miami Dolphins will have the home field advantage, and will hope to exploit that advantage to win against the Baltimore Ravens. The Miami Dolphins have a vulnerable 5-3 home record which will be matched against the successful road record of the Baltimore Ravens, who are 5-3 on the road.

It will be the first playoff berth of the Miami Dolphins since 2001, and this season is a big bounce back for the Miami Dolphins, who had the worst record in the last NFL season. Of course, the Miami Dolphins will hope to defeat the Baltimore Ravens, who have already won against the Miami Dolphins in Miami this season. The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Miami Dolphins in Miami back in October 2008 with a score of 27-13.

The Miami Dolphins will be relying on star quarterback Chad Pennington while the Baltimore Ravens will be relying on star quarterback Joe Flacco.

Find out the latest AFC Wild Card odds, betting lines and prop bets at the NFL Sportsbook.

Super Bowl XLIII Packages and  Tickets Available Here

2009 NFL Playoff Tickets available here.

The Indianapolis Colts have an impressive 12-4 record to end the 2008-09 NFL regular season, but still that record only gave them an AFC Wild Card slot as the Indianapolis Colts failed to win the AFC South division title from the Tennessee Titans, who had an awesome 13-3 regular season record.

The AFC West division champs San Diego Chargers may have won the home field advantage after clinching the AFC West division title with a rather dismal 8-8 record, but those are the rules of NFL playoff qualifications, and hopefully that can be something good for them.

Of course, the favorites to win are the Indianapolis Colts, who are on a 9-game winning streak. The Indianapolis Colts with their star quarterback Peyton Manning are hoping to return to the Super Bowl stage and perhaps earn another Super Bowl championship should they win past the San Diego Chargers, who are hoping to win their 4th consecutive NFL game in the AFC Wild Card showdown against the Indianapolis Colts.

Check out the latest AFC Wild Card odds, betting lines and prop bets at the NFL Sportsbook.

Super Bowl XLIII Packages and  Tickets Available Here

2009 NFL Playoff Tickets available here.

AC Milan are currently third in the Italian Serie A standings with 33 points, 9 points behind defending champions and Italian Serie A leaders Inter Milan and just 3 points behind Juventus.

In 2009, AC Milan hope to rack up more wins and possibly work their way to the top of the Italian Serie A standings, especially now that AC Milan have acquired the talents of football superstar David Beckham, who is on-loan to AC Milan from the LA Galaxy. David Beckham will be playing for AC Milan for a few months while the Major League Soccer is on its break.

David Beckham will be joining other AC Milan football stars like Ronaldinho, Kaka, Emerson, Filippo Inzaghi, Pato, Andrea Pirlo and Andriy Schevchenko en route to their campaign for the 2008-09 Italian Serie A title.

Upcoming fixtures for AC Milan in the Italian Serie A include matches against AS Roma (January 11), Fiorentina (January 17), Bologna (January 25), Genoa (January 28), Lazio (February 1), Reggina  on February 8 and the Milan Derby against arch-rivals Inter Milan on February 15.

David Beckham will also be expected to help AC Milan in their UEFA Cup campaign when they face Werder Bremen on February 2009.

Find out the latest Italian Serie A odds, betting lines and prop bets at the Italian Serie A Sportsbook.

AC Milan Tickets available here.

The NFC South Division title is being sought after by the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons. All will be decided on Week 17 of the NFL regular season when the Carolina Panthers face the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons face the St. Louis Rams. Why is that important for the Dallas Cowboys?

Well, whatever happens in the NFC South, either the Atlanta Falcons or the Carolina Panthers will get one of two NFC Wild Card slots. The other NFC Wild Card slot will be contested by the NFC North Chicago Bears, NFC North Minnesota Vikings and the NFC East Dallas Cowboys.

By virtue of some mathematical reasoning, the Minnesota Vikings look to be favorites to win the last NFC Wild Card when they host the New York Giants, who have the best record in the NFC. How does this reasoning work out?

The Minnesota Vikings will play host to the NFC best record and defending Super Bowl champions New York Giants, who already qualified for the 2009 NFL Playoffs a long time ago. Most probably, the New York Giants will be resting a lot of their starters and key players to keep them healthy and injury-free for the upcoming 2009 NFL Playoffs. Certainly, the Minnesota Vikings will exploit this situation as well as the home field advantage in order to come up with a win and probably book the NFC North Division title away from the Chicago Bears. Also a key betting tip is that the Minnesota Vikings have a solid 5-2 home record.

The Chicago Bears will be visitors to the Houston Texans, and while the Chicago Bears look to have more fire power in disposing the Houston Texans, the Chicago Bears will have the handicap of playing away from home. The Chicago Bears may have a 3-game win streak going for them, but their dismal 3-4 road record is going against them. Incidentally, the Houston Texans are 5-2 at home.

The Dallas Cowboys will have to win on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, who have an impressive 5-2 home record. The Dallas Cowboys 3-4 record doesn’t look very decisive, but then it is the last game of the season and the last chance of the Dallas Cowboys to qualify for a 2009 NFL Playoff slot with a win that could give them a shot at the last slot of the NFC Wild Card slot. If the Minnesota Vikings win, they will earn the NFC North Division title, and if the Chicago Bears fall on the road, then the Dallas Cowboys will win the last NFC Wild Card should they win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Check out the latest NFL odds, betting lines, NFL game prop bets and NFL early market bets at the NFL Sportsbook.

Super Bowl XLIII Packages and Super Bowl XLIII Tickets available here.

NFL Tickets Available Here!

It’s Week 17 of the 2008-09 NFL regular season, and the last week of the NFL regular season at that!

And while some NFL teams of the AFC may be able to rest their starters for the 2009 NFL Playoffs, the AFC East has all to compete for in the last game of the 2008-09 NFL regular season. In fact, the race for the AFC East Division title is on a very rare three-way swing, contested for by the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. The Buffalo Bills kept it close throughout the season, but just ran out of steam towards the end to keep them out of the race.

The Miami Dophins and the New England Patriots have identical 10-5 records while the New York Jets trails with a 9-6 record. The scenario for Week 17 in the AFC East shows the Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets at Miami, and then the New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills  at Buffalo, New York.

The Miami Dolphins will have the home field advantage and the momentum of a 3-game win streak against the New York Jets, who lost last week to the Seattle Seahawks.

The New England Patriots are on a four-game win streak, but the Buffalo Bills are out to spoil their chance to get in the 2009 NFL Playoffs.

Maybe the NFL should’ve just put the Miami Dolphins vs New England Patriots to settle the AFC East Division title, and the playoff spot. But in any case, both teams have to win against very worth AFC East opponents on the last week of the NFL regular season.

I’ll put my bet on the Miami Dolphins to win the 2009 AFC East Division Title. The Miami Dolphins have really turned things around since last season when they had a NFL league-worst record of 1-15. Certainly, they have what it takes this season to defeat the New York Jets this season with the likes of Miami Dolphins QB (and last season’s New York Jets QB) Chad Pennington, who is among the NFL’s top ten in passing yards.

Of course, I’d expect the New York Jets to give their best, especially since they still might have a shot at the AFC East title if the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots fall to the Buffalo Bills.The New York Jets will be relying on super-star QB Brett Favre,who might not be as nimble, but still has the experience and charisma to lead a team to the Super Bowl, maybe even Super Bowl XLIII.

As for the New England Patriots - Well, they’ve managed well without 2007-08 NFL MVP Tom Brady, who got injured in Week 1 and was kept out the entire season. New England Patriots QB Matt Cassel has stepped up well, and is ranked No. 8 among NFL in quarterbacks in passing stats.

However, the Buffalo Bills are a good home team. In fact, the Buffalo Bills were able to do well at the start of the regular season, and may still use the last game to prove their worth against last year’s Super Bowl finalists New England Patriots, who also had last season’s best record in the NFL. It’s a tough match for the Buffalo Bills, but then they are the only ones in the position to take a stand against the New England Patriots, and it’s no doubt that the Buffalo Bulls will step up to win big on Week 17.

Bet on Miami Dolphins to win AFC East Division title. 

Check out the latest odds, betting lines, prop bets and early markets bets for the NFL and visit the NFL Sportsbook.

Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets Tickets available here.

New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills Tickets available here.

Super Bowl XLIII Packages and Tickets available here.

NFL Tickets available here.

Bet on the New York Knicks!

The New York Knicks are ranked 9th in the Eastern Conference, and are outside the top 8 that would make the NBA Playoffs if the playoffs were to happen today. The New York Knicks are also 11-13 straight up, and are 11.5 games behind Atlantic Division leaders Boston Celtics, who will most probably win the Atlantic Division and even maybe even the 2009 NBA Finals. But even with these dismal stats, there is a bright spark for sports bettors of the New York Knicks.

The New York Knicks are actually on a hot streak, going 5-0 against the spread in its last 5 games. Just recently, the New York Knicks lost to the Phoenix Suns 111-103, but won against the spread when the Phoenix Suns fell short against the 8.5 point spread.

The New York Knicks are led by head coach Mike D’Antoni and among its key players are Wilson Chandler, Tim Thomas, Chris Duhon, David Lee and Al Harrington. The New York Knicks can expect more success when Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson recover from injuries.

Meanwhile, the New York Knicks are a good bet against the spread as they have been underestimated by NBA odds makers in their performance. Just because the New York Knicks may not have all-star names in their roster doesn’t mean that they’ll be blown out in every game when they face all-stars. In fact, when the New York Knicks win, they win big. On their last 3 wins, the New York Knicks led opponents by double digits. Most impressive was a 104-92 home win against the all-star roster of the Detroit Pistons.

The New York Knicks will be having big away games against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center and against the 2008 NBA Champions Boston Celtics at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. Given the recent success of the New York Knicks against the spread, sports bettors can expect to get paid big when betting on the New York Knicks against the spread.

Bet on the New York Knicks and other upcoming NBA games, and visit the NBA Sportsbook.

For more NBA odds, NBA betting previews and NBA betting trends, visit the NBA betting information page of betandtips.com here.

New York Knicks Tickets available here.

NBA Tickets available here.

Liverpool vs Arsenal. Rafa Benitez vs Arsene Wenger. Fernando Torres vs Cesc Fabregas

18-time English Premier League champions Liverpool FC are  certainly are on track to win the English Premier League title this season, and make it their 19th Premier League title. Under the leadership of Rafa Benitez, Liverpool is currently leading the English Premier League standings with 38 points and have a rather impressive record of 11 wins, 5 draws and only 1 loss so far.

On their most recent fixture, Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Hull City.

Meanwhile, Arsenal haven’t had the same success as Liverpool in the English Premier League, and currently sit at the 5th spot of the Premier League standings with 30 points. Arsenal have been somewhat erratic. Arsenal managed to defeat Chelsea 2-1 at the home pitch of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and at a time when Chelsea were the English Premier League leaders, and Arsenal were able to defeat English Premier League champions Manchester United 2-1.

However, Arsenal also succumbed to a 3-0 defeat by Premier League underachievers Manchester City, and a 2-0 loss to bottom placers Stoke City.

Definitely, Arsenal has the capactiy to win the big games, but they also can embarassingly be defeated by the bottom-placer clubs of the English Premier League, and their consistency is definitely a huge concern for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are enjoying good fortune with their English Premier League matches, and their top players like Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt have been serving up the goals in bunches. Of course, the key to Liverpool’s success is the health of its key players, such as Fernando Torres, who has only started in 7-of-17 matches this season.

Arsenal are also plagued with injuries, especially that of Theo Walcott.

Arsenal will have the home pitch advantage at the Emirates Stadium when they face Liverpool this coming weekend, but Liverpool are expected to come out with the win as they have proven to be the more consistent club in the English Premier League.

Arsenal will look to its key players like Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and Gael Clichy to provide the win. Liverpool will be looking to the likes of Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano to book the win.

Bet on Arsenal vs Liverpool and other upcoming fixtures of the English Premier League at the English Premier League sportsbook.

Arsenal vs Liverpool Tickets Available Here.

English Premier League tickets available here.