As always along with the Super Bowl comes some significant gambling. The Super Bowl is the most gambled-on sporting event in the United States, with more than $100 million wagered on the game in some years, according to FOXBusiness.com.

American Gaming Association data, complete through 2009, show that legal sports wagering in Nevada that year totaled $2.57 billion. However, that number isn’t even close to the actual total as it does not reflect the illegal wagers made elsewhere. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission estimates that illegal sports wagers amount to as much as $380 billion annually and no game brings more action that the Super Bowl.

The Patriots opened up as 3.5 point favorite for Super Bowl XLVI, but most casinos now have the line down to just 3 points. With a ton of early action already going on New York a couple of casinos have now dropped the line to 2.5.

Vegas could stand to take a beating if New York wins.  Several sports books took significant bets on the Giants to win the Super Bowl at odds as high as 80-1 (a $1 bet wins $800).
Prop bets were released on Thursday by Bovada.lv.

Fans have a chance to fire down on what color fluids get dumped on the head coach of the winning it all. Orange has 9-4 odds while just plain water has a 3-1 chance to be thrown on Bill Belichick's or Tom Coughlin's back.

Tom Brady has the best odds to win game MVP at 13-10 and there's a 4-1 chance that Wes Welker will score the Patriots' first touchdown. Odds are 5-2 that Kelly Clarkson will forget or leave out a word of the National Anthem while odds that Madonna will be wearing an NFL jersey at any point during the halftime show are also 5-2. The over/under of Clarkson's anthem is at 1:34 and there are even 3-1 odds on her showing her belly during it.

If this year's Super Bowl isn't enough for you to get excited about, the odds for next year's Super Bowl are already out. Suprisiningly its the Packers and Saints, neither of who will be playing in this year's contest, that are the early favorites.

Celebrities, who are not regular bettors typically, often throw big money and high stakes bets down. Birdman has gone public and said he is going to bet $5 million on the Patriots. While 50 Cent is taking the Giants and pledging to tweet a naked photo if the Pats win.

Just For Fun, NFL super bowl xlvi, prop bets, betting, odds

After witnessing their 43-game home conference win streak come to an end in a 73-68 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday night at Cintas Center, I am starting to wonder if the Xavier Musketeers are even going to be in the field of 68 when the NCAA Tournament tips off in mid-March.

The Musketeers, who were ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation earlier in the season, has now gone 5-7 over their last 12 games including lackadaisical losing efforts over their last two versus Dayton and the Bilikens.

Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com projected Xavier as a No. 11 seed in his most recent projections, but if they continue down their current path their bubble may be popped quickly.

Despite big wins early against the likes of Georgia, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Butler, and Cincinnati, Xavier has struggled in Atlantic 10 Play. Now they have the daunting task of hitting the road for a rare three-game stretch with trips to UNC-Charlotte, George Washington and Memphis ahead.

They have 10 games left in the regular season, including nine conference tilts. Amongst those games are five matchups against teams that are ahead of them in the A-10 standings. If the team were to drop six of 10 games or more down the stretch and have a mediocre effort in the A-10 tomorrow they will be on the outside looking in come Selection Sunday.

College Hoops xavier musketeers, atlantic 10, bracketology, 2012 ncaa tournament

I go back to 1995 for my No. 9 Super Bowl Ad, the Budweiser frogs...

Just For Fun best super bowl commercials ever, super bowl ads, lists

Like GetSportsInfo.com on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter...

College Football, College Hoops, Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Football, MLB, NBA, NFL getsportsinfo.com, facebook, twitter, social media, sports on facebook, sports on twitter

Baseball’s last big free agent of the offseason, first baseman Prince Fielder, has agreed to a 9-year, $214 million deal with the Detroit Tigers, it’s the fourth largest deal in the history of Major League Baseball.

The deal comes less than a month until pitchers and catchers report and took many by surprise as the Tigers weren’t even in the conversation until a little more than a week ago.

Fielder follows in the footsteps of his father, Cecil, who played seven years for the Tigers in 1990-1996 and hit 51 home runs for them in 1990. He was also being courted by the Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers, has averaged 37 homers and 106 RBI the last six years with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The addition of Fielder creates a bit of a logjam at first base where Miguel Cabrera already plays. However, with catcher/first basemen Victor Martinez already out for the season the two sluggers could alternate time between first base and designated hitter.  Cabrera is also expected to see action at third base and could eventually take over their full time if all goes well.

He joins Albert Pujols as All-Star Basemen to leave the senior circuit and the NL Central this offseason for greener pastures with an AL club.

In fact the moves, coupled with Adrian Gonzalez’s trade to Boston last offseason, leave Reds’ first basemen Joey Votto as the only elite option at the position remaining in the NL.

FANTASY SLANT:  Fielder figures to be a top 15 overall option regardless of the trade and I’m not sure him landing in Detroit does much to alter that. I still rank Pujols, Votto, Cabrera, and probably even Gonzalez ahead of Fielder at first base.  However, his arrival to Motown provides great protection for Miguel Cabrera and with the likely to come 3B-position eligibility and Cabrera could move up to our No. 1 overall pick.

Fantasy Baseball, MLB detroit tigers, prince fielder, fantasy advice, 2012 mlb offseason

I am still a couple of weeks away from releasing the first GSI Cheat Sheet for the 2012 Fantasy Football season, but what a better place to start kicking around rankings than the quarterback position. The decisions are not cut and dry, but here's my preliminary top 16 (top half):

TIER 1
1. Aaron Rodgers (GB) - After what he did this season you could justify spending a top 5 pick on him.

2. Drew Brees (NO) - The model of consistency and likely the safest bet at the position.

3. Tom Brady (NE) - His numbers will continue to soar with those tight ends to throw to.

TIER 2
4. Cam Newton (CAR) - It's amazing how much I overestimated him last season, it will not happen again.

5. Matthew Stafford (DET) - Proved he can stay healthy and capable of posting huge numbers regularly.

6. Eli Manning (NYG) - He has taken his game to another level and has weapons galore.

7. Tony Romo (DAL) - The numbers speak for themselves despite all of the drama and baggage.

8. Phillip Rivers (SD) - Expecting a bounce back campaign for Rivers and the Chargers offense in 2012.

TIER 3
9. Michael Vick (PHI) - High upside and will prove to be had for a nice value, but does come with risk.

10. Matt Ryan (ATL) - Too inconsistent to be higher on list, but still a solid fantasy starting option.

11. Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) - Consistentcy from week-to-week is an issue, but he's still a solid fantasy starter.

12. Peyton Manning (IND/???) - Too early to tell if, where and when he is going to play. I'm shying away.

TIER 4
13. Sam Bradford (STL) - Like the arrival of Jeff Fisher to St. Louis and Bradford should progress in 2012.

14. Tim Tebow (DEN) - The fantasy numbers are there more often than not, but you better have a backup plan.

15. Matt Schaub (HOU) - Houston needs him back and at 100 percent to help balance the offense.

16. Andy Dalton (CIN) - After a Pro Bowl rookie campaign look for Dalton to improve on his numbers next year.

Fantasy Football 2012 fantasy football rankings, quarterback rankings

I begin my countdown my favorite Super Bowl ads ever with a look at the Pepsi Delivery Man (1996)...

Just For Fun best super bowl commercials ever, super bowl ads, lists

We take a look at the latest college basketball rankings:

COMPLETE RANKINGS

College Hoops latest polls, college basketball rankings, ap poll, coaches poll

The teams are set for Super Bowl XLVI after a pair of great Conference Championship games. Here are some final takes on this weekend’s games…

PATRIOTS 23, RAVENS 20
--Lucky Seven: New England's seventh Super Bowl appearance puts it one behind Pittsburgh and Dallas

--Brady: Despite season-low totals in completion percentage, yards per attempt, TD-Int differential, and NFL passer rating, the Patriots’ QB still recorded his 16th postseason win as a starter, moving into a tie with Joe Montana for most all-time.

--Cundiff: He made Scott Norwood’s kick look good. His 32-yard shank was one of the biggest choke jobs we’ve seen in any sport in recent memory. Of course, had Lee Evans held on to his TD catch two plays earlier it wouldn’t have matter.

--Rice: Ravens’ running Ray Rice was held to just 78 yards rushing, his second lowest output of the season.

--Flacco: Despite criticism leading up to Sunday’s game the Ravens’ signal caller was more than adequate in the loss, completing 22 of 36 passes for 306 yards, 2 TD’s and an interception.

GIANTS 20, 49ERS 17 (OT)
--Staying Hot: Over the past month the G-Men are playing as good as football as any team in the league becoming the first team in NFL history with a negative point differential in the regular season to make the Super Bowl.

--Eli:  After another stellar performance Manning became the first QB in Super Bowl Era to have 3 games with 275+ pass yards and 2+ pass TD in a single postseason.

--Cruz Control: Cruz set the tone Sunday with eight of his 10 receptions in the first half and finished with 142 yards.

--Niners pressure: San Francisco applied tremendous pressure throughout the game, coming up with six sacks of Eli Manning. The front seven of the 49ers is as good as any in the league.

--Fumbles: Filling in for an injured Ted Ginn Jr, Kyle Williams fumbled not once but twice setting up the game-tying field goal in regulation and the game-winning field goal in overtime.

NFL conference championships, 2011 nfl playoffs, new england patriots, baltimore ravens, new york giants, san francisco 49ers

Three Bengals -- QB Andy Dalton, DT Geno Atkins and TE Jermaine Gresham -- have been added to the AFC squad for next Sunday’s Pro Bowl, the NFL announced today.

Dalton and Atkins were both first alternates in last month’s voting, and Gresham was a third alternate. All three will replace New England players who were removed from the squad today when the Patriots won the AFC Championship and qualified for Super Bowl XLVI. Dalton will replace New England QB Tom Brady, Atkins will take the spot of Patriots DT Vince Wilfork, and Gresham will replace Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski. Two alternates voted ahead of Gresham are not available for the game, the league announced.

The Bengals now have four players headed for the Pro Bowl, as WR A.J. Green was voted to the AFC team last month. The four players have a total of only six years’ NFL experience, as Atkins and Gresham were second-year players in 2011 while Dalton and Green were rookies.

Dalton and Green form the first rookie QB-WR duo from the same team ever to be in the Pro Bowl.

The last time the Bengals had as many as four players in the Pro Bowl was the 2005 season. Five players made it in '05 -- OT Willie Anderson, K Shayne Grahan, WR Chad Ochocinco, CB Deltha O'Neal and QB Carson Palmer.

Dalton is the first rookie QB to make the Pro Bowl since Vince Young of Tennessee in the 2006 season. A second-round draft choice from TCU, Dalton in 2011 led the Bengals to a playoff berth and became the first rookie QB in NFL history to start as many as eight wins and also throw 20 or more TD passes. Dalton also became the first NFL rookie to start every game of a 16-game regular season, much less start 16 and lead his team to the playoffs.

Dalton’s 20 TD passes were a Bengals rookie record, and in four of the nine victories he started, he led the team back from a fourth-quarter deficit.

Dalton and A.J. Green are the first Bengals rookies to make the Pro Bowl since WR Cris Collinsworth in the 1981 season.

Atkins is the first Bengals defensive lineman to make the Pro Bowl since NT Tim Krumrie in the 1988 season.

Atkins led the Bengals in sacks (7.5) in the ’11 regular season, and he tied for the NFL lead among interior linemen. He was the first interior lineman to lead the Bengals in sacks since 1996, when DT Dan Wilkinson led with 6.5.

Atkins tied for the team lead in combined fumbles forced/recovered (four), and he had a fumble return for a touchdown.

Gresham finished second on the Bengals in the regular season in receptions (56), and he was tied for second in touchdowns (six). He was third on the team in receiving yards (596). He is the first Bengals TE to make the Pro Bowl since the 1990 season, when Rodney Holman qualified.

This year’s Pro Bowl will be played in Honolulu, with kickoff next Sunday at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be televised by NBC.

NFL cincinnati bengals, pro bowl, aj green, andy dalton, jermaine gresham, geno atkins