College basketball betting enthusiasts looking for a new sport to handicap once the tournament comes to an end, should look no further then baseball. This year appears to be bigger then last season, as several teams have made major adjustments, in terms of player depth, salary and expectations. Meaning to say, we didn’t think last year’s March Madness betting baseball season could be topped, but expectations are high for this year. Here is a look at the futures odds for several teams.

The Toronto Blue Jays enter the 2012 season with expectations never being higher under GM Alex Anthopoulos. As of this writing, the young Blue Jays with their new uniforms, and revamped bullpen, own odds of 22 to one to win the American League pennant. By all accounts, this prediction may still be a year away, as the players continue to make adjustments to Manager John Farrell and his staff. However, for all intents and purposes, with the MLB introducing a second wild card spot in each league, the odds of the Blue Jays in the playoffs and World Series just got better. Also, the Blue Jays will need star slugger Jose Bautista, and the rest of the young offense, show critics and fans alike, that they are all ready to take the next step in their development. If the Blue Jays can have career years, and live up to their motto of “Hustle and Heart” they should go far in the playoffs.

Another team with surprisingly high value on the futures line is the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe took the MLB world by storm last season, as they led the American League Central from the start of the season until about the middle of July, before tailing off. With the youthful Indians playing above expectation, the lack of consistency from veterans brought in to help the team was overlooked. Yet, this season, like the Blue Jays at 22 to one odds, the Indians at 35 to one, indicates fans and bookies alike expect the team to contend for a playoff spot.

March Madness betting enthusiasts looking ahead to the baseball season, and which types of wagers they want to make, should consider looking at totals. As the name suggests, totals takes into consideration, the amount of runs the two teams to makeup a game combine to score. Similar to college basketball betting games, when you handicap baseball totals, you have the option of taking the over, which means you want the teams to score more runs then the line posted, or the under, which means you want less runs then what are being posted. Today, we’ll look at a specific time frame for when you should start betting on totals. Here is a guide to help.

For all intents and purposes, the All Star Game signals the half way point of the MLB season, as all 30 teams, have played 81 of the 162 game season. The ASG also allows bettors and bookies the opportunity to see which teams will likely make the playoffs, and which are out of it. In other words, the ASG paints a clearer picture of the pretender from the contenders, after a confusing first half of the season. Post ASG is also, when you will see many sharp bettors bet the totals. Here is why.

Essentially, when looking for value on both the over and under for the total, you should look at the teams with the best offense and pitching. In many cases, you will see a team with excellent pitching, struggle to score runs, while a team with mediocre pitching may have an excellent offense. For example, the Philadelphia Phillies harbored the best pitching rotation in the MLB this past season, yet they had one of the worst offenses. As a result, the sharps would take the under in their games, because they knew that the pitching would limit the opposing teams offense.