It’s beginning to look a lot like 2008. After careful consideration and consulting the oracle, I’ve decided these will be the 10 best sports wagers (both teams and single events) in the New Year.

Indianapolis Colts (9-2) to win the Super Bowl: Fading the Pats is fashionable.

San Antonio Spurs (3-1) to win NBA title: Fading the Celtics will be, too.

Toronto Raptors: Still ignored and undervalued against the spread.

Drake Bulldogs, NCAAB: Already 7-0 ATS and far better than expected.

Chelsea (6-1) to win English Premiership: Just six points back of Arsenal.

Germany (8-13) to win Euro 2008 Group B: Croatia is their best opponent.

Rafael Nadal (6-1) to win Australian Open: Will pass Federer soon.

Ottawa Senators (2-1) to win Eastern Conference: Great team, shaky conference.

Phil Mickelson (10-1) to win 2008 U.S. Masters: Great odds for 2004, 2006 champ.

Frank Mir (+145) over Brock Lesnar at UFC 81: Classic anti-public pick.

College football’s bowl season is a prime betting opportunity, as teams from different conferences get mixed and matched. The greater the disparity in talent between the conferences, the bigger the opportunity.

Consider the Hawaii Warriors. They built most of their 12-0 record in the WAC. How does that compare to the 10-2 Georgia Bulldogs coming out of the SEC? According to stathead Brian Fremeau, not so good. He has the Warriors ranked No. 42 in the nation in efficiency, Georgia ninth. Yet the Warriors are getting just eight points at the Fiesta Bowl.

On the flip side, the little guys can sometimes be even better than the public thinks, especially when matched up against a mediocre major-conference opponent. These are the traditional bowl underdogs sharps load up on (remember last year’s Navy-Boston College tilt?), but the pickings are slim this time around – perhaps Ball State (+10) against underachieving Rutgers at the International Bowl.