With the 2008 Summer Olympics just several weeks away, sports gamblers are starting to pay a little more attention to the lines being offered by various sportsbooks. While the Olympics remain popular in the United States, the games don’t cause near the excitement in the states that they do in other countries. As a result, sports bettors should be able to find fair prices on many of the U.S. entries.
The United States hasn’t fared too well in men’s basketball recently, but this year’s team appears to be the best one sent out in quite some time. If the team can work together, something which several of the biggest stars, such as Kobr Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade have been stressing, the only thing that should be determined in Beijing is which country wins the silver medal.

Looking at the current odds from Olympic Sportsbook:

USA -325
Spain +465
Argentina +1415
Lithuania +2550
Russia +2550
Field +2050

It’s easy to see the only real competition the United States is expected to receive comes from Spain, but a motivated United States team should be able to dispose of Spain.

Typically, laying such odds as -325 is asking for trouble and is something I’ll almost always argue against, but in this case it appears to make sense. The U.S. has been embarrassed in international play several times in recent years, and this team looks like the one to make some amends.

USA Olympic Women’s Team

While the U.S. men’s team looks to be a decent bet, an even better one is to take the USA women’s team, even though the price is slightly higher.
Looking at current odds from Olympic Sportsbook:
USA -365
Australia +385
Russia +1015
Field +1615
Again, just one team is given much of a chance to defeat the United States, this time it’s Australia, but the US has been dominant in the Olympics, capturing the last three gold medals. Women’s basketball was introduced at the 1976 Olympic Games, and the US women have won five golds, one silver and one bronze, while posting a 42-3 record during that span. With players such as Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi, Cappie Pondexter, and Katie Smith, the US women’s team should be able to breeze past the opposition.

Both US teams are solid favorites, and deservedly so. Barring a major upset, both should also return from China with gold medals.