Wednesday Betting Review and Preview

Unbeaten Ball State and a pair of NBA teams that just made a big trade are in action on Wednesday night. Here's a look at all of the day's games in your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

There are two college football games on the Wednesday schedule, with Toledo at Akron, and Northern Illinois at No. 16 Ball State. The Rockets/Zips matchup is expected to be the tighter one - Akron is listed as just a 4.5-point favorite. The Zips beat Eastern Michigan 42-35 last time out to improve to 4-4 (5-2-1 ATS). Toledo lost 24-23 to Central Michigan in their last outing; they're now at just 2-6 straight-up and 4-4 ATS on the year.

Meanwhile, ranked Ball State will be looking to keep their perfect season intact when they take on Northern Illinois as a 10-point favorite. The Cardinals beat Eastern Michigan 38-16 last time out, and they're now 8-0 (plus a lucrative 6-1 ATS) on the season. Northern Illinois has won three straight games to sit at 5-3 (5-2 ATS) through eight games. The Huskies edged Bowling Green by a score of 16-13 in their last game. Check out handicappers hotter than Gina Lynn at OffshoreInsiders.com.

Other Notable Events

The Pistons and Nuggets will try out their new-look rosters on Wednesday night, with Detroit at Toronto and Denver at Golden State. The Nuggets swapped guard Allen Iverson for guard Chauncey Billups, forward Antonio McDyess, and center Cheick Samb after starting the season 1-2. The Pistons are unbeaten at 3-0 so far this season.

The rest of the NBA's schedule on a busy Wednesday: Phoenix at Indiana, Charlotte at New York, Philadelphia at Miami, Boston at Oklahoma City, San Antonio at Minnesota, Washington at Milwaukee, Chicago at Cleveland, Atlanta at New Orleans, Portland at Utah, and Memphis at Sacramento. As well, we'll get another Clippers/Lakers matchup.

The Rest of the Schedule

It's a slow night around the National Hockey League on Wednesday, with just three games on the schedule: Tampa Bay at New Jersey, Edmonton at Columbus, and St. Louis at Anaheim. The Devils are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Sabres, and future Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur will miss the next three-to-four months with an elbow injury. Veteran backup Kevin Weekes will take over for Brodeur while he is out of action.

News from the Wire

The Browns have seen enough of quarterback Derek Anderson for now - he'll be benched in favor of Brady Quinn this week . . . Lions quarterback Dan Orlovsky has a sprained thumb, giving newly-signed Daunte Culpepper an even better chance of starting this week . . . Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left Monday night's game with a shoulder injury, leaving it to backup Byron Leftwich to finish up the victory.

A Peek at the Future

There are only two games on the NBA's schedule for Thursday night: Philadelphia at Orlando, and Houston at Portland . . . No. 23 Maryland is a 3.5-point road underdog against Virginia Tech in college football action on Thursday, while No. 11 TCU is favored by 2.5 points against No. 10 Utah . . . the first round of the CFL playoffs will take place on Saturday, with Edmonton at Winnipeg, and British Columbia at Saskatchewan.

No. 1 Sports Handicapper Proves to Have Great Political Acumen

It wasn't the television networks, the Portland Press Herald, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch, Dayton Daily News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, or Raleigh New and Observer who projected Barack Obama the winner first.

It was the nation's best sports and political handicapper, Joe Duffy of GodsTips, who nailed the results. The final electoral map and popular vote tally are incomplete, but Duffy's ability to handicap politics is surpassed only by his sports betting expertise.

Now that the McCain concession speech and the Barack Obama acceptance speech have made it official, politicos turn their attention to the Al Franken-Norm Coleman final tabulation, the Ted Stevens election, California Prop 8 results, and more.

The political betting odds will quiet down briefly, but no doubt the sportsbooks will post proposition bets on anything from who gets inauguration day 2009 tickets, what color will Michelle Obama's dress be at the inauguration, who will be in the Obama cabinet other than Rahm Emanuel, and even which papers make the front page of Newseum.