Sometimes it’s too much work just to get out of bed, let alone do the research required to make a sharp bet. That’s when you decide to risk a mouthful of chalk and go for the easy button. It won’t get any easier in 2008 than betting on these 10 guaranteed locks (Note: not a guarantee).

USC over Illinois (straight up) at the Rose Bowl
The New England Patriots to win the Super Bowl
Tiger Woods to win the WGC-CA Championship
Justine Henin to win the French Open
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s first child (1-3) to be born with brown eyes
Germany (8-13) to win Euro 2008 Group B
Australia (-200) over England at The Ashes 2009
Ken Livingstone (1-2) to win the London mayoral election
Ronnie O’Sullivan (3-1) to win the World Snooker Championship
Kanye West’s Graduation (1-5) to win the Grammy for Rap Album of the Year

The NFL, by virtue of being the most popular sport to gamble on in North America, can also be the toughest to handicap. Games are few and lines are tight. But there is still a solid advantage to be gained against the betting public.

Myths persist about football despite the relatively smart mainstream coverage and analysis the NFL enjoys. The casual fan continues to divide the sport into “skill” and “non-skill” positions, overvaluing the contributions of the running backs and the wide receivers compared to the offensive linemen and the safeties. Many football analysts in the public eye look more like casual fans than experts.

You can make a healthy profit on NFL games by taking this knowledge gap into consideration. Teams missing starting players on their offensive lines or in the secondary are stronger fade candidates; those missing big-name “skill” players are more attractive if they have competent, no-name back-ups.

The best tip you could have received for NBA betting before the season began was to bet it all on the Celtics right from the start. But since the time machine hasn’t been perfected yet, you’ll have to do your homework to make some profit on your NBA bets the rest of the way. You can still keep dumping money on the Celtics, but Boston has since failed to cover the spread for the first time this season and fell to Orlando Sunday.

One factor you can take advantage of in NBA betting that doesn’t exist in the NFL is lengthy opposite-coast road trips. In the NFL teams play one week and get at least six days off before playing again. In the NBA fatigue can become a big factor when an east-coast team heads west, or a west-coast team heads east. Most coast-to-coast trips aren’t for just one game, and during a two- or three-game road trip across the country, the second or third game can be real tough on the visiting team. Give the schedule a closer look, find the teams making the cross-country journey, and try betting against them. It will often pay off.