The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook releases updated futures odds across major sports every week. ESPN Stats & Information senior researcher Matt Willis breaks down the biggest changes within the marketplace, including who is moving up or falling back among odds to win championships and major awards.
NFL: The Pack is back
Thanks to a win last Sunday over the Bears -- the Green Bay Packers' fourth in a row -- the Packers now occupy the second wild-card spot in the NFC, and Vegas has responded.
After they dropped to 4-6 on the season and 60-1 to win the Super Bowl, the Packers have rebounded to 30-1, then 18-1 and now 16-1. The team actually leading the NFC North, the Detroit Lions, is 40-1 to win it all, dropping from 25-1 after last week's loss to the New York Giants.
ESPN's Football Power Index also projects the Packers to reach the postseason. When they were 4-6, Green Bay had only an 11 percent chance to make the playoffs; that was 39 percent entering Sunday's game against the Bears. A win and a Lions loss later, and it's 68 percent.
The Atlanta Falcons, now 9-5 and a game up in the NFC South, also saw their odds improve slightly to 16-1 (from 20-1) to win the Super Bowl. But the Giants, at 10-4 and nearly a lock to make the postseason, are 20-1, despite having a better record than both the Packers and Falcons.
NBA: Rockets launching
This offseason, the Houston Rockets let go of Dwight Howard, causing their odds to drop to 100-1 to begin the season. Coming off a 41-41 season and the No. 8 seed in the West, it was reasonable to have low expectations, even despite the additions of Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon.
However, after the Rockets started December with 10 straight wins (entering Tuesday's game against the Spurs), they now find themselves 30-1 to win the title and 15-1 to win the Western Conference (fourth-best odds), ahead of teams more well-regarded in the preseason, such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers.
Other teams that also started the season with 100-1 title odds include the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans, both of which are more than 10 games under .500 this season.
College Basketball: Something's "Bruin" at UCLA
When last season ended, the UCLA Bruins were 80-1 to win the national championship. Hopefully you got on them then, because by the summer, they were down to 30-1.
From there, the Bruins have only gotten better, moving all the way to 7-1 in this week's release. That puts them tied for the third-best odds in college hoops, along with defending champion Villanova and perennial powerhouse Kansas (only Duke and Kentucky are better).
ESPN's Basketball Power Index isn't quite as high on the Bruins. While they are the best offensive team in the country, according to BPI, but only seventh defensively.
