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A friend passed along early odds on the 2009 NCAA basketball championship from Sportsbook.com. I don’t have a date for when these odds were posted, but obviously they’ll change significantly as rosters fluctuatedue to the NBA Draft, recruiting, etc.

Here are the numbers that stood out as good value bets and bad value bets.

RUN TO THE WINDOWS:
Arizona (75-1): This is an incredibly juicy number. Brandon Jennings is the best incoming freshman in the country, and the suspicion is that Chase Budinger will withdraw from the draft. The Wildcats still have Jordan Hill, and that’s a very good nucleus. Plus, the Pac 10 will be a bit down next year and it’s wide open for Arizona to grab a high seed if you believe the Wildcats will play better under Lute Olson than they did under Kevin O’Neill.

Florida (60-1): I don’t think Florida will have enough to win it all, especially after Marreese Speights unexpectedly entered the draft. But you can’t discount Billy Donovan, and you’ll never be able to get 60-1 on the Gators once the season starts.

Louisville (20-1): This is a bona fide top-10 preseason team, and if you can get 20-1 on that kind of team, take it.

Notre Dame (30-1): Everybody’s got Notre Dame in the top 10, some as high as No. 3. Not sure if I quite buy that, but they do bring back all the key pieces from a very good team.

Oklahoma (50-1): Tremendous value in this team. You’ve got Blake Griffin coming back, and he could be the No. 1 overall pick in 2009. You’ve still got his brother, Taylor Griffin, and you’re adding a stud perimeter scorer in Willie Warren. The only important player they lose is Longar Longar.

STAY AWAY
Duke (10-1): The roster is still flawed, and the odds are terrible.

Davidson (50-1): There is no way Davidson wins a national championship next year. At 150 or 200-1, it might be worth a flyer, but not at 50-1.

Indiana (100-1): You can’t make a high enough number for me to take Indiana. Total rebuild job.

Kansas (20-1): Not looking like a repeat champion given the significant personnel losses.

Memphis (18-1): My take on the Tigers last year was that something would have to go wrong for them not to make the Final Four. Next year, a lot of things will have to go right. They’ll be very good, but I’d pass at 18-1.

North Carolina (6-1): A terrible bet, especially not knowing anything about who’s leaving for the NBA.

Pittsburgh (20-1): The Sweet 16 seems to be the ceiling for Pitt until it recruits more skill.

Tennessee (20-1): At 40-1, the Vols would be worth a look, but the value just isn’t there knowing how much roster turnover they’ll have to overcome.

UCLA (20-1): Even if Mbah a Moute comes back, the Bruins’ starting lineup won’t scare anyone.

With water temperatures pushing into the high 60s, largemouth bass are bedding all over the area - and they’ll never be easier to catch than they are right now.

Some people don’t like sight-fishing for bedding bass, but I’ve always enjoyed it. Maybe because it’s so easy.

You just cruise the shallows, looking for light spots on the dark lake bottom. Those are usually beds, and sometimes you can actually see the fish sitting on them.

In either situation, I like to start casting toward the bed with a four-inch Texas-rigged lizard. I use the smaller four-inch variety because it’s easier for the fish to get the whole bait in its mouth. I use bright colors like tomato or bubble gum, so I can see it more easily.

Unless you can actually see the fish hit the bait, you have to pay close attention or you’ll miss the strike. They’re usually not hitting the bait to eat it. They just want to pick it up and spit it out of their bed, so your window of opportunity for a hookset is sometimes small.

Just remember, when you’re retrieving a bait across the bottom, any variation in the path of your line is likely to be a bite. If you’re using those brightly colored baits I mentioned, you might just see the bait suddenly disappear. That often means a fish has inhaled it.

Sometimes when you find bedding bass, there will be two per bed - a small male and a larger female. You can often catch both fish if you’re willing to stick with them.

One thing that’s awfully important for a sight-fisherman is a good pair of polarized sunglasses. You can see much farther under the water with glasses than you can with your naked eyes.

When looking for spawning fish, try to key on fish that are willing to stand their ground.

If you come across a fish that spooks away from the bed and comes right back in just a few seconds, you can almost always catch that fish. If you come across a bass that spooks off the bed and stays gone more than a few seconds, you’re in for a bigger challenge.

The spawn won’t last very long, so get out and take advantage of a good situation while you can.