The bet itself is rather simple -- just choose ‘over’ or ‘under’ the listed win total. Like the majority of most sports wagers, you have a 50/50 shot of winning or losing. However, gamblers will have to wait the entire season to cash their tickets on this bet or some would say mini-investment.

After the full 17-week schedule was released in April, Las Vegas Hilton Sports Book Director Jay Kornegay and his team posted win totals for all 32 clubs.

“We usually have five to six opinions from our group of oddsmakers and put them all together. Ed Salmons, our Sports Book Manager, compiles the predictions and we have a “roundtable” meeting and go over each team. It’s basically a continuation of last year and we account for personnel changes, coaching changes, career years, history, public betting patterns and then come up with a number,” said Kornegay.

Last year, New England easily eclipsed its season win total of 11 ½ victories with a perfect 16-0 regular season. This season, the Patriots have been listed anywhere from 12 to 13 victories at sportsbooks in Nevada.

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Kornegay added, “We usually find most teams that come back from a good year tend to come back to the pack and vice versa. This is exactly what the NFL wants and gets it in most cases. It’s rare (Patriots) for a team to stay on top for long periods of time in the NFL.”

It’s been said before that the NFL is a league of parity or perhaps critics would rather user mediocrity. Either way you spell it, the league always has a team come out of nowhere and overachieve.

Non-gamblers in South Florida are hoping that their Miami Dolphins can swing the pendulum the other way this year and become a surprise team. Whether or not that happens won’t be determined until this fall, but most pundits aren’t expecting the team to be hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy anytime soon.

The Las Vegas Hilton has listed the Fish as a 100/1 choice to win Super Bowl XLIII from Tampa Bay. While nothing is impossible, bettors might be smarter to wager on the team’s win total of 5 ½ games.

“The Dolphins weren’t as bad as the one-win team we witnessed last year. No team is. Adding Bill Parcells and a new general manager (Jeff Ireland) will help the overhaul in Miami. They addressed needs on the offensive line in the draft, which should contribute right away and help running back Ronnie Brown, who was injured last year,” said Kornegay.

Most of the naysayers aren’t a buying a quick turn around in South Florida under new head coach Tony Sparano, but looking at the situation closer might make you optimistic.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14 in 1976, becoming the only team to go winless in a season. Last year, Miami almost topped its northern neighbor with a 0-16 season but was fortunate to stop Baltimore in Week 15 at home with a lucky 22-16 overtime victory. Despite the lone win, the Dolphins became the eighth team to post a 1-15 record in the regular season.

Carolina was the last team to notch a 1-15 mark in the regular season, doing so in 2001. Ironically, the Panthers won their first game that season before losing 15 straight. Carolina didn’t have a winning season the following year either, but it did manage to go 7-9.

Of the seven previous teams to go 1-15, the worst record in the following year was 4-12. The best turnaround was 9-7, which happened twice with Indianapolis (1991-1992) and New York Jets (1996-1997).

We mentioned the New York Jets bounce back season in 1997 and a lot of people would attribute the success to their head coach, who happened to be Bill Parcells. The Jets didn’t make the playoffs that year, but the eight-game turnaround helped the club go 12-4 the very next season and eventually earn a spot in the AFC Championship Game.

Parcells is not the head coach in Miami, more importantly the Executive Vice President of Football Operations which means he’s still calling the shots. The Big Tuna recently departed the sidelines of Dallas two years ago after rebuilding a franchise with three consecutive 5-11 seasons. Parcells went 10-6 in his first year in the Lone Star State.

While he’s had two impressive debuts with the Jets and Cowboys, he did struggle in his first year with the Giants (3-12-1) and Patriots (5-11). After dealing with the growing pains, Parcells took both clubs to the playoffs the very next season.

As much as people want to knock the Fish, the past four years can be considered an anomaly. Since the Dolphins joined the NFL in 1970 as part of the AFL-NFL Merger, has only had five losing seasons in its NFL history, with three of them coming in the last four seasons. And of the five losing seasons, only twice have the Dolphins failed to eclipse the six-win plateau.

Not a lot of folks knew who Tony Sparano was before he became the eighth head coach in franchise history of the Miami Dolphins. Sparano has only been in the league for nine years, working for the Dallas Cowboys the last four years.

Even though Sparano enters a serious rebuilding plan, head coaches making their debut with the Dolphins have flourished with the exception of Cam Cameron’s 1-15 aberration last year.

Just ask the legendary Don Shula, who went 10-4 in his first year in 1970. Another Super Bowl coach, Jimmie Johnson, toyed with mediocrity at 8-8 in his South Florida debut.

Dave Wannstedt didn’t bring lofty expectations with him, but the Western Pennsylvania product burst onto the scene with an 11-5 ledger in his first go ‘round.

Nick Saban shrugged off the notion that college football coaches couldn’t parlay their success to the pro game. He was certainly humbled with a 3-7 start in 2005 before closing the year with six straight victories.

Every year, the NFL has a large number of new head coaches walking the sidelines. In the past two years, 12 fresh faces have made their NFL coaching debuts. Surprisingly, six of the 12 posted a .500 or better record and three, Sean Payton – New Orleans, Eric Mangini – N.Y. Jets, Mike Tomlin – Pittsburgh, made the playoffs in their first stint.

Dolphins Stadium was very empty last season when the club went 1-15. (AP Images)

Sparano’s talk is tough and while it would be nice to include him in a group with Payton, Mangini and Tomlin, he could also be another Rod Marinelli (Detroit), Bobby Petrino (Atlanta) or the previously mentioned Cameron.

It’s a bit of a stretch to say the Dolphins’ schedule is soft, considering most opponents are viewing them as the cupcake this season. However, the slate doesn’t seem overpowering – on paper.

For starters, Miami gets the privilege of playing two of the weaker divisions in football, the AFC and NFC West. Last season, only San Diego and Seattle made the playoffs out of those eight teams and they both travel to Dolphins Stadium.

Your regular six games against the likes of the Bills, Jets and Patriots could boast a 3-3 ledger, if things bounce the right way. And, you toss in winnable games against Houston and Baltimore.

Finally, it’s hard not to mention that the team won’t be traveling to London this season. That’s right, eight home games instead seven.

Playoff football in South Florida might be a bit of a reach this year, but banking on a half-dozen wins might not be such a bad investment after all.

Chris David can be reached at cdavid@vegasinsider.com