The world of college basketball betting is one that continues to grow, as bettors are able to wager on teams from power conferences like Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State and West Virginia in the Big 12, Duke and North Carolina in the ACC, Maryland, Purdue, Nebraska and Illinois in the Big Ten, and Kentucky in the SEC.
But there are so many different ways that college basketball can be wagered on, and so many other leagues and teams for which there are NCAA basketball odds for entertainment purposes.
In this guide to betting on college basketball, find out what kinds of college basketball bets are up for grabs, what types of strategies bettors might want to consider, and when bets on the college basketball games can be placed.
Online sportsbooks have a variety of NCAA basketball odds available, with different markets to appeal to different types of bettors. There are several main categories of college basketball bets to be made, though, with these being the most popular of the bunch.
A staple of college basketball betting, the point spread wager is one that bettors are likely to see across all sports, including through the use of NCAA basketball lines.
The premise of this type of bet is simple, in that bettors are asked to determine which team is going to win a game after a handicap is applied to the score of the team that they back.
Depending on whether a bettor takes the favorite or underdog, this means that a number of points will be added or subtracted to that team’s score.
If a bettor takes a favorite on the point spread, that team will have points subtracted from their total points at the end of the game. Conversely, an underdog would have points added to their score.
The number of points that are added or subtracted from a team’s total varies based on the perceived gap between the two sides heading into each game.
NCAA basketball moneyline betting is even more straightforward than point spread betting. To win a moneyline bet, a bettor only has to predict which team is going to win a college basketball game.
There is no point spread applied to the score of either team or anything else to make things confusing. All a bettor has to do is successfully predict which team is going to come out on top when the final buzzer sounds.
The challenge of making a college basketball moneyline bet lies in navigating the odds of each game. Instead of a point spread being applied, the odds for the favorite and underdog on the moneyline vary based on the anticipated gap between the teams.
This means that to back a favorite to win on the moneyline, a bettor would have to risk more to win the same amount as they would on a spread bet, putting more of their bankroll at risk. Backing an underdog on the moneyline, on the other hand, would see bettors potentially win more with the same stake when compared to a spread bet.
Bettors who would rather wager on the amount of scoring that takes place in a game can do so by getting involved in the totals markets.
This is one of the most popular forms of betting on college basketball, and simply asks the question of whether one or both teams will have a point total that goes over or under the number that is set by the sportsbook oddsmakers.
Bettors can wager on the combined total for both teams, as well as the total for each individual team both for the entire game or just before or after halftime using first or second half lines.
What makes totals betting in college basketball more interesting than in other sports is the fact that there are so many different styles of play that can lead a total to go one way or the other.
With over 300 Division I college basketball teams, some coaches prefer to play an uptempo style while others like their teams to slow things down.
Understanding the pace at which each team plays and how each team matches up with one another is key to betting on totals, as the number of tempo combinations can lead to advantages against this particular market in many cases.
Futures betting is a subsection of NCAA Vegas odds that requires some foresight, as bettors have to predict the success of teams over the course of a season ahead of time.
This most commonly means betting on the odds to win NCAA basketball championship. But it can also mean predicting a team’s win total for an entire season, predicting which team will win a particular conference championship, or determining how far in the NCAA Tournament a team will go.
Betting on futures markets can be tough, as injuries can impact a futures ticket the same way that a player failing to live up to expectations can.
But bettors who look for good value can give themselves the best chance at success against this type of wager.
There are a number of ways to find value in the futures market, such as identifying teams that could end up with a strong seed in the NCAA Tournament that have long odds to win the title.
While futures wagers hang in the balance for far longer than single game wagers, the potential for larger payouts makes them appealing to many.
A growing section of the sports betting market is prop betting, which is something that college basketball bettors can take on at their leisure.
Prop bets ask very specific questions about the performances of players and teams as they take part in college basketball games, with bettors required to predict anything from the number of rebounds that a player collects in a game to whether or not a game will go to overtime.
Prop bets are usually broken out into three main categories: player props, team props, and game props. Player props cover the individual performances of players in a game, such as the number of points that one player will account for during a contest.
Team props ask questions about each team, like the total number of three point shots a team will make. And game props ask bettors to determine things about the game itself, such as whether the number of points scored in a game will be an even or odd number.
College basketball is more of a team sport than the superstar driven NBA, which can be a great thing for those with an in-depth knowledge of the college game and betting trends related to players, which can lead to finding favorable NCAAB betting lines.
While the entire country might not be paying attention to a specific college basketball player, those who know each player well could find props at favorable odds and give themselves the best chance to make money on this type of wager.
Unlike the NBA playoffs, the NCAA Tournament is a single elimination tournament. This format allows fans to predict which team will advance in each game without having to worry about the number of games it would take for a series to be resolved.
As a result, the March Madness bracket is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the world, as competitors in each bracket contest look to earn the best score in predicting the outcomes of every game of the NCAA Tournament before the event tips off.
March Madness bracket contests are the way that the highest number of people get involved with college basketball betting, whether it be a competition among friends, an office pool or a contest against others online.
But betting on bracket contests can be even more lucrative today thanks to the fact that basketball enthusiasts can take part in these contests at a sportsbook. With more entries to compete against than there would be in an office pool, bettors could bring in a bigger payout if their picks are up to par.
Another way to bet on college basketball online is to take part in live betting, which some consider to be the best way to bet college basketball. Live betting gives bettors the chance to wager on games after they have started, with the odds for those contests being updated constantly based on what is happening on the court.
Every time a team attempts a shot, turns the ball over, or commits a foul, live betting odds are updated to reflect those happenings. This gives bettors a chance to find college basketball betting lines and value that were not available before the start of a game.
Live betting odds are usually available for the majority of the different types of college basketball bets listed above. Spreads, totals and moneylines are the most consistently available markets for live betting, given their overall popularity.
But prop bets also routinely make an appearance in the live betting space, as live betting odds are often posted on props such as which team will be the first to score 20 points in a half or what kind of scoring play will take place first after a certain time on the clock.
March Madness, unsurprisingly, is the part of the college basketball season that gets the most attention from a betting perspective.
Once the brackets are announced, single game and futures odds allow NCAA basketball betting enthusiasts to pick each game individually or to predict which team is going to cut down the nets at the end of the tournament.
With the number of teams from small conferences that automatically qualify for the tournament by winning their conference titles, this part of the year is one that rewards bettors that have an in-depth knowledge of college hoops.
While March Madness is the part of the college basketball season that attracts the most attention at any sportsbook, there is so much more to be bet on throughout the college basketball season.
Most notably, the conference tournaments that take place before the start of the big dance and after the regular season are full of betting opportunities, as there are often games going on for the duration of days in which those tournaments are taking place.
Betting on college basketball requires strategy, as there are so many teams and conferences to keep track of that bettors could be overwhelmed if they do not employ some sort of plan of attack.
One such strategy to beat the sportsbook would be to focus on smaller conferences. These leagues do not get the same media attention that power five schools do, which means that bettors who know where to get quality information can get an edge.
Another strategy that often yields success is to pick spots where a blue blood program is overvalued. Programs like Kansas, Duke and Kentucky are often picked by the betting public based on their reputation, even in spots where they may not have much of an advantage at all.
Identifying those spots and taking advantage of the inflated prices associated with those teams can be a profitable strategy if done effectively.
There are also many providers of free picks out there, with second opinions available from many reputable sources to help overcome biases that bettors might have in favor of certain teams or against others, which can be a big gambling problem in any sport.
Finally, understanding continuity early in the season can be an effective college basketball betting strategy. Knowing which teams lost all of their talent and could be out of sync, or which teams are adjusting to new coaches could yield value as the market begins to learn what each team is capable of on the court.
Bracket contest strategies are different than single-game college basketball betting strategies, as the goal is to score the highest number of points across an entire tournament rather than in one game.
Strategy for these contests can vary based on the number of entries in a pool. Pools with higher numbers of entries will require players to think outside the box more to differentiate a bracket from the rest and give a player the best chance to win.
At the end of the day, making bracket picks that are popular among the wagering public is a recipe for having to compete with a large number of competitors with similar picks.
This could result in a bracket that performs well, but falls short in some early round games and doesn’t win anything.
Instead, being able to go against the grain in some of the more high leverage rounds of the tournament with calculated risks is the way to go.
For example, say that a team was upset as a high seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Even if they return as a high seed in the next tournament, some public bettors will be afraid to back them.
That could make them a more valuable pick, as they still have talent, despite the public opinion surrounding them.
