NCAA basketball is the third most-popular sport in America, behind the NFL and pro baseball. The sport’s top championship (known as March Madness) is an annual event that’s rumored to cost the country billions in lost wages as people scramble to build their tournament bracket and watch as their picks fall one by one. Its big business, and betting on the sport is a season-long event, not just something for your office pool to participate in every spring.
If you’re a fan of NCAA basketball, you’re almost ready to start placing bets. The information below can turn even the most casual fan into a successful NCAA basketball bettor.
Let’s start with a look at the most common ways to bet on college basketball games:
The Point Spread
Most college basketball bets are made on the point spread – these bets are sometimes known as “sides.”
The point spread is really just a symbolic way to represent odds. With a point spread in place the sportsbook can handicap a game to entice bettors to put action on both sides, ensuring their profits. That handicapping means that successful bets on favorites earn smaller payouts and that the favorite has to win by a certain number of points.
Here’s an example of a point spread as it would be represented at a sportsbook:
Duke +2.5
North Carolina
That’s easy enough to read. The first team listed is always the away team. Now you know that the Blue Devils are heading to Chapel Hill for this game. The next thing to look for is a + or – symbol. A team listed with a + symbol next to its name is an underdog; a team listed with a – symbol is a favorite. The number listed next to that symbol is the point spread itself. In this example, Duke is a 2.5 point underdog to the Tar Heels.
In the above example, a successful bet on underdog Duke requires that the Blue Devils either win in an upset or lose by two or fewer points. North Carolina has to win outright by three points or more in order for a wager on the Tar Heels to pay off.
The Moneyline
Moneylines are less popular than point spreads bets among college basketball bettors, but I think they offer a lot of value over traditional sides wagering.
Moneyline wagers only ask that you pick an outright winner. The favored team isn’t handicapped at all, and the underdog doesn’t have any help – pick the winner and your bet pays off. In place of a point spread, the sportsbook manages its risk in both direction by establishing certain financial requirement as part of the bet’s terms.
If that’s confusing, just look at this example:
Duke +120
North Carolina -130
Just like in the point spread, the + indicates an underdog and the – indicates a favorite. But unlike in the point spread, these symbols also tell you the terms of the bet, and it’s different for the ‘dog and the favorite.
The favored team’s number tells you how much you have to wager in order to win $100, if the bet is successful. In our example above, bettors who back the Tar Heels will win $100 for every $130 they wager. Underdogs are indicated with a plus symbol and the number next to their name indicates how much a better would win for a wager of $100. In this case, if you back Duke and they pull off the upset, you’ll take home $120 for every $100 you wagered.
Game Totals (Over/Under)
A total is a bet on the total number of points scored by two college basketball teams. Do you expect a high-scoring or low-scoring game? Betting on the game total pits you against the sportsbook – they set a number and you bet “over” or “under.” Only one total is given per game, so the odds are easy to read. It’s common to see numbers like 144.5 in game totals. No, the book doesn’t think that there’s such thing as a half-point in basketball. That number means “over” bettors win on point totals of 145 or more and “under” bettors win on totals of 144 or less.
Parlays
Parlays are a popular form of exotic bet that’s available for a ton of different pro and amateur sports. Any sport with a large schedule – MLB, NFL, NCAA, and even international soccer – lends itself well to parlays. That’s because parlays are joined bets based on the outcomes of multiple games in a single day.
You can place NCAA parlays on between two and twelve teams. In order to win a parlay bet, every pick you make has to come true.
This chart shows the potential payout for different sizes of NCAA parlay bets:
| # of Teams | Payout | Payout for a $10 Wager |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 13:5 | $26 |
| 3 | 6:1 | $60 |
| 4 | 110:1 | $100 |
| 5 | 25:1 | $250 |
| 6 | 40:1 | $400 |
| 7 | 75:1 | $750 |
| 8 | 150:1 | $1500 |
| 9 | 300:1 | $3000 |
| 10 | 700:1 | $7000 |
| 11 | 1100:1 | $11000 |
| 12 | 1800:1 | $18000 |
The trade-off for those huge payouts? It’s really (really) hard to pick one game correctly, much less multiple games on the same day.
NCAA Basketball Betting Basics
Here are three tips that newcomers to NCAA betting should take to heart. I wish I’d known some of these things before I got started.
Tip #1: Become a roster expert.
I never place a bet these days without a solid understanding of the matchups among at least the first ten players on each roster. That means I’m keenly aware of minute roster changes and I can put that information to use when making a pick. I look for big mismatches, sure, but also for subtle deviations in stats from one lineup to the net. Thanks to the Internet, this information is easy to find with generic Web searches.
Tip #2: Bet on overnight lines and reduced juice offers as much as possible.
I’m not saying you have to stay up all night and chase bonuses like a madman. You should know a few places that offer reduced juice, usually on a given day for college basketball games. You should also look for soft overnight lines, and be prepared to jump on them (meaning have your homework done) BEFORE those overnight lines appear at online books.
Tip #3: Giants (almost) always fall.
Remember – these teams are made up of kids who just a few months ago were sitting in study hall. The quick pace with which young athletes move to the NBA means the NCAA is stocked with amazing raw talent with little experience and little ability to maintain excellence throughout the course of a long NCAA season. Powerhouse teams are made up of teenagers; the trick is to learn to anticipate their collapse. My favorite time for an upset is in the middle of the season against a far inferior (but still Division 1) opponent. The more a powerhouse plays complacent ball, the more they’re likely to have (even a minor one-game) collapse.
College basketball picks are tough to make. Emotions run high, and most of these athletes have little if any scouting or stat info available. College basketball including March Madness goes on for a solid five months. Because more than 300 teams play in NCAA Division I (in 32 different conferences), value is easy to find if you know where to look and stay focused.
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College Basketball Betting Questions and Answers
Starting in November and lasting until April, NCAA basketball gives you plenty of opportunities to bet on games. But much of the betting action is focused on one event: March Madness.
The NCAA Tournament is one of the world’s biggest sporting events and draws billions of dollars in wagers each year.
If you plan to be part of this, then you’ll want to check out the following questions and answers about college basketball betting.
How Does College Basketball Betting Work?
Wagering on college basketball games is a simple matter that begins by signing up and depositing with an online sportsbook.
Once you’ve done this, you can navigate to the available college basketball lines. You’ll find a large selection of games, odds, and bet types available.
How Do March Madness Betting Odds Work?
This is explained in depth above, but we’ll quickly cover it here too. The main 3 types of March Madness betting odds are the point spread, moneyline, and totals (over/under).
The point spread is a straight-up wager that sees points given to the underdog and points taken from the favorite.
The moneyline is another straight-up bet that allows you to win more money on an underdog than you would a favorite with the same bet size.
Totals involve wagering on whether two teams’ combined point total will be over or under a certain amount.
What Are March Madness Prop Bets?
Given that March Madness is such a big betting extravaganza, many sportsbooks offer side wagers that have nothing to do with the outcome of a game.
Called proposition bets, or just prop bets, these can be based on anything from who will be the leading scorer to an over/under on three-pointers made.
What Is March Madness Live Betting?
Live betting is very similar to prop bets, with the main difference being that live wagers aren’t offered until a game officially begins. Keep in mind that these in-game wagers aren’t available for very long.
What’s a Parlay in College Basketball Betting?
A parlay is a group of individual bets that comprise one single wager. If any of your picks lose in a parlay, then the bet is lost too.
The downside to parlays is that they’re hard to win. The upside is that you can earn a really large payout on a small parlay bet.
Can I Bet on March Madness through My Smartphone?
Yes, almost every online sportsbook these days is compatible with smartphones and tablets. So you’ll have no trouble placing March Madness bets with a mobile device.
Can I Get a College Basketball Betting Bonus?
You can normally get a signup bonus that’s worth a match on your first deposit. From here, the amount of additional bonuses and free bets that you get depends upon the individual online sportsbook.
Can I Win with March Madness Betting?
Yes, but remember that oddsmakers work especially hard to ensure that their March Madness lines accurately reflect how the public will bet.
You’ll still find some soft lines in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, but not as much as with regular season lines.
What Are Good March Madness Betting Tips?
Number one is limiting the number of games you bet on during March Madness. While it’s tempting to wager on several contests and watch them with buddies, you won’t have time to research all of these bets properly.
It’s also important not to let your bankroll get out of control during March Madness. Some bettors tend to blow all their money on early-round games, then have nothing left for the latter rounds.
Also, look for soft lines in the high-seed-vs-low-seed matchups. The public isn’t always aware of what lower seeds can do, and you can pick up a lot of value on these games before the lines move.
Is March Madness Betting Illegal?
It technically is in the United States, based on the Department of Justice’s interpretation of the Wire Act of 1961. But this is a lightly enforced law you don’t need to worry about outside of Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington.
Even then, it’s rare for anybody to be prosecuted over online basketball betting. Even the offshore sites that offer college basketball lines have only dealt with domain name seizures by individual states, as opposed to any major legal action.