John Ford | November 14, 2023 | Updated on: January 10th, 2024
NCAA college basketball betting is probably one of the most popular forms of sports gambling in the United States as gamblers get to watch and bet on young rising stars in one of the nation’s most competitive university leagues. One really just needs to utter the words “March Madness” to get avid US basketball fans excited, particularly as bracketology has pretty much become a quintessential part of sports culture in the USA. Thus, it is unsurprising that so many Americans are now interested in betting on college games.
If you are keen on betting on the NCAAB, you’ve come to the right place. Below we have a look at all you need to know to make bets on college basketball games. This includes a guide to the most popular bets available on basketball games, general betting tips as well as a list of the best NCAA Basketball online gambling sites. So, read on and learn more about NCAA betting in the United States.
Top NCAAB Betting Sites 2024
These are the best online NCAA basketball sports betting sites currently available to US gamblers. They are sure to offer bettors a list of great wagering options and odds.
NCAAB Links
- Popular NCAA College Basketball Betting Lines Explained
- NCAA Basketball Betting Odds
- Best NCAA Basketball Betting Tips
- Online College Basketball Betting Conclusion
Popular NCAA College Basketball Betting Lines Explained
All of the basketball betting sites featured on Gambling360.com offer US gamblers the chance to make the following wagers on NCAAB games.
- Moneylines – these are the easiest bets you could ever make; it just involves picking a winner for a match. Be sure to pay attention to NCAA Basketball public betting trends before placing moneyline bets to be more informed about how many feel the match is going to end.
- Spread Betting – this is one of the most popular betting options in the United States. Basically, one team is declared a favorite and the other an underdog. The favorite is then given a point handicap they must overcome in order for bets made on the team to payout. If gamblers bet on the underdog, they win if the team wins or if the team is able to reduce the score difference stated in the handicap.
- Over/Unders – also known as totals, these are bets made on the total score of the match. Sportsbooks will set a scoreline they expect the match to reach and then gamblers can bet that it will exceed or fall short of it.
- Props – these are bets made on specific events to take place during the match, for example, which team will score first. Due to the NCAAB being a massive league, most sportsbooks usually don’t offer props related to individual players.
- Futures – these are bets made on a team to win the NCAA Basketball Tournament. They can be made at any time. They generally offer high odds because they are very difficult to win.
NCAA Basketball Betting Odds
Often, we have found that an inability to read college basketball betting odds has kept some potential US gamblers from making bets on games. Well, if you are one such better, we are about to tell you all you need to know about odds down below.
There are three different types of odds systems: fractional, decimal and American. It goes without saying that American odds (also known as moneyline odds) is the most popular odds system available in the United States. We will be explaining this odds format here, but if you wish to learn about the others, please visit our odds page.
Below is a betting line as you would come across it at a sportsbook:
UConn +135
Duke -155
In the game listed above, Duke is suggested to be the favorite to win and the University of Connecticut has been listed as the underdog. We are able to see this by looking at the mathematical symbol next to each team. The plus symbol signifies the underdog whereas the minus symbol signifies the favorite. Basically, the betting line listed above tells us that we will need to bet US$155 on Duke to win $100. However, if we bet $100 on the University of Connecticut, we will win US$135.
It is important to note that the moneyline tends to shift according to different circumstances, such as streaks, size of betting pools and injuries. College basketball public betting trends can also cause line movements. We advise USA players to always be on the lookout for the line movements before they place their wagers.
Check out our other basketball guides:
Best NCAA Basketball Betting Tips
We won’t claim to have the best college basketball betting system. However, we do have a few pointers that may be helpful to novices in the NCAAB betting space:
- Compared to the NBA, NCAAB results tend to be tilted towards the favorites. However, tournaments such as March Madness are famous for creating crazy Cinderella runs and upsets. For instance, according to history, seeds 11-14 usually tend to outdo their ranking in their first round by almost 13%. This gives the players an opportunity to start betting on the tournament with a fantastic upset-win. This will pad up your bankroll for the rest of the competition.
- Making total bets for March Madness is a little bit more difficult than making the same bets on other types of big sporting activities. This is because of the restricted number of times a team plays before the beginning of the tournament. The NBA’s season features 82 games which forces every team to play against each other more than two times. However, NCAAB has a much smaller dataset compared to professional basketball. This weakens the analysis when trying to predict totals.
- With regards to difficult betting scenarios, pay more attention to the defense when placing your bet on an underdog team. Hitting buckets will require skill and precision, while the solid defense will revolve around sound fundamentals and effort. So, if you are a bit confused on what to bet on, try to lean more on the defense, for a much more predictable result.
Be sure to have a look at our blog for the latest NCAA basketball betting predictions. We consistently post tips there and keep you updated with the latest college basketball betting trends.
Check out our other NCAAB guides:
Online College Basketball Betting Conclusion
Betting on the NCAA is much easier and has proved to be more profitable for players that have a bit of insight in the tourney. So, visit any of the best NCAAB gambling sites we feature and experience all of this firsthand!