How to bet on the NCAAB
We’re going to start this college basketball betting guide by covering the basics because if you start trying to run before you can walk, guess what? The chances are it won’t end well.
You’ll need to tick these boxes before you even consider placing your first bet:
You must be at least 21 years of age and be based in an unrestricted US state
State restrictions can vary by sportsbook but, as an example, you cannot currently access the DraftKings sportsbook from Alaska, Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
You’ll need to sign up for an online betting account
It’s free to register for an account on the best NCAA basketball betting sites, and many of them also have generous welcome offers, which you can check out via the banners and links on this web page.
You’ll need to have some ‘fun’ money set aside to bet with
Betting should be fun, and so you should be fully prepared to lose any money that you bet with. Obviously, you’re trying to get your predictions right, but they won’t always come off, so at all times make sure that you are betting responsibly.
Make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to bet on
One thing that all good college basketball betting strategies have in common is this: there is clear thought behind them. If you do your research and bet based on form, statistics or your personal analysis of a match, you’re likely to enjoy it much more than if you simply guess.
The betting markets available on college basketball
We’ll go into these in more detail shortly, but here are the main bet types available for college basketball:
- Futures
- Moneyline
- Handicap spread
- Team/player total points
- Winning margin
- First point
- Threes/Rebounds/Assists
- Race to X points
- Correct score
- Parlays
How do futures markets work?
Futures bets are those found in long-term markets, where you are betting on an outcome that will take place a fair way into the future. This is usually something like the winner of a tournament.
At the time of writing, the best college basketball futures bets are on the National Championship, where you can predict which team you think will win.
You can also get more niche futures markets, such as a team to reach the final or semi-final, rather than win the whole competition.
How do betting lines work in college basketball?
Betting lines tend to refer to the handicap spread, which is assigned for all college basketball matches and is intended to create an interesting betting market, even when it looks like it will be a one-sided match.
So, for example, rather than simply betting on Duke to beat Florida by any score (this is called a ‘moneyline’ bet), the two teams will be assigned a betting line. This could be something like:
Duke: -11.5
Florida: +11.5
This would mean that, for the purposes of the bet (but not in real life!), Florida starts the match 11.5 points ahead. This means that the following betting outcomes are possible:
- The match is a draw, or Florida wins by any score:
The Florida +11.5 bet is a winner. The Duke -11.5 bet is a loser.
- Duke wins by 1-11 points:
The Florida +11.5 bet is a winner. The Duke -11.5 bet is a loser.
- Duke wins by 12+ points:
The Florida +11.5 bet is a loser. The Duke -11.5 bet is a winner.
The reason why a ‘.5’ betting line is used is to avoid there being a third outcome of a draw, e.g. the line is Duke -11 and the game finishes 11-0 to Duke, which would equate to a handicap result of 11-11.
Winning margin bets
The winning margin market works in much the same way as the main handicap betting line market but gives you more options at different odds.
So if, for example, the main line was Duke -11.5, but you thought that Duke would smash Florida and win by more than 20 points, you could look for a ‘winning margin’ market of Duke to win by 20+, which would be available at larger odds than the -11.5 line.
Winning margin markets also include options like Team X to win by 1-2 points or 3-4 points, if you want to make a super specific prediction.
How to bet ‘over under’ college basketball
‘Over under’ markets are used for ‘totals’ bets, such as the total points scored by one team in a match, the total points scored in the match as a whole, or the total points scored by an individual player.
Like with the handicap betting lines, these nearly always end in ‘.5’, to ensure that there are only two betting outcomes.
Here’s an example:
Illinois v Texas – Total Points: Over/Under 142.5
Result: Illinois 75, Texas 70
Because there were a total of 145 points in this match, anybody betting ‘Over’ wins their bet, whereas anybody betting ‘Under’ loses their bet.
How to bet on individual players in college basketball
As well as making predictions about the teams, you can also bet on individual players. One such example was referenced in the section above, which is betting over or under the points scored by a certain player in a match.
You can also bet on a specific player to score the first point in a match, or to score over a certain number of threes, rebounds or assists.
To access these player prop bets, you will need to find the match you’re interested in and then click on it to access the full list of markets.
Parlays and the other markets available on college basketball
Parlays are when you group a selection of pre-match bets together. For example:
Duke to beat Florida on the moneyline
Illinois -7.5 to beat Texas
Over 142.5 points in Connecticut v Michigan State
These bets multiply your odds, which means that you can potentially get large wins for small stakes. However, all of the predictions need to be successful for the bet to win, so your chances of winning are, naturally, smaller.
In the example above, even if Duke beat Florida and Illinois covered the handicap against Texas, you would lose your entire parlay if the Connecticut match only had 135 points.
Other bets
Depending on the sportsbook that you use, you may also find a selection of other betting markets on college basketball. These can include ‘race to X points’, which is where you are predicting one team to score a certain number of points first, and the devilishly difficult ‘correct score’ market, where you have to predict the exact score that the game will finish up as, e.g. 115-112.
How to bet on women’s college basketball
You may have noticed that we haven’t been referencing the men’s or women’s game specifically in our explanation of the markets available, and the reason for this is simple…
To bet on women’s college basketball, you do exactly the same as you would if betting on the men’s!
The only thing to be aware of is to make sure that you head to the correct part of the sportsbook, so you’ll need to look for the NCAAW, the Women’s College Basketball or the College Basketball (W) section. You may also find that the women’s teams have a (W) next to them, e.g. South Carolina (W).
Live betting on college basketball
As well as betting on futures markets and pre-match on the NCAAB, it’s also possible to bet live, which means placing bets after the match in question has started.
If you’re interested in betting live on college basketball, you should find that a lot of the pre-match markets, like handicap spread and ‘over under’ totals, are still available. However, the betting lines and the odds will move and change as the games progress. This makes it an exciting way to bet, but also one that’s best suited to somebody with quick fingers who is also able to take the time to watch the game in question.
Warning!
If you’re interested in betting live, then one key thing to be aware of is that the vast majority of live TV broadcasts come with a picture delay, and this can range from a second or two to 10 or even 20 seconds. You should always bear this in mind before placing any live bets, especially if the odds you are interested in seem to have moved in an unusual direction.
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How college basketball betting odds work
So, we’ve covered the different betting markets available on college basketball and where and how to place the bets, but there’s still one more crucial element to explain… the betting odds.
These are displayed in numerical fashion alongside the betting markets and directly relate to the amount of money that you can win if your bet is successful. They will either be a plus or minus figure (+ representing a favorite and – representing an underdog) and will look something like this:
Duke moneyline: -148
Florida moneyline: +124
All odds are based on a $100 value, and that $100 represents the following:
- For favorites, you need to risk the odds number to make $100 overall profit.
- For underdogs, you need to risk $100 to make an overall profit equivalent to the odds number.
So, from our example above, here are some possible outcomes depending on your stake size and the match result:
| Stake | Duke win at -148 | Duke lose at -148 |
| $100 | $67.56 profit | $100 loss |
| $148 | $100 profit | $148 loss |
| $200 | $135.13 profit | $200 loss |
| $296 | $200 profit | $296 loss |
As you can see from the table, the loss in the event of a losing bet is always the same as your stake. However, the win in the event of a winning bet works out as a profit equivalent to 67.56% of your total stake.
If the odds were a lower minus number, say, -110, your potential profits would be bigger. If the odds were a higher minus number, say, -165, your potential profits would be smaller.
On the flip side, here are some potential outcomes if you’d backed the underdog in our example:
| Stake | Florida win at +124 | Florida lose at +124 |
| $100 | $124 profit | $100 loss |
| $150 | $186 profit | $150 loss |
| $200 | $248 profit | $200 loss |
| $300 | $372 profit | $300 loss |
Once again, the amount you stake is the amount that you will lose in the event of a losing bet. The amount that you win, however, is a little easier to work out on this occasion, as it is simply 124% of what you staked. Had the odds been +150, it would be 150% of what you staked. For +210, it would be 210% of what you staked, and so on and so forth.
College basketball betting odds recap
- The baseline of all odds is 100.
- Favorites will be a minus number, e.g. -110.
- Underdogs will be a plus number, e.g. +110.
- For favorites, you need to risk the odds number to make $100 overall profit. For example, betting $110 on a -110 outcome will return you $100 profit, plus your $110 stake.
- For underdogs, you need to risk $100 to make an overall profit equivalent to the odds number. For example, a $100 bet on a +120 outcome would return $120 profit, plus your $100 stake.
- The smaller the number, the smaller your percentage profit should you win.
- The larger the number, the larger your percentage profit should you win.
How to bet on college basketball: Pros and cons
Pros and Cons
- Several reputable sites
- Markets for men’s and women’s cbb
- Easy-to-understand betting markets
- Low-probability and high-probability bets available
- The betting odds can take a little while to get used to
Our verdict: Lots of options for the aspiring college basketball bettor
When it comes to college basketball, public betting is becoming increasingly popular, which has led to the arrival of multiple operators who take bets on the sport.
This is great for players, as the competition among the best betting sites today means that there are lots of different markets to bet on, good value betting odds and, of course, sportsbook bonuses and free bet promotions.
To get started with one of these sportsbooks today and put your college basketball knowledge to the test, just click on one of the banners or links found throughout this web page.
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How to bet on college basketball: FAQS
🏀 How do you place bets on college basketball?
To get started, you will need to create a free account with an online sportsbook like DraftKings or BetMGM. This option will be available to you provided you are at least 21 years of age and don’t live in a restricted US state. From there, you will need to fund your account and then search for men’s or women’s college basketball, depending on which games you would like to bet on.
🤔 How do betting lines work in college basketball?
Betting lines are set by the sportsbooks to provide you with possible outcomes to bet on. An example might be Duke +12.5 versus Florida -12.5. In this example, if Florida wins by 13 points or more, bets on Florida -12.5 are winners. However, if the game ends in any other result, those bets are losers and bets on Duke +12.5 are winners instead.
🧺 What markets are available for college basketball betting?
There are a large number of different things you can bet on in college basketball, which are called betting markets. As well as handicap betting lines, some of the most popular are the ‘over, under’ markets where you try to predict whether a points total will result over or under a set line, e.g. over 142.5.
