2021 March Madness Prop Bets: NCAAB Prop Betting Guide

It’s not called March Madness because everything happens the way it’s supposed to. If that were the case, the NCAA college basketball Division 1 men’s tournament would be known as ... March Ball?

Sorry, we’re not known for our national championship puns. We’re Odds Shark, we’re known for our betting strategy and expertise in college basketball prop bets. We want to pass that online gambling expertise on to you so you can still experience the joys of college basketball’s Super Bowl even after your bracket gets busted. 

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Let’s face it, following Selection Sunday, lots of brackets will get busted within the first day or two, and that’s where March Madness prop bets come in. College basketball prop bets can keep you in the mix until the final game of the tournament – as opposed to the first few hours, after that No. 4 seed you had a hunch about gets blown out in the first round. 

Check out our massive list of college basketball prop bets below. You can bet on as many as you like. Why not bet them all? It certainly makes watching March Madness games more fun. 

All 2021 March Madness odds courtesy of Bovada, BetOnline and BetUS.

For more information on the various ways to bet on the NCAA Tournament, check out our How to Bet on March Madness page. For the latest odds to win the tournament, keep it locked on our NCAA title odds article.

Odds To Win Region 

One of the more popular props for any standard March Madness prop bettor is “Odds To Win Region,” as some teams can look like they have a cakewalk to the Final Four while others seem like they’ve been punished by the tournament organizers. For example, in the 2019 March Madness tournament, some analysts felt Duke (the No. 1 overall seed) was short-changed by having to share a region with Michigan State, another team that was deserving of a No. 1 seed.

Any bettor who backed Duke to win the region and make the Final Four may have felt hosed while Michigan State backers likely felt vindicated after the Spartans knocked off the Blue Devils in the Elite Eight.

It also has not been a wise decision to only bet on No. 1 seeds for this prop. In 2019, just a single 1 seed (Virginia) won its region; over the last five tournaments, only nine of 20 No. 1 seeds have won their region.

March Madness Seed Props

Seed props are a great opportunity for bettors to look at the tournament landscape and identify a key advantage. For example, if you feel bullish that one of the No. 1 seeds will eventually win March Madness, you can bet on the prop, “Will a No. 1 seed win the tournament?” and because you’re essentially getting the four best teams, the odds would typically hover around +150 to +250. Similar NCAA basketball prop bets that will be available would include, “Will a No. 2 seed win the tournament?” and “What seed will win the tournament?”

Another variation that a plugged-in NCAA basketball bettor could profit from would involve the probability of a lower seed upsetting a favorite, represented by a seed prop like “Will a No. 16 seed win a game in the 2021 NCAA Tournament?” While it’s only happened once in the tournament’s history (in 2018), it doesn’t seem as far-fetched, especially given how relatively weak the top half of the ranked teams have looked this season.

Conference Props

Certain conferences in NCAA basketball like the ACC or Big Ten have the prestige of having stacked competition from the top team to the basement-dweller. Betting props in this category can range from “How many Round of 64 games will ACC teams win?” to “How many Big Ten teams will make the Final Four?”

Shrewd bettors and followers of college basketball can look at the full bracket and identify the weak links, then either bank on a specific conference to do well during March Madness or fade a conference based on matchups.

One of the most popular betting props that also involves conferences deals with how many teams will win two games and advance to represent their conference in the Sweet 16 on the second weekend. For example, in 2019, the ACC led all conferences with five teams making it to the Sweet 16. The next-best conference in that regard, the Big Ten, only had three.

Game Props

One of the more exciting aspects of March Madness is that any given game can become an instant classic. Whether it goes to overtime or perhaps a 12 seed becomes the Cinderella of the tournament with a buzzer-beater, these are situational betting spots that the average bettor can have fun with.

Game props for March Madness can include “How many buzzer-beaters will occur during the Round of 64?” or “What will be the highest point total scored by one team during the Round of 64?” These college basketball prop bets are incredibly hard to handicap, so betting large amounts on them wouldn’t be recommended with so many variables in play.

Team Props

Team props for the NCAA Tournament are usually only found before the tourney begins. Once you see the seedings, you can bet on which team will go further than another before being eliminated.

For example, you see that both the Duke Blue Devils and Gonzaga Bulldogs got a No. 1 seed but you think Gonzaga will be eliminated before Duke. The odds vary depending on the matchup and the props usually involve teams that aren’t playing in the same region.

Player Props

The player props for March Madness can be quite enjoyable for the average bettor because, in basketball, one player can change everything. Betting on the number of points a player will score in a game or which player will lead the NCAA men’s tournament in total rebounds are just some of the college basketball prop bets you can wager on.

National Player of the Year candidates like Luka Garza of the Iowa Hawkeyes will likely be in the mix for each of these props. Another sneaky way to bet these props is to take a player on a team that you think will go far in March Madness, offering them more opportunity to rack up the stats.

College Basketball Prop Bets

Bovada Props

The following college basketball prop bets can be found at Bovada:

BetUS Props

The following March Madness prop bets can be found at BetUS:

BetOnline Props

The following college basketball prop bets can be found at BetOnline:

How to Make a Prop Bet on March Madness

Props are any bets that may or may not directly correlate to the outcome of a single game. Any of the bets we list above are props because you’re not betting on college basketball point spreads or totals, you’re wagering on things like which conference will have a better showing. 

Let’s say you want to bet on wins. Prop odds at the sportsbook would look something like this:

Which team will have more wins in the 2021 college basketball tournament?

Duke -200

Louisville +160

If you believe the Blue Devils will have more wins and you lay down $100, you’d get a payout of $150 – your original money is returned along with your winnings of $50. 

That same $100 on the Cardinals would give you $260 – you get your $100 back, coupled with your prize of $160. 

Our Odds Calculator will tell you what you’d win based on the March Madness prop odds and amount you bet.