College Basketball Odds Legend
Point spread
Also known as the line or spread, college basketball point spread betting is one of the most exciting ways to bet on a game. Not a big surprise, since the sport is so exciting even without the betting aspect. A negative point spread value (-25.5) means that team is favored by 25.5 points. On the other hand, a positive value such as +25.5 indicates its opponent is an underdog of 25.5 points.
Betting on that favorite means the team must win by at least 26 points to cover the NCAA basketball point spread. The underdog team is able to lose by 25 points and still cover the spread. When you see a moneyline component linked with the spread, such as -25.5 (-115), it indicates how much you risk in order to place the wager. This commission is also known as the vig or juice, and means you will need to risk $115 to win $100. The underdog may see a value such as +25.5 (+105). This means you’d bet $100 for the chance to win $105 in profit if your team covers the spread.
Moneyline
College basketball moneylines have become more popular at online sportsbooks in recent years as more shops offered this option for betting on NCAA action. As with other moneyline wagering, the team does not have to win by a certain number of points – it just needs to win the game.
Without a spread to change the risk, however, you need to risk more to pick the favorite. The negative value means a favorite (-300) and the positive value indicates the underdog (+240). Picture the number 100 sitting in the middle of these two values. For example, if you want to bet on the -300 favorite, you would risk $30 in order to profit $10. On the +240 underdog above, you risk $10 and win $24 if the underdog wins. It’s a simple way to ensure a risk-reward scenario for the bettor and the sportsbook and a fair betting field.
Total or Over/Under
Also called OVER/UNDER betting, a college basketball total is a number set by oddsmakers that they think will be the number of points that will be scored in the game by both teams combined. So if the “total” is 166.5, you can bet UNDER the total if you think 166 or fewer points will be scored and OVER if you think 167 or more will be scored.
Futures
Who will cut down the nets at the end of March Madness and win the next college basketball national championship? Oddsmakers offer future lines on almost every team during the season. A futures bet is essentially a wager on the outcome of an event that is awhile away. A top-five ranked basketball team may have +700 odds while a lousy team may be at +50000.
Currently, Odds Shark offers March Madness futures but will be adding other fun college basketball future odds in the near future so stay tuned.