NCAAB Odds and Betting Lines

How to Read NCAAB Odds

NCAAB betting lines can generally be broken down into three primary bets: the point spread, moneyline, and total or OVER/UNDER.

College basketball odds are very different from their NBA counterparts. Since college basketball games feature two 20-minute halves, rather than four twelve-minute quarters, college basketball totals are far lower than NBA totals. Home court advantage also holds more significance, as home fans, and familiarity go a long way for young athletes. College basketball also uses a longer 30-second shot clock. Plus, NBA players are much more efficient scorers.

Crucially for bettors, NCAAB betting lines will often have value at sportsbooks, as the linemakers may be unfamiliar with smaller conferences and schools. There are significant advantages to be found, if you do your research, and understand how to bet on college basketball. With the sheer amount of teams throughout the country, and the high turnover of rosters as players graduate, and transfer, sportsbooks simply can’t keep up. You may not enjoy watching a North Texas vs UAB game nearly as much as Purdue vs Ohio State. However, there is value to be found, and loads of money to won when betting on smaller college basketball schools.

Moneyline

Placing a moneyline wager is simply predicting which team you think will win. You’re betting on the team you believe will win the game. The favorite can be identified by a (-) sign before the team name, while the underdog will be listed with a (+) sign. College basketball matchups between teams with closer to equal skill levels will be closer to -110 odds on the favorite (meaning you’d need to wager $110 to win $100), while a large favorite will generally be listed at about -300 (meaning you’d need to wager $300 to win $100) or above.

Spread

A point spread is a way for sportsbooks to level the playing field in unbalanced matchups. The college basketball point spread is the number of points each sportsbook believes the better team will win by. The favorite in every contest is labeled with a (-) along with the number of points they need to win by in order to cash your bet. On the flip side, the underdog is labeled with a (+) sign and the number of points they need to avoid losing by.

There is always a clear correlation between the moneyline and the spread, as a team that’s a heavy moneyline favorite (such as -1000), will see a significant point spread (such as -25) in any college basketball contest.

Here is an example of a college basketball point spread you may see at a sportsbook:

Were you to bet on the favorite with this spread, Purdue would need to defeat Ohio State by more than two points to cash your bet. There's a reason the Boilermakers are one of the favorites to win the college basketball national championship. You lose if Ohio State can win the game, or keep the final score within two points. In parentheses, you can see the "juice" or the mount you need to wager on each team to win $100.

Totals

An OVER/UNDER or total bet is the combined score of both college basketball teams. The total for these games is the number set by oddsmakers based on how many points they believe each team will combine to score.

A college basketball total may look something like this:

College basketball totals are smaller than their NBA counterparts. The games are shorter, and NBA players are much better at shooting the basketball. Most college basketball games feature nearly identical odds on either side of the total. In this instance, if you bet on the OVER 148 total points, both teams need to combine for more than 148 points for your bet to win. You'll often see a -110 next to each number, meaning you'll need to wager $110 in order to win $100.