Signing up at a Sportsbook

Now that you know where to bet on college basketball, pick one of the sportsbooks we’ve vetted above and create an account. You’ll need to provide your name, email address and the method you’re choosing to fund your bets – like credit card, Interac, Bitcoin or various other options. In addition, look for bonuses and welcome offers to help grow your bankroll.

How to bet on College Basketball

Having access to college basketball odds and free picks can help if you’re not overly familiar with every NCAA basketball statistic that was ever statisticerized – not a word but it sounds cool. Below we’ll explain some of the different betting options and help you get started betting on basketball and decide which bets make the most sense for you.

Moneyline

In any sports betting scenario, the moneyline involves you simply picking the team you expect to win the game outright. Sometimes referred to as a “straight-up” bet, your payout will be based on how big a favorite or underdog the team is. The underdog team is always represented by the plus sign (+) and the favorite is shown with the minus sign (-).

A line for a game between the Duke Blue Devils and Kentucky Wildcats could look something like this:

Kentucky -240

Duke +220

If you pick Kentucky to win the matchup, you would need to wager $240 to win $100. If you bet on Duke to win, you would only need to wager $100 to win $220. Because Duke is the underdog in this particular scenario, you’d be taking a bigger risk but would earn a bigger profit.

Point Spread

Point spread betting in college basketball works the same way as it would with the NBA.

Let’s use the same Kentucky vs Duke example from above. The point spread line for this game could look something like this:

Kentucky -5.5

Duke +5.5

If Kentucky is favored by 5.5 points against Duke, it means the Wildcats must win the game by six points or more to cover the spread. If you were to take underdog Duke, the Blue Devils would need to either win or not lose by more than five points.

Totals

When betting the total, you will need to decide if the total number of points scored in the game will go OVER or UNDER the oddsmaker’s selected number.

Using the same matchup between Kentucky and Duke, let’s pretend that the total is set at 149 and the final score of the game is 73-69. This combined score of 142 means that the total went UNDER 149. If you bet the UNDER, you’d win your wager. If you had bet the OVER, you’d be in the hole, which is a nice way of saying you lost your wager.

Parlays

A parlay is multiple bets combined into one large bet. In order to win, all selected bets must hit. If even one of those bets loses, your whole parlay ticket is a bust. Your payout increases with each bet on a parlay, as does your risk.

Use Odds Shark’s parlay calculator to determine how much you’d win on your combined basketball wagers. Unless you’re a math whiz, then by all means do those calculations in your head and we sincerely hope you enjoy working at NASA.

Teasers

College basketball teasers allow the bettor to adjust the point spread or game totals to be more in their favor. NCAA basketball teasers are generally 4-6 points, but some sportsbooks can offer teasers as high as 12. Teasers are fairly similar to parlays in that you select multiple bets and must have all wagers correct in order to receive a payout. However, the payout isn’t as big due to the odds being manipulated in your favor.

An example of a 4-point teaser would be moving the Kentucky line from -5.5 points to -1.5 points and moving the total from 149 up to 153 to bet the UNDER. If both wagers are successful, you win your bet.

Live Betting

You may find yourself in a glass cage of emotions watching your favorite NCAA basketball teams. Why aren’t they passing?!? Instead of simply betting on the game beforehand and yelling at the TV, you can bet on it while it’s going on. You’ll probably still yell at the screen but at least you could make some money on the second half.

Live betting is an exhilarating way to watch a college basketball game. Depending on your sportsbook of choice, you should be able to access live betting options during most games in the regular season and March Madness. Live betting for college basketball typically includes spreads, moneylines and totals, as well as player and team prop bets that change after almost every possession.

Props

A prop bet is a wager on an outcome that is not directly related to the outcome of the game. College basketball prop bets are available during the regular season, but they rise in popularity during March Madness. There are numerous player and team prop bets such as the number of rebounds a player will get in the game or which team will score the last basket before halftime.

Futures

This type of bet involves wagering on an event that has yet to happen. You could argue that all bets are placed on events that have yet to happen, but futures betting lines are typically based on things that will happen toward the end of the regular season or March Madness. Futures bets generally offer bigger payouts as you’re betting on things such as a team to win the NCAA Tournament before it begins. In fact, you can place a futures bet before any team plays its first game of the season.

For instance, if the Wildcats have odds of +2800 to win the March Madness Tournament, you can bet on them at $100. If they win the championship, you’d receive a hefty payout of $2,900.

NCAA Betting Tips

• Stick to the trustworthy sportsbooks we recommend, otherwise you could find yourself betting at a very shady site
• Look at our NCAA Basketball Betting Center for free picks, odds, betting trends, consensus, scores and more
• We have advanced betting guides for college basketball to help you gain an advantage
• Watch your bankroll throughout the season, otherwise you may not be able to bet on March Madness