College Basketball (NCAAB) Betting

College basketball betting is very popular in sports betting, and the NCAA Tournament (also referred to as March Madness) is one of the largest betting events of the entire year. Continue reading below to learn more about how to invest in college basketball.  If you would like to learn more, please email us at Info@BettingKings.com and we will connect you with one of our Sports Investment Consultants.   

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NCAAB Moneylines
If you’re betting on the moneyline for a college basketball game, you’re betting on who will win the game. Take an example of North Carolina and Duke, with North Carolina as the home team and they’re favored at -200. The negative sign before the odds lets you know that they’re the favorites and you would have to bet $200 to win $100 on them. You’ll always have to pay a little more for the favorite, but they’re usually favored for a reason. However, Duke might be the underdog at +150 and the positive sign will show you that they’re the underdog. This means you would bet $100 to win $150 on Duke.

NCAAB Spreads
After you’re familiar with moneyline betting, you might want to move on to spread betting, which is the most popular way to bet on college basketball. This is when you’re wagering on a certain amount of points when it comes to the margin of victory. For example, North Carolina might be favored over Duke by 5.5 points, which would read as North Carolina -5.5, and Duke +5.5. This means North Carolina has to beat Duke by more than 5.5 points in order to cover their end of the bet, while Duke has to lose by less than 5.5 points or they could win outright to cover. Often you will see a half-point added to the spread to avoid a push, which is when a margin of victory lands exactly on the spread (the spread is 5, and the final score is 72-67, for example).

NCAAB Teasers
If you don’t like the lines you see on the board, you’re able to shift them a little bit through a teaser bet. A teaser allows you to get a set amount of points to move the game in your favor, but you have to play a parlay of at least two games. Although it is riskier now that you need to win two games instead of one, remember that you’ve changed the line in your favor, so it should be easier to win each selection.

NCAAB Totals
You can also bet on the amount of points that will be scored in a game and specifically, whether the actual total will be over or under the sportsbook total; this is also called an Over Under betting. A North Carolina vs. Duke matchup might have a total of 161.5, and again, you might see the half-point to avoid a push (as with spread betting, if there is a push, all money is returned). You will lay your wager on whether you think the final score will come in over or under the posted total. In general, college basketball totals are much lower than the NBA because of a couple of factors. To start, the defense is much more stringent in the college game. Secondly, the shot clock is longer (30 seconds instead of 24) and lastly, the games are shorter.

NCAAB Futures
Finally, you can wager on futures, which is when you bet on something that will happen in the future. That might be something like the national champion, as well as the conference winners or division winners. You might be able to bet on who will win the national player of the year award as well.