Sports bettors greatly enjoy betting on NCAA basketball. With so many teams to bet on (literally hundreds) there’s always on-court action to wager on, and yet another favourite team to support. 

Below is an introduction to betting on this popular sport – and winning. 

Betting Options 

The most popular NCAA bet types are the money line, the point spread, and over/under totals. 

Of these, the moneyline bet is often favoured among sports bettors, as this type of bet predicts which team will emerge the outright winner of the game. 

Bookmakers typically employ professional oddsmakers to create moneyline odds for each game. These odds are calculated using each team’s inferred probability of coming out on top. 

Moneyline odds are usually displayed in hundreds denominations, and favourites will be displayed in a negative value. The probable underdog will carry a positive value. 

The second type of popular NCAA basketball bet is the point spread. This type of wager is favoured by bettors interested in how factors such as injuries, strengths and weaknesses are anticipated to affect the players on game-day. These factors are also used by oddsmakers when determining the point spread. 

Last but not least, is the game totals bet, often referred to as over/under betting. Bookmakers set the NCAA basketball odds by predicting the total of the combined points to be scored by both teams. Bettors then wager on whether the result will be over or under the total set by the bookies. 

Betting Tips

Below are some NCAA basketball betting tips that will help you to up your own sports betting game: 

• Size is a thing. Since college basketball features an incredible 32 different leagues and conferences, bookies generally focus mostly on the biggest of the name-brand conferences. This is because these are known to attract more betting action. But this often means that bookies are left quite exposed on the smaller conferences betting lines. 

Obviously, this can work greatly in the favour of the punters. Becoming an expert in smaller conferences can give you a definite advantage over the bookmakers. 

• Finding value in futures. Typically, futures odds for tournaments look very much the same season after season, with the usual powerhouses ending at the top of the scoreboard. The trick is to try and spot a March Madness slow-rise beyond the typical board-toppers. Do this, and you’ll be setting yourself up for a handsome payday once the tournament kicks off in March. 
• Learn to specialise by narrowing down your options. Since any given season will see more than 350 Division 1 college programs head to the courts, it can become impossible to stay ahead of all the action. A good idea is to focus on only a few conferences at a time. This will allow you the time and space to hone in on a select number of teams, and really get to understand what they’re all about. 

Check out the forums. For anyone wanting to learn more about NCAA basketball betting, a forum is a great place to start. By joining one, you’ll get to learn first-hand from more experienced bettors.