NCAA Men's College Basketball Picks

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Understanding College Basketball Picks & Betting Lines

There are three basic ways to bet on NCAA Men’s College Basketball: the point spread, the moneyline, and the Total (also known as the Over/Under). Oddsmakers release a “point spread”, “moneyline”, and “total” for nearly every college basketball game. Learn More:

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The Point Spread

The point spread is the number of points oddsmakers think the favored team should win by. Thus, you have the choice to choose the favorite and give up points or take the underdog and get points. Generally, the odds for placing a bet against the spread is usually -110, meaning you must risk $110 to win $100.

For example, the Kansas Jayhawks played the North Carolina Tarheels in the championship game of the 2021-2022 season. In this instance, the Jayhawks were favored by 4.5 points. In this case, the Jayhawks won the game by three points, 72-69 . Therefore, betting the Tarheels as an underdog was the winning beat. They “covered the spread”, even though they lost the game.

College Basketball Picks & The Moneyline

Nearly every college basketball game will have a “moneyline”. The moneyline for a game represents how Vegas views how the game will end, which team will win and lose. Moneyline bets offer higher risk with lower return on favorites, and lower risks with higher returns on underdogs.

Moneyline bets are useful, especially for parlay bets, because you do not have to worry about how much a team wins by, only if they win or lose. It will cost more to bet the moneyline on favorites straight up if you are trying to make $100, while betting on underdogs has the potential for a larger payoff.

For example, the Kansas Jayhawks faced off against the North Carolina Tarheels in the championship game of the 2021-2022 season. Consequently, the Jayhawks were -200 to win the game outright. This means the bettor would have had to wager $200 to win $100. The Tarheels were +165 to win, which means the bettor would have won $165 on a $100 bet IF the Tarheels had won. The Jayhawks won.

The Total (Over/Under)

Nearly every college basketball game will have a “total”. The total, also known as the over/under, represents how many combined points the oddsmakers think will be scored in a game by both teams. The odds for total bets are normally -110, which means the bettor would have to wager $110 to win $100.

For example, the Kansas Jayhawks played the North Carolina Tarheels in the championship game of the 2021-2022 season. In this case, the total was 151.5 points. Thus, the bettor had to decide whether they thought the score would be under or over 151.5 points. Hence the term “over/under”. Consequently, the game ended 72-69, for a total of 141 points, which was UNDER the total.

Prop Bets

Many bookmakers offer proposition bets, or “prop bets” for short. Consequently, the bettor an opportunity to wager on specific aspects of the games other than the spread, moneyline and total. Each week there are prop bets available for most of the big national games.

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For instance, there are prop bets for how many points an offensive player might score. Additionally, there may be props for how many assists an individual players will have.

For the most part, prop bets are listed like Over/Under totals or yes/no questions, such as “Will Player X score for Over/Under 20 points”, or “Will Player Z have Over/Under 8 assists?”

College Basketball Picks & Parlay Wagers

The Oxford Dictionary defines “parlay” as “a cumulative series of bets in which winnings accruing from each transaction are used as a stake for a further bet.”

In other words, a parlay wager is betting and on 2 or more game outcomes on the same ticket. Each addition team added to the parlay makes the payout increase. To win a parlay bet, all the picks must win.

The odds are heavily against the bettor on parlay bets on two different fronts, the true odds and the odds paid. For example, the true odds of hitting a 10-team parlay are 1023-1, but the odds paid at most sportsbooks are 720-1.

Many bettors use parlay bets to stack moneyline bets for games they feel most strongly about. If the bettor picks an underdog on the moneyline, the expected payout can increase dramatically, along with the bettor’s chance of losing the bet.

Betting on the Future

One wagering option, known as Futures, allows the bettor to bet on a long-running result instead of betting a single-game outcome. There are several preseason futures bets available before the college basketball season begins, and there are some futures bets that run during the season, with the odds changing week by week. Before the season begins, a bettor has the option to place future wagers on win/loss records, conference champs, which teams will reach the Sweet 16, Final Four, and even the champion. For example, in 2021 a $100 futures wager on the Kansas Jayhawks to win the NCAA Championship would have netted the bettor $1,200. There are many factors to consider when deciding which teams to wager on, such as injuries, weather, trends, rivalry games, etc. There are many ways to wager, just make sure you have the right information about the games you are betting.