The NCAA Tournament, one of the most exciting events on the sports calendar each year, is underway. Also referred to as March Madness, the tournament typically features every sports trope, like underdogs defying the odds and heart-breaking defeats of🐻 the favorites.
The NCAA Tournament is exciting because anything can happen, as a decades-long sample size demonstrates. We have put toge😼ther a guide to help you get started with your NCAA Tournament betting experience.
Understanding the Basics of the NCAA Tournament
The NCAA Tournament places the best teams in college basketball into a bracket seeded 1-16, with the outcome crowning a winner. There are six rounds of the NCAA Tournament, plus a “First Four” round that forces teams close to making the bracket to play a play-in game.
After the First Four is played out, the bracket is considered finalized. A crop of 64 teams will start and be turned into 32 after the first round. From there, the pool of teams is whittled down to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final Four. The emerging victors from the Final Four then face off in the finals of the NCA🍷A Tournament. Whoever wins that game is the winner of the tournament.
When does the NCAA Tournament start?
The NCAA tournament technically began on Tuesday, March 19. The bulk of the tournament, with the First Four games already complete, 🐬will commence on Thursday, March 21.
NCAA Tournament Betting: How Do I Wager?
NCAA Tournament betting can be one of the most enjoyable experiences on the sports wagering calendar. The thrill of each game is unparalleled, and we haveꦡ you covered with information on how to bet on each game.
Most games will have complete pre-game odds and lines for the primary markets, including moneylines, spreads, and totals. Select books offer extensive college player prop betting, but ch♈eck out the laws regardi🦂ng this in your state, as some states prohibit NCAA wagering entirely.
Moneylines
If you bet on a moneyline, you’re betting on a team to win the game. For example, suppose you want to bet Duke moneyline at +135 odds for $10. If Duke wins the game, you win your bet and recover $13.50 in profit.
Spreads
If you bet on the spread, you’re betting on a team to win but against a handicapped number. Because a team is typically favored by a certain amount, it is either given points or has points taken away to “match” its opponent.
For example, let’s say that 4.5 points favor UNC against Texas Tech. This means you can bet on UNC -4.5 or Texas Tech +4.5. If you wagered on UNC, you’d win your bet if UNC won the game by more than 4.5 points. If you bet on TTU, you would win if the team won outright or lost by fewer than 4.5 points.
Totals
Another popular NCAA Tournament betting option is totals. You can bet on the sum of both teams’ scoring output across the entire game.
For example, if a game between Arizona and Illinois has a betting total of 144.5 points, you can wager on the “over” or “under.” A bet on the over wins if the final score combines for 144.5 points or more. A bet on the under wins if the final score combines for fewer than 144.5 points.
- Arizona 80, Illinois 76: The “over” wins because 156 is more than 144.5.
- Arizona 66, Illinois 59: The “under” wins because 125 is less than 144.5.
How does the March Madness bracket work?
Filling out a March Madness bracket is entirely different from sports betting. When you put together a bracket, you are making educated guesses about 🐻how every gam❀e will play out well in advance. You have more options and current information when you bet on NCAA Tournament games instead of filling out brackets.
