NCAA Basketball Betting Markets: How to Bet on College Basketball

Written by: Matthew Eichhorn Fact checked by: Jaclyn Hurst

Last Updated: January 20, 2025

College basketball betting is one of the most popular sports gambling markets across North America. Not only can you place wagers on all the action of regular seasons NCAA basketball games, you can also wager on March Madness betting odds. To help you get started with your NCAAB betting experience, we’ve provided you with all the need-to-know information on what betting markets you can wager on, how to read college basketball odds, and how to place your bets so you can hit a big bucket that’ll boost your potential payout.

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How to Bet on NCAAB Odds

Here’s how you can bet on college basketball odds in four simple steps:

1. Choose a sportsbook: View our list below to find the oddsmaker that’s right for you. Be sure to take into account the odds offered, sportsbook features, banking options, and customer support.
2. Create an account and deposit funds: Sign up using one of the links above then fund your sportsbook account by making an initial deposit.
3. Place your bet: Pick your wager and add it to your bet slip.
4. Track the game: Once your bet is locked in, all that’s left to do is watch the action unfold and sweat out your wager!

First things first, if you’re going to place a bet on NCAA basketball games you’ll need to signup with one of the top NCAA Basketball Canada sportsbooks. Each of the NCAAB sportsbooks in Canada has their own unique features, banking options, customer support resources, and betting markets so it’s important to compare each of the featured sportsbooks in order to find the one that’s right for your betting needs.

Top College Basketball Betting Apps

Types of NCAA Basketball Betting Markets

Once you’ve signed up with one of the top online sportsbooks in Canada, you’ll need to first understand how to bet on college basketball odds. Below we’ve broken down how each college basketball betting market works, how to win your bets, and how to find where the best bang for your buck exists in each market. Get ready to place you NCAAB best bets today!

College Basketball Moneylines

As simple as it gets when it comes to college basketball odds, moneyline betting is wagering on which team will win the game.

Example: if the North Carolina Tar Heels are facing off against the Duke Blue Devils, you could wager on the moneyline for whichever team you think will emerge victorious. If the you bet on the Duke Blue Devils and the team wins, so do you.

College Basketball Futures

Futures betting is when you wager on an event that has yet to unfold such as the winner of the NCAA tournament National Championship, the recipient of the Wooden Award (NCAAB top player), and conference championship winners. You don’t need to be psychic in order to wager on college basketball futures (although it might help) as the top college basketball oddsmakers offer multiple unique futures betting odds throughout the college basketball season.

College basketball futures odds generally hold greater value opposed to traditional betting markets as they are much more difficult to successfully hit. The earlier you place our bet, the better value you can expect to net if you’re able to cash-in on a winning pick.

Current NCAA MVP betting odds for the winner of the John R. Wooden Award:

College Basketball Point Spreads

NCAA basketball point spread wagers even the playing field and can provide increased value for bettors. In a point spread bet, players need to correctly wager whether a favourite will win the game by a set amount of points scored (known as the point spread), or if the underdog will lose within a certain distance of the lead, or win the game outright.

Example: let’s say that the Auburn Tigers are -2.5 point favourites against the UCLA Bruins. This means that Auburn would need to win the game by three points or more in order to cover the point spread, whereas UCLA would need to either be the outright winner of the game, or lose within two points scored to cover.

Point spread betting NCAAB odds are a great way for college basketball fans to wager on the action as it provides added value for backing favoured NCAAB teams, while supplying some insurance for those betting on the underdog.

College Basketball Over/Unders

Instead of focusing on the winners and losers of a college basketball game, over/unders or point totals are based on the combined total of how many points are scored within NCAA basketball games. Bettors can choose to wager on whether the final score will go over or under the projected point total line set by oddsmakers in order to win their bet.

Eample: if the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles have a projected point total of 179.5 total points, if 180 total points or more are scored then the over would hit, but if 179 total points or less are scored then the under would be the winning betting market.

College basketball game point totals can be a thrilling way to wager on the action when you’re unsure of who will emerge as the outright winner. Be sure to pay attention to the scoring trends of the two teams squaring off, as when a pair high-scoring squads face-off the over is often a good look, whereas when defensive units tango the under would be the right read to make.

College Basketball Prop Bets

Prop bets are a great betting market for bettors with ample knowledge of the college basketball world and provide a new layer of excitement into your NCAA basketball predictions. Instead of wagering on the outcome of the game, bettors wager on specific events to transpire within the game. Prop bets can come in the form of game props as well as player props.

Popular college basketball prop bets include first point type, first basket scorers, and over/unders on player statistical milestones. Bringing a new wrinkle into the fold of college basketball betting odds, prop bets are not just a fun way to get some skin in on the action, but can also hold awesome value depending on the wager placed.

College Basketball Parlays

A great betting method for those looking to score a big win on a small stake, a college basketball parlay bet allows for you to combine multiple wagers into a single bet slip for increased odds on each included wager.

Parlay betting odds can be extremely profitable depending on the amount of legs included in your wager, but they are far harder to win. In order to win your college basketball parlay, you must be perfect. That means if you have a four-leg parlay and only three of the four wagers are successful, you would lose your wager.

Whether you want to wager on multiple matchups, or want to combine game line and prop bets from a single matchup into a same game parlay, parlay betting is a great way for new bettors to become familiar with gambling, and set yourself up for a big win in the process.

College Basketball Live Betting

Live betting odds can be a profitable betting strategy if done correctly. Live betting allows you to wager on a matchup as it unfolds in real-time. Bettors can capitalize on a swing in momentum and net themselves a wager with increased value than what was being offered pre-game. Live betting odds exist across multiple betting markets such as moneylines, point spread bets, point total bets, as well as select prop betting odds.

How To Read NCAAB Odds

Using “American” odds, the favoured teams are displayed with a minus sign (-), while underdogs are shown with a plus sign (+). These markers indicate the value of each moneyline betting market within the matchup. A minus sign indicates the amount needing to be wagered in order to profit $100. For example, if the Duke Blue Devils are -200 favourites, bettors would need to wager $200 in order to profit $100.

Inversely, the plus sign for an underdog represents how much will be profited by placing a $100 wager. For example, if the North Carolina Tar Heels are +200 underdogs, a $100 wager would return $200 in profits.

Other ways that NCAA basketball odds are displayed are decimal (i.e 1.50 = 1.5x your wager), and fractional (i.e. 5/1 = five-to-one odds or five dollars for every one dollar wagered).

College Basketball Betting Tips

Let’s go over a few helpful betting tips that can help you best the oddsmakers this college basketball season.

When crafting your bets, it’s paramount that you craft a betting strategy. Much of this strategy will need to come from your own knowledge and/or NCAAB statistics and trends. By combining your existing college basketball knowledge with the statistical proof of team’s results this season, you should be able to make educated decisions on a variety of betting lines and odds.

To help you out we provide NCAAB best bets during the tournament so that you can get expert NCAA basketball picks from experienced bettors. Our winning picks are a great way to help you get started in your sports betting journey.

While winning is always great, it’s important to remember that very few bettors actually turn a profit gambling. This means you’ll need to set up responsible gaming tools to help you keep your betting habits fun and safe. Each of the top sportsbooks we feature offer resources and tools to those suffering from a gambling problem, as well as tools that can help limit your risk of developing one such as account limits, self-exclusions, and more.

Final Thoughts

Easily one of the most popular betting odds in Canada, NCAA basketball games are always a thrill to bet on. From the season tip-off to Selection Sunday and all the way through the National Championship, the NCAAB betting tips featured above will help you capitalize on the excitement and boost your potential winnings. Sign up with one of the top sportsbooks in Canada today and place your first bet on a college basketball game today.

NCAA Basketball Betting Markets FAQs