A new NCAA basketball champion will soon be crowned. Check out spreads, moneylines, and totals for each NCAA basketball game below.
NCAA basketball odds
College basketball odds are available to bet on daily. Just click to wager on the best odds via the betting sites and best betting apps below.
Why bet NCAA basketball online
The experience using March Madness betting sites is much more convenient than a retail sportsbook. From a betting perspective, there are three advantages of betting online versus waiting in the teller line at a retail sportsbook:
- Open 24/7: Once college basketball odds for each game have been posted, you can decide which bets or parlays to make for the evening’s game while sipping your coffee in the morning. There isn’t a need to make a trip to a retail book.
- Freedom of Choice: While you may have to drive a long time to get to a retail book, you can shop around for your best odds across all of the multiple sportsbooks. Provided you are registered and verified in your state via geolocation, you can place your bets.
- In-Game Bets: Online betting allows you to make live, in-play wagers once the game is underway. Most online sportsbooks, including DraftKings and FanDuel, offer college basketball odds of the live betting variety.
Watching the action live on TV and being able to assess a wager for the second-half or final-game result is a great advantage, especially as the point spreads and totals change in real time with the game action.
Best NCAA basketball betting sites
DraftKings Sportsbook
DraftKings Sportsbook has one of the heftier menus of bets on NCAA basketball odds. Consistently rated as one of the best apps, DraftKings Sportsbook’s technology boasts one of the leading live-betting interfaces, which is key in a fast-moving sport like March Madness.
Bet365 Sportsbook
bet365 Sportsbook has ramped up its NCAA basketball offering on its continued mission to impact the more established stateside operators. Look for plenty of NCAA basketball odds come tournament time as the brand continues to expand to more states.
BetRivers Sportsbook
Don’t forget about BetRivers Sportsbook when looking for outs on NCAA basketball odds. They don’t operate in as many states as other operators, but they have their menu of odds boosts and props available on March Madness bets. Additionally, their easy-to-use bonuses make for a perfect pairing with March Madness underdogs.
FanDuel Sportsbook
FanDuel Sportsbook has more than its share of NCAA basketball odds available. The app rates highly and contains a wide selection of markets. It always offers props and futures in NCAA basketball odds. Look for one of the best same-game parlay menus come March when it’s NCAA tournament season.
- Join TheLines.com’s free sports betting Discord — with over 4,000 community members and our staff sharing ideas daily.
NCAA live betting
While college basketball’s in-game betting options are less extensive than betting on the NBA, there are still opportunities to make in-game bets in college hoops.
In this example from DraftKings, California is at home versus Prairie View. The pregame line was California -15.
Early in the first half, the live, in-game line has moved slightly to California -14.5:
In the Cal-Prairie View matchup, DraftKings posts full-game total points over/under totals for each team:
DraftKings also offers live point spreads for the first half:
For a live bettor, it’s important to place your live bets as quickly as you can. The odds will fluctuate in real-time as illustrated by increase/decrease in the Cal-Prairie View totals below from FOX Bet Sportsbook:
In addition to the futures betting referenced earlier, here are the additional types of bets you can expect to see on individual NCAA basketball games:
- Moneyline
- Point spread
- Totals (over/unders)
- Game props (i.e., player points, rebounds, assists)
Moneyline, point spreads, and over/under wagers can also typically be built into:
NCAA Basketball Betting Tips 2024-25
There is a lot to consider when placing a futures bet, especially in the season’s early months.
Determinants include the team’s previous year’s record, returning starters, key adds/losses/transfers, and any impact of coaching changes.
You can identify some value in teams’ future pricing by overlaying the current top 25 schools with current future book odds for the national title and, where available, conference titles.
How are NCAA basketball lines set?
The process for setting NCAA basketball lines is consistent with other sports, including the NFL and college football.
Casinos and bookmakers try to set a line that balances the dollars being wagered on each side of the proposition so that they are somewhat equal and the casino has no (or minimal) principal risk.
After an opening point spread is set, the line will fluctuate as money comes in on either side of the bet.
A line may open as Syracuse as a -5 favorite versus Duke.
If the public feels that Duke has a great chance to cover the spread (or even win the game outright), a majority of the money might come in at Duke +5. To balance out the line, the book would likely adjust the line down (e.g., Syracuse -4.5 or -4) to even out the money totals.
What’s the difference between Vegas NCAA lines and other lines?
For the above reasons, each bookmaker must manage their specific market and liability circumstances.
So, DraftKings Sportsbook could potentially have a different balance of the money for a West Virginia-Indiana matchup versus what BetMGM is handling, resulting in different betting lines at each sportsbook.
NCAA March Madness
March Madness generates phenomenal betting interest across the United States every year. People are interested in the college basketball odds for games and the tournament pools.
According to Forbes, about 47 million people, one in five American adults, are expected to bet an estimated $8.5 billion during the tournament this year. Of that, $4.6 billion will be bet in bracket/tourney pools and $3.9 billion on individual games.
As a frame of reference, there is an estimated $6 billion in wagers on the Super Bowl.
An NCAA selection committee 10 decides which 68 schools will be in March Madness. Of the 68 schools, 32 qualify automatically by winning their conference tournament, with the other 36 at-large schools selected by the committee.
The 2023 Final Four will take place at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas
Check our free NCAA tournament bracket contests page for the latest contests when March Madness rolls around again.
NCAA FAQ
Where is NCAA basketball betting legal in the US?
Futures betting on college basketball will be available in every legal sports betting state.
Retail and online sportsbooks also post daily game lines, NCAA futures, and live in-play betting. The exact types will vary from state to state.
As market pricing can fluctuate daily due to a school’s improved performance, an injury to a key player, or a player being ruled academically ineligible, it makes sense to monitor sports betting apps and online sportsbooks for up-to-date pricing. The online approach is more convenient, flexible, and timely.
One legal exception to note in college basketball futures betting (as well as game-by-game betting) is about New Jersey.
While you can freely bet on NCAA basketball in the Garden State, state rules do not allow betting on NJ-based schools. These include and extend to all games that are part of any regular-season or postseason tournaments.
How many times has the preseason No. 1 team won the national championship?
Six, since the field expanded to 64 in 1984-85. North Carolina was the last school to do this in 2008-09. This year’s preseason consensus No. 1, Michigan State, is worth considering as part of a futures bet “to Make the Final Four.”
Just under 50% of the 35 preseason No. 1 teams since 1984-85 have advanced to the Final Four. Here’s the full breakdown of how the preseason No. 1 teams have performed in the NCAA tournament:
- Six won the national championship (17.1%).
- Seven lost in the national championship (20%).
- Seventeen reached the Final Four (just under 50%).
- Twenty-two achieved at least the Elite Eight (62.9%).
- Twenty-seven made it to the Sweet 16 (77.1%).
- One lost in the first round.
Source: NCAA.com
How many regular-season games are there in the NCAA season?
Teams can play 29 regular-season games or 27 regular-season games plus no more than four games in one multi-team tournament, for a maximum of 31 games.
Conference and other postseason tournaments do not count against the limit. In 2019, Virginia’s national championship team had a final record of 35-3 (38 games).
What is the NET rating in NCAA?
The NCAA evaluation tool, aka the NET, relies on game results, the strength of the schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.
The NET tool is now the primary tool the NCAA tournament committee uses to evaluate and seed the 36 at-large schools in the tournament. The NCAA website provides a deeper dive into NET ratings.
What are the best upset picks in NCAA tourney?
In terms of historical performance, here’s a summary of lower-seed performance in the opening round of the tournament:
- No.16 defeated No. 1: 1
- No. 15 defeated No. 2: 8
- No. 14 defeated No. 3: 21
- No. 13 defeated No. 4: 27
- No. 12 defeated No. 5: 50
What are the other postseason tournaments besides March Madness?
Two other postseason tournaments invite schools that do not make the March Madness field of 68:
- National Invitation Tournament (NIT): 32 schools. Played at on-campus sites with semifinals/finals at Madison Square Garden, New York
- CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT): 20 to 26 schools. All games are played at on-campus sites.
What is RPI in NCAA Basketball?
Note: RPI was replaced before the 2018-19 season by NET ratings as the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams during the Division I men’s basketball season.
The NCAA men’s basketball committee used the rating percentage index (RPI) as supplemental data to help select at-large teams and seed all teams for the NCAA tourney.
Three components comprise a school’s RPI:
- The Team’s Division 1 winning percentage is 25% of the RPI. Home wins are weighted 0.6, neutral wins 1.0, and road wins count 1.4; road losses are 0.6, neutral losses 1.0, and home losses 1.4.
- The team’s division opponents’ winning percentage or the team’s schedule strength, excluding results against the team in question. It is 50% of the RPI.
- The team’s opponents’ Division I winning percentage or the team’s opponents’ strength of schedule, excluding results against the team in question. This is 25% of the RPI.