Ncaa Bracket Betting Sites
CBSSports.com's College Basketball expert picks provides daily picks for each game during the season.
Contents
- Bitcoin Betting On NCAA Tournament Odds. Bitcoin (BTC) and other forms of cryptocurrency are the preferred legal methods of banking at offshore betting sites. Bitcoin sportsbook deposits can be made quickly and will allow patrons to bet on March Madness online within minutes. Bitcoin withdrawals are the only transaction method that can be completed within 24 hours of its request - an exclusive in the online betting.
- NCAA Basketball Betting 2021 - Many fans enjoy the rush of a real money bet on the big games. While the heated tournament inspires everyone from your mechanic to the President of the USA to set their bracket, it's much easier to bet on individual games at online gambling sites.
What is March Madness?
A popular annual NCAA men's basketball tournament, the event takes place over a three-week period and the betting action on the tournament brings in record handles for sportsbooks in the United States.
The tournament is a single-elimination format that consists of 68 teams and those schools are announced on “Selection Sunday” – which is an event in itself. The 2021 selection show takes place on Sunday March 14, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. ET and is televised nationally in the United States on CBS, one of the largest broadcast companies.
Pundits often try to predict the full bracket before the event and the term “Bracketology” is used in many sports betting circles. The brackets are divided into four regions, split up geographically in the United States. All of the March Madness games are played on neutral courts and the regional final takes place at a large venue.
Sweet 16
With over 350 NCAA men's teams eligible to compete and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, securing a spot in the Sweet 16 is a major accomplishment. When betting on March Madness futures or competing in a Bracket Contest, predicting the Sweet 16 is essential for all of your wagers. In order to reach the Sweet 16, teams will have to win their first two games and sometimes three if schools had to qualify from the 'First Four' matchups.
Eight schools compete in the 'First Four' games on Thursday March 18 from two venues -- Mackey Arena and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall -- located in Indiana.
The March Madness the field of 64 is cut in half to 32 and eventually 16 after the first and second rounds are completed. Even though there are 16 teams still standing, it's quite common to see mismatches on paper as far as the seedings go. A double-digit seeded school have made plenty of appearances in this round and they're often listed as healthy underdogs by the oddsmakers.
This year's 2021 Sweet 16 matchups will take place from two venues from the state of Indiana. These games are also known as the Regional Semifinals.
- Bankers Life Fieldhouse
- Hinkle Fieldhouse
Elite Eight
Even bigger than the Sweet 16 is the Elite Eight and schools playing in this round know how high the stakes are. The winners will advance to the Final Four while the losers are sent packing after winning three or possibly four NCAA Tournament games in a row. The point-spreads are usually much tighter in this round since the top contenders are left standing and the oddsmakers have a better understanding of the remaining clubs. It's not uncommon to see higher seeds last this long in the NCAA Tournament and plenty of those long shots or underdogs receive plenty of attention from bettors looking for upsets and major payouts.
Similar to the Sweet 16, the Elite Eight matchups will take place at the same venues with one day of rest between the games. These games are also known as the Regional Finals.
For the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the Elite Eight will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium on Monday March 29 and Tuesday March 30.
The Final Four is put simply, the final four teams left in the NCAA Tournament and those squads will meet in a pair of semifinal matchups. The winners will advance to the March Madness championship while the losers join many other schools who just missed out on a trip to the title game. The Final 4 always takes place on the first Saturday in April, this year's event taking place on April 3, 2021 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Expecting at least one No. 1 seed to be playing in the Final 4 is very likely. Since the tournament expanded in 1985 to 64 teams, there have only been two years where the Final Four didn’t have a No. 1 seed which occurred in 2011 and 2006. Keep in mind that expecting all top seeds to advance is also rare. There has only been one instance where all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four, which took place in 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA earned regional bids.
Since the expansion of the NCAA Tournament occurred in 1985, Duke leads all schools with 12 all-time appearances in the Final Four while Kansas is next up with 18.
2019 Final Four Schools (Seeds)
Virginia (1)
Michigan State (2)
Texas Tech (3)
Auburn (5)
Lucky No. 11
The lowest seed to make the Final 4 was the No. 11. This happened four times since 1985 and most recently with Loyola-Chicago in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Other teams included were Virginia Commonwealth (2011), George Mason (2006) and LSU (1986).
Along with that quartet, the only other double-digit seeds to make the Final 4 was Syracuse, who earned a trip in 2016 as a No. 10 seed.
Ncaa Bracket Betting Sites
UConn remains the lowest modern-day seeded team to win the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies of Connecticut accomplished the feat in the 2007 tournament as the No. 7 seed. Villanova, an eighth seed, captured the 1984-85 tournament over Georgetown.
Most Popular March Madness Tools
March Madness Bracket Explained
Betting on March Madness is one of the most popular sports betting events and it's format caters to the masses of not just sports bettors but for individuals who like to compete in a contests against friends, employees and strangers. The Bracket is a single-elimination contest where individuals must pick the winner of head-to-head matchups and forecast ahead before future matchups are determined.
Predicting a perfect March Madness Bracket is quite difficult and some experts have stated that you have a 1 in 9.2 quintillion chance. So if you see many websites and operators offering a guaranteed $1 Million Dollars for a perfect bracket, you can see that the odds are against you and the reward should be much higher. For those wondering, there has never
Nonetheless, the tournament has everybody glued to their Brackets especially for the first round since that's where many upsets take place. Going 32-0 isn't impossible and it's been done many times before but seeing your March Madness Bracket go unscathed through the opening weekend is rare and that would require you to post 16 more winners and improve to 48-0.
The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight weekend follows and participants will be following 12 games before the Final Four and Championship, which is a total of 63 games to predict. While the point-spread isn't used in the March Madness Bracket, predicting straight up winners isn't as easy as it looks -- especially when you don't know the matchups beforehand.
The VegasInsider.com Live Brackets is a great feature to follow your selections and our Printable Brackets will allow you to write-in your selections as you see fit.
March Madness Dates
The NCAA Tournament and March Madness Betting research begins on 'Selection Sunday' as the field of 68 teams are announced. After the brackets are filled in, the March Madness format is followed with all games being played at neutral sites.
- First Four - Thursday 18, 2021
- First Round - Fri/Sat, March 19-20, 2021
- Second Round - Sun/Mon, March 21-22, 2021
- Sweet 16 - Sat/Sun, March 27-28, 2021
- Elite Eight - Mon/Tue, March 29-30, 2021
- Final Four - Saturday, April 3, 2021
- NCAA Championship Game - Monday, April 5, 2021
Types of NCAA Tournament Bets
Bracket Pool
The March Madness Bracket Pool is a great contest that continues to rise in popularity among bettors and non-bettors. There is no barrier to entry and it's easy to participate, whether it be online or offline. All you need to do is find a group of colleagues and be on your way to predicting the outcome of the entire NCAA Tournament. The individual with the best prediction skills will be the overall winner of the Bracket Pool. Most pools start with an entry fee, decided by the pool leader, and all of the entries must be completed by the first matchup. That initial game usually takes place at 12:00 p.m. ET on the first Thursday after Selection Sunday, this year it will be on Friday March 19. For the 2021 March Madness event, your deadline to submit picks will be on Friday, Mar. 19, 2021.
Game Lines
The key to betting on March Madness is understanding the lines or betting odds. After 'Selection Sunday' takes place and the field of 68 is announced, the oddsmakers start to post opening lines on all of the matchups. Our Las Vegas Odds and Global Odds will begin to populate opening numbers for all of the matchups in the NCAA Tournament.
March Madness bettors can toggle between three different sections.
- Spread
- Money Line
- 1st Half
The game lines for the Spread show the point-spread odds, which are the most popular. Bettors playing totals or 'over/under' wagers are also listed on this page. The Money-Line odds cater to bettors looking to place wagers on the straight up outcome of a matchup, meaning the point-spread doesn't come into play. The 1st Half is catered to savvy bettors who like to get their juices going early. These bets are focused on the first 20 minutes of each March Madness matchup.
Point-Spread Bet
The point-spread was developed to provide a balance for both teams involved in a contest to entice bettors to potentially back the weaker team and receive points. The two squads in a game are listed with a title, either a favorite or an underdog. The favorite is usually the perceived better team in the game, as backing them means giving up several points.
Example - Point-Spread
Duke -10
Kansas +10
In the above example, if you wanted to back Duke as a 10-point favorite then you would need them to beat Kansas by 11 or more points to win your wager. If you wagered on Kansas, then you would need them to win the game outright or lose by less than 10 points.
Any victory by Duke by nine points or less would result in a loss, even though they won the game straight-up.
Assuming the final margin falls on 10 in this case, a ‘push’ occurs, which is a tie, meaning all tickets are refunded.
Money-Line Bet
In basketball, the standard betting practice is to lay (bet) $110 to win $100. When we learn about betting baseball and hockey, the money-line is the main form of wagering, meaning no point-spread. There is money-line betting in basketball in case you don’t want to worry about the points. However, the odds are adjusted accordingly for both the favorite and underdog.
Example - Money-Line
Duke -550
Kansas +400
In the above example, a straight-up wager on Duke would require you to invest more to win more since its been listed as a large favorite. Since Duke is -550, you would wager $550 to win $100. If you only had $100 to wager, then your return would be $18.18 (100/550). On the flip side, if you have enough faith in Kansas to beat Duke outright as a heavy underdog, then you can place $100 to return $400. You would receive $500, which includes your initial stake.
Over/Under Bet
Another popular betting option for March Madness games is the 'over/under' or what many may refer to as the total. This wager is a cooperative effort between the two teams to either go ‘Over’ or ‘Under’ the posted total. In March Madness, if Duke and Kansas have a game total of 150 ½, a winning 'Over' bet would mean the two clubs would combine for 151 points or more. On the flip side, a winning ‘Under’ ticket is 150 points or fewer between the two teams.
Parlay/Teaser
A Parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers for a high payout. Parlay wagers can include point-spread, money-line and over-under wagers.
In order for the parlay bet to win, every one of the wagers must win or push (tie). If any of the selections lose, your wager loses, regardless of the outcome or cancellation of the other games. Depending on the sportsbook, a parlay could still be alive if one or more of the selections ends in a tie, postponed game or canceled event. If that happens, the parlay is knocked down a straight wager or a lower parlay.
The VegasInsider.com Parlay Calculator is a useful betting resource for March Madness and it provides bettors with a chance to calculate winnings based on the fixed payouts.
Similar to a parlay wager, a Teaser is a type of bet that allows you to combine your bets on two or more different games. The return isn't as high as parlays but bettors will gain an advantage with these bets by adding or subtracting points to either a point-spread or a total (over/under). The majority of sportsbooks will offer 4, 4.5 and 5 point teaser wagers for March Madness.
Example - Original Line
Duke -10
Over 150 ½
Example - Teaser Bet (4 Points)
Duke -6
Over 146 ½
A bettor taking Duke (-10) and the Over (150 ½) in a two-team Teaser for 4 points would lower the point-spread on Duke to -6 and also drop the Over down to 146 ½. For the Teaser to cash, Duke must win by 7 or more points and the combined points in the game must exceed 147.
Futures Bet
You can bet on a NCAA tournament championship pick throughout the season and during the year but the College Basketball Futures market always heats up in March. Betting and winning on the Men’s Division winner are obviously two different things but VegasInsider.com has all the resources to help guide you the right way. Figuring out how to make the bet is simple. All sportsbooks offer Future Odds and after selecting College Basketball Men’s Division winner, you’ll see the school and then the corresponding odds.
When you place a Future Odds wager, you’re locking up your money on an event that takes place at later time. The winner is crowned in April and bettors will winning wagers will be paid based on fixed odds when the bet was placed. To figure out your Win Amount, take the odds and multiply by the amount wagered.
Example
Duke 10/1 odds to win NCAA Tournament (Bet $100 to win $1,000)
Past NCAA Basketball Champions
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament determines winner of the national championship of the major college basketball teams in Division 1. The VegasInsider.com History page provides a comprehensive list of the past NCAA Basketball Champions and the betting results for the title game, which includes the outcome for the favorite-underdog and over-under.
Listed below are the last 10 NCAA Basketball Champions and their seeds.
- 2019 - Virginia (1)
- 2018 - Villanova (1)
- 2017 - North Carolina (1)
- 2016 - Villanova (2)
- 2015 - Duke (1)
- 2014 - Connecticut (7)
- 2013 - Louisville (1)
- 2012 - Kentucky (1)
- 2011- Connecticut (3)
- 2010 - Duke (1)
Whether you call it NCAAB, college ball, or better-than-the-NBA-basketball, one thing is for sure—college basketball is one of the most exciting sports to watch and bet on. And now thanks to the best college basketball betting sites, you can get that rush of excitement and set yourself up to win money right from the comfort of your own home.
Betting Site | Bonus | Bet Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | up to €30 Free Bet | Go to Site | |
| 2 | 22Bet | 100% up to €122 | Go to Site |
| 3 | 100% up to €200 | Go to Site | |
| 4 | 10Bet | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
| 5 | 100% up to €50 | Go to Site |
If you’re ready to don that sweatband and hop off the bench, grab your sneakers and let’s break down the best real money college basketball betting apps and websites right now!
Top NCAA Basketball Betting Site: BetUS
Options are great. But sometimes you just want someone to tell you what the best choice is. If that’s you, we present to you our top pick for the best college basketball betting app—BetUS.
Why? Let’s start with a speed round of highlights.
- Up to a $3,125 sign-up bonus (150% deposit match with a 10x rollover on sports)
- $1,000,000 perfect bracket contest for March Madness
- An additional $10,000 prize for a perfect 16-team or 8-team March Madness bracket
- Loyalty program where you earn VIP rewards for making bets
And if that’s not enough, here are some of the college basketball betting perks you’ll find at BetUS.
- Moneyline, spread, and total bets on all Division I games
- Special March Madness contests and bonuses
- Special NCAAB prop bets (First to score 20 points, winning margin, last to score, etc.)
- If you’re looking for a new home to bet on college basketball online for real money in the USA—stick with BetUS.
Comparing Real Money College Basketball Betting Sites
| Welcome Bonus | US Restrictions | Mobile Compatible | Bracket Contest | Year Established | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BetUS | 100% up to $2,500 | None | Yes | Yes | 1994 |
| MyBookie | 50% up to $1,000 | NJ, NV, NY, PA | Yes | No | 2014 |
| Bovada | 50% up to $250 | NJ, NV, DE, MD | Yes | No | 2011 |
| SportsBetting.ag | 50% up to $1,000 | None | Yes | Yes | 2001 |
| Betnow | 100% up to $1,000 | NJ, NV, NY, DE, PA, HI | Yes | No | 2016 |
BetUS vs. MyBookie for College Basketball Gambling
- BetUS has a larger sign up bonus – 150% up to $3,125 vs 50% up to $1,000
- MyBookie offers a smaller $200 sign up bonus, but it comes with an impressive 1x rollover great for short-term bettors.
- MyBookie is known for more wild and outlandish college basketball prop bets, especially during March Madness.
- Both sports betting apps offer casino action as well.
MyBookie vs. Sportsbetting.ag for Betting on College Basketball
- Both college basketball betting sites offer the same 50% up to $1,000 sign up bonus.
- Sportsbetting.ag offers more free wager offers for first-time bettors.
- No site, not even Sportsbetting.ag, can compare with the multitude of unique prop options available through MyBookie.
- Both sites offer casino action, but only Sportsbetting.ag has player-vs-player poker action.
What Makes These Sites the Best for Online NCAAB Betting?
- We Are Not For Sale – NCAA Betting Sites Can’t Buy Positive Reviews
- Coverage of All Conferences – Can You Bet on All NCAA Teams?
- NCAA Tournament Betting Experience – Variety of Bets, Bonuses, and More
- Trust and Reputation – How Do These Online Sportsbooks Treat Customers?
- Excellent Mobile Betting Capabilities / College Basketball Betting Apps
Before we recommend any college basketball betting sites to our users we make sure they pass all these tests and then some. We deposit our own money, make NCAAB wagers, and deal with each online sportsbooks support team. Here’s a little more info on why these NCAA betting sites are the best in 2021
Our Site Rankings Are Never For Sale
If a college basketball betting site wants a positve review from us they have to earn it, period.
There’s a scary trend that’s been happening for years in the review and recommendation world online and It goes like this. A Terrible sportsbook contacts a sketchy review site and says, “Hey we know our product is crap, but if you would just say we aren’t crap and recommend us to your readers, you might find some more money in your bank account tomorrow morning.” The Sketchy review site then says, “We love money!” and writes a glowing review for this cruddy sportsbook. As a result, all the users of the review site suffer.
We think our users deserve better so we never let any online sportsbooks or college basketball betting sites pay us for a better review or higher recommendation.
The only way that they can convince us to recommend their site to you is by offering the best product on the market. It’s that simple, and we plan to keep it that way. Money is nice, but not at the expense of our readers.
Betting Coveraege for All NCAA Conferences
With so many NCAA basketball teams this can be a tall order and often we see smaller conferences don’t get a lot of love from media or online sportsbooks. But why?
The money you can win from betting these small conferences is just as good as the money you win from betting money on major conference games. In fact, many would argue that finding value within the smaller conferences and smaller games is much easier.
For this reason, we want a college basketball betting site that offers extensive action on all conferences and all games. We don’t want a sportsbook that cherry picks the games they feel are important and ignores the ones they deem as too small to pay attention to.
NCAA Tournamnet Betting Experience
Let’s be honest there are two types of NCAA basketball bettors. There are those who watch games all season, learning the sport and crunching numbers, really working to get the most NCAA betting value online. Then there are casual bettors who once a year hit the sportsbooks for the madness the NCAA tournament brings.
We’re going to talk a lot more about March Madness betting sites in the next section, but that doesn’t mean that our favorite all-around college basketball betting sites should ignore it. This would be like an NFL betting site deciding not to offer action on the playoffs and the Super Bowl. Madness!
Any NCAA basketball betting site we recommend will excel when it comes to March Madness betting online. Here are some factors we look at:
- Are they continuing to cover every game?
- Are they offering additional bet types and props on each game?
- Do they have special promotions specifically for March Madness?
- Do they have anything to make the experience better?
- Are they offering any sort of bracket bet pools?
These sportsbooks should offer unique bonuses, a huge variety of different unique bets, and an overly attentive support team for the duration of the tournament. If they don’t we’ll recommend someone else.
Trust and Reputation
We harp on this point a lot with all of our different sports betting site recommendations, but it’s for good reason. The number one thing that needs to be present for us to recommend a sports betting site of any kind to you is trust. Not only does the sportsbook need to be operating with integrity and delivering on their promises, but they need to make this clear to you.
If you can’t trust an online sportsbook beyond a shadow of a doubt they probably don’t deserve your business.
In an industry that has some rough patches in its short history, we feel it’s up to the sportsbooks offering NCAA basketball odds to put our minds at ease. Tell us why we should trust you. Show us why you’re different than the bad apples we’ve read about. Being a trustworthy site is step one. But step two is demonstrating that to us with your actions and customer dealings.
Mobile Betting Capability
Betting on college basketball from mobile phones has become the go-to option for many sports bettors in 2021.
Our favorite part of betting money on college sports online is not being handcuffed to a brick-and-mortar casino to make your NCAA bets. Unless you’re a fan of smoke, noise, drunk people, and lines we think you’ll agree. If that’s your thing, then go for it. For us, we prefer convenience, value, easy line shopping, and no lines.
NCAA betting apps and mobile online sportsbooks offer an unequaled level of convenience for users without losing any perks!
Any NCAA basketball betting app we recommend has spent time making sure their platform is optimized for mobile bettors. We’re looking for more than just a college basketball betting site that lets you bet from your home. We want a site that makes mobile wagering fun and easy and lets you bet any college basketball game from anywhere you have an internet or phone connection.
Ncaa Bracket Betting Sites Against
March Madness Betting Sites
The craziest time in all of sports is March Madness. There aren’t many sports out there that cram 67 games of excitement into just a few weekends. While this can be an absolute blast for people to watch, it can also be a great time to make some serious cash betting on the games. March Madness brings out so many recreational bettors that you can expect to see lines get hammered incorrectly by the betting public. This means value for you.
Because this time of the year is so important, we wanted to put together a separate list of March Madness specific betting sites. While the sites we’ve recommend above offer great action on the tournament, we wanted to make sure we had somewhere to showcase the best of the best. Some sportsbooks go above and beyond for the tournament, and you’ll definitely want to take advantage of them.
If you click the link below, you’ll be taken to our dedicated March Madness betting sites page. Here, you’ll see the best sites for this year’s tournament with the most action, best promos, and greatest overall experience. The tournament only comes once a year, so make sure you aren’t wasting it at a sub-par betting site. That can hinder your fun and crush your bottom line.
College Basketball Betting Sites FAQ
Well, at this point you can probably go ahead and consider yourself an expert on college basketball betting sites. Whether you’re looking to bet the regular season or fire away during March Madness, we’ve given you the information and resources you need to make an informed decision. Find the sportsbook that is best for you and get out there and start making some money.
If you’re stuck between a few different real money betting websites, go ahead and create an account for all of them. It’s free to do, and you are never required to place a single bet with any of them.
Not all college basketball betting sites offer this kind of action. For this reason, you need to determine how important live NCAA betting is to you.If you decide it's important, make sure that you’re betting at an online sportsbook that offers that in addition to all the other factors mentioned on this page. You’d be shocked at what some online sportsbooks are trying to pass off as a professional product.