College Basketball Sportsbooks
College basketball has grown to be extremely exciting within the betting community over the past few decades. Every year, March Madness brings about bracket pools, inner-office betting and even friendly family betting pools. The NCAA tournament in March every year brings about some intense action where the top 64 teams in the nation compete. The notoriety of making the Final Four and going to the NCAA championship has carried its way into the betting community and spread like wildfire. Predictability is nonexistent as the NCAA tournament contains bizarre upsets each and every year. As they say, anything can happen during March Madness.
Point Spread
The point spread is a system used to create a handicap. The point spread sets the game to handicap the favorite team and make the betting odds even. The line and sometimes the spread are terms used in reference to the point spread. The spread is indicated with a plus and a minus sign. For example, Duke is -5 and Kentucky is +5. That would be an example of a point spread for an NCAA basketball game. The -5 indicates that Duke is the favorite by 5 points and is giving up 5 points. Kentucky is the underdog and they are receiving 5 points in addition to their final score.
When you wager on college basketball using the point spread and you wager on the favorite, they must win the game by more than the points they are negative. If you wager on the underdog, they must tie, win or lose by less than the amount of points they are positive.
Moneyline
The moneyline is where bettors have the option to bet on a team to win straight up. However, the betting changes without a point spread. There still must be a handicap to ensure fairness between the bookie and the bettor. With moneyline bets, the bet will still read with minus and plus signs. If the moneyline were -130, you would need to bet $130 to win $100. If the moneyline were +150, you would receive $150 for every $100 you wager. The moneyline will provide odds for both teams. The moneyline option is used more commonly in baseball and hockey.
Totals
The moneyline and point spread are what sportsbooks refer to as betting sides. Totals refer to betting on the overall point outcome. This is common in the form of the over/under betting option. With over/under options, bettors are betting on the total score (both team’s scores combined). The over/under will have a number set as the over/under total and will be associated with a moneyline. In other words, the over/under could be 160 for the game with the moneyline being -120 for over and +115 for under. This would indicate that if a bet were placed to be over 160, $120 would need to be wagered to win $100. To bet on the total being under 160, a $100 bet would payout $115.
NCAA Basketball Sportsbook Considerations
Most online sportsbooks that offer NCAA basketball betting options should provide adequate coverage. In other words, every game during the season and tournament play should be able to be wagered on. First, you should ensure that the sportsbook you are considering offers odds on NCAA basketball. You should also be concerned with what countries they accept bets from. If the sportsbook does not allow bettors from your country of residence, that’s an immediate deal breaker.
The banking options should be the next consideration. Being able to fund your account and withdraw when you would like is rather important. Having a means to fund and withdraw from your account is a necessity. Verify the banking options offered to make sure one of them suits how you would like to transfer funds. If you’re new to online sportsbooks, check out the new depositor sign-on bonuses. You can often receive bonus cash or a free wager when you join an online sportsbook.
