When it comes to college sports, is there anything better than the Big Dance? Nope, March Madness is that time of year when basketball fans everywhere love seeing the best amateur athletes hit the courts and compete for the ultimate prize of winning the National Championship. As you might imagine, it’s also a popular time for bettors to look at the odds and come up with a solid March Madness Betting Strategy.
We’ll be previewing that in this piece and more.
Despite March Madness featuring college athletes, it is still completely legal for sports fans out there to make wagers on the competition. With this, there’s always loads of sportsbooks who are ready at the drop of a hat to provide you with the best and latest odds for all of the games. Here at Sports Betting Sites, we bet with multiple outlets who are ready to get you started for all of your NCAA Tournament bets. The list includes Bovada, MyBookie, and BetOnline.Â
College basketball fans have grown accustomed to checking out Bovada because of its fresh updates on its site, but also for its special bonuses. This includes welcome bonuses.
For March Madness, you’ll have dozens and dozens of odds to look over throughout the entire thing. That includes game lines, prop bets and futures bets. If you have an idea before the Big Dance of who will win the entire thing, you can put down a futures bet through Bovada with confidence.
With Bovada’s organization and ability to get you odds in a quick fashion, we’d recommend going with them. They’ve been trusted for years and are always reliable when it comes to odds and picks.
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BetOnline also does a great job of updating odds in a timely fashion. This is crucial for March Madness, especially with different injury updates and player changes coming throughout the tourney.
BetOnline has great welcome bonuses and special promotions throughout March Madness. It gets even better if you use cryptocurrency.
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The welcome bonuses here are great! Especially if you are making your deposits with cryptocurrencies.
Garner loyalty points for every bet you make! This helps improve that bottom line!
MyBookie focuses mainly on North American sports, so their March Madness markets are extensive.
Read MyBookie Review
In the main 64-team field of the NCAA Tournament, always remember that there’s bound to be some massive upsets that no one saw coming. While it might feel safe and like the best idea to pick the bluebloods of the Big Dance to make it to the Final 4, don’t forget about the underdogs.
Throughout the history of the tournament, we’ve seen a shocking upset each and every year. Remember in 2012 when No. 15 seed Lehigh stunned No. 2 Duke, sending Coach K and Co. packing after the first round?
What about 2016 when No. 15 Middle Tennessee took down No. 2 Michigan State? Many had MSU pegged to go on a title run that year. Instead, they too had a first-round exit.
When you’re making your brackets, always remember that in this kind of a playing field, nothing is ever a lock. While it’s unlikely a No. 16 will take down a No. 1, the rest of the games feel wide open.
Though the No. 1 seeds, typically a team like Duke, North Carolina, Villanova, Virginia and others, are the favorites to go on a deep run, we’re seeing more and more lower seeds go on impressive runs as well.
Once the opening tip for NCAA March Madness goes off, it feels like the sports world stops and all the focus is on the several weeks of basketball games. Each year, nothing changes. March Madness is not only extremely entertaining, but also a ton of fun to bet on.
In addition to the upsets we see each tournament, we’ve also seen some of the best teams and high seeds go on great runs to compete for the National Championship. In 2019, Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers captured the title after taking down No. 3 seed Texas Tech.
The Cavs earned their first National Championship and made their third appearance in the Final Four. Virginia was also the only No. 1 seed in the Final Four, as they were joined by five-seed Auburn, two-seed Michigan State and three-seed Texas Tech. Again, it’s important to remember not all No. 1 seeds will make serious pushes for the title.
In 2019, that was reinforced with UVA being the only top seed among the last four in the tournament. For future tournaments, it will be key to keep this under consideration when you’re getting ready to lay down your money on teams to win it all.
If your office has an NCAA March Madness bracket, that’s one great way to get through the tournament. However, the sportsbooks will always encourage you to visit their websites/mobile apps to make some wagers. Trust us when we say there are no limits to the kinds of bets you can make on all of the games.
Futures Bets
The futures bets for March Madness tend to be the more popular ones for fans to bet on. Before the first game, hoops supporters typically have an idea of who they think will go on to win the trophy when everything’s said and done. If you’re confident in a team to be crowned champion, go ahead and make this futures bet.
Another popular one is to predict who you think will make the Final Four. In 2019, we saw Virginia, Texas Tech, Auburn and Michigan State make the Final Four. Had you predicted that, your payout would have been enormous, as many expected at least one other No. 1 seed to advance.
However, that wasn’t the case. Predicting the Final Four is surely easier said than done, but if you can master that prediction, you can expect a large return to come your way.
Prop Bets
Just like all sports, there’s going to be a wide list of prop bets for you to take advantage of. These can be intriguing on a game-by-game basis too. For example, say there’s a sharpshooter on Duke who is known for burying a ton of 3-pointers.
A prop bet might list him with an over/under of hitting seven 3-pointers in a Sweet 16 showdown against Michigan. If you’re confident he’ll top that high number, get a bet in. Remember, though, if he finishes with six 3-pointers, you’ll lose your bet. If he hits seven 3s, it’ll be a push, while eight and over results in you winning.
That’s just one example of the several prop bets you’ll have at your disposal during March Madness to wager on.
Game-By-Game Results
Of course, making bets for each game is always a great option. You’ll always have point spreads too and over/unders to consider.
For the point spread, an example would be No. 1 North Carolina being a seven-point favorite over No. 9 Auburn. For UNC to cover, they’d have to win by at least eight points. If they win by seven, it’s a push, any anything less is a loss for you.
The over/under combines the total number of points the two teams score. Using Auburn and UNC as examples again, if the over is set at 154 points and the final score is North Carolina 85, Auburn 72, the over would hit before the two teams scored a total of 157 points.
The tournament starts with a total of 68 teams, but then quickly becomes 64 teams for the first round after the initial ‘First Four’ set of games. Once the playing field is down to 64, you have 16 teams in each bracket, which consists of the north, south, east and west.
In a single-elimination tournament, things quickly go from 64 teams to 32, then 16, eight, the final four, ultimately ending with the National Championship Game. As mentioned above, there are 16 teams in each section of the bracket. Teams don’t play opponents from other brackets until they meet in the Final Four.
The Final Four does not consist of the top four teams from the NCAA Tournament overall. Instead, it’s the winners of each part of the bracket who advance. So, if Duke is the No. 1 seed in the East bracket, but loses to No. 2 Texas in the Elite Eight (final round of bracket play), Texas would move on to the Final Four since they won the East.
This style of play goes on in the west, north and south brackets as well. The winners of each bracket will be the ones who go on to play in the Final Four and have the chance to compete for the National Championship. In the Final Four, those are the national semifinals. The winner of each semifinal will meet for all of the marbles. The winner of the final will earn the right to call themselves March Madness champions.
Over the years, it goes without saying, but a No. 1 seed winning the National Championship is going to have the highest odds to win the title. With there being four No. 1 seeds entering the Big Dance, it’s usually a smart pick to go with them being the champs.
From 2000-2019, 14 of the 20 champions have been No. 1 seeds. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, North Carolina, Villanova and Virginia won the title. All three respective teams were No. 1 seeds.
However, that doesn’t mean you must rule out other seeds. Villanova won the Big Dance in 2016 as a No. 2 seed, while UCONN surprised us all in 2014 after winning the tournament as a No. 7 seed.
Yes, the top seeds will be the favorites, but you can’t rule out the teams in a 68-team field either.
There will always be wild upsets in the NCAA Tournament
We see it every season in the NCAA Tournament. No. 12 seeds taking down a No. 5 team is something we’ve almost grown to expect. At the same time, don’t be stunned if a No. 13, No. 14 or No. 15 team does the unthinkable in the first round either. Nothing is ever a lock in the Big Dance.
March Madness is always fun to bet on
With games going on all day during the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, placing wagers on your favorite teams is a blast. Their win is only made better if you’ve placed some money on them. So, if you’re feeling confident in a team, don’t hesitate in checking out the odds and making a bet.
Always use our Recommended Sportsbooks
All of our recommended sportsbooks here at Sports Betting Sites offer great odds and promotions. This is especially true during the March Madness season. Don’t forget about the welcome bonuses either. So, if this is your first time betting or you’re a veteran placing bets, be sure to check out our partners early and often during the Big Dance. You won’t be disappointed and will find reliable odds and numbers in only a few clicks.
