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The latest lines in college basketball can be pretty different from other sports, especially when considering the tournament or the teams playing.
Here at Ballislife, we spend all year analyzing all ranks of basketball. We feel as though we have a handle on who the best teams are, and thus, we’ve created this guide to analyze the latest betting lines in college basketball and how to win more money. Continue reading if you want to learn how to evaluate college basketball’s latest betting lines to add more money to your wallet.
We cannot understate this enough—the latest college basketball odds are crucial to being a successful bettor in the sport. The lines and odds can shift rapidly up until tip-off, and a big part of that has to do with the sport itself and how one player can change the entire trajectory of a game.
In this guide, we’ll reiterate the importance of the NCAA’s latest lines in basketball by explaining what it is, the different bet types to know, looking at some of the latest lines for today as real-time examples, and more.
The latest line in NCAA men’s basketball can refer to anything related to the betting markets that are available for that game. You can see shifts in the betting lines from when the odds are released and when the game starts. This can be for multiple reasons, including injuries, actions on a particular side, etc.
As we’ll get into in the next section, there’s also NCAAB live betting which is a whole other level of understanding the latest lines, as this reflects what’s actively happening in the game from possession to possession.
As mentioned, there are multiple ways to bet on college basketball. Therefore, there are many ways to interpret the latest lines. Here, we’ll look at how you can bet on the sport.
The moneyline is the most straightforward wager in all sports betting—you’re betting on who you think will win the game outright.
The betting lines/odds here are presented like anything else with a “-” or “+.”
Let’s look at a hypothetical situation:
If you wanted to bet on Alabama, you’d need to wager $300 to win $100. However, if you wagered $100 on Missouri, you’d win $220 if they won.
Even if you’ve never wagered before, it doesn’t take looking at games through a sports betting lens to know that some teams are better than others.
Well, you can bet on the point spread at an online sportsbook, a number generated by the site meant to make the game as even as possible.
Let’s use the Alabama vs. Missouri example from above:
The point spread will be the same on each side.
So, let’s say the final score is 80-70 in favor of Alabama. If you bet on Alabama -8.5, you’d win because, through the lens of point spread betting, Alabama still wins this game 71.5-70.
As you’ll notice, the betting line is -110 on each side—this is common as, again, the goal of the point spread is to make the game as equal as possible, and -110 odds is the standard, most neutral line.
Totals, also known as betting the over/under, is when you wager on the total number of points scored in a game.
With this bet, the game will be assigned a number, and you’ll wager whether the final score will exceed or fall short of it.
Like point spread wagers, the odds are always at or around -110. Using the Alabama/Missouri final score above 80-70, the final score here was 150. If you bet the over, you’d win the bet.
The screenshot below shows the latest lines on a real college basketball game. From left to right, you’ll see the point spread, moneyline, and totals wagers.
In college basketball, there are a plethora of futures bets to make. The NCAA Tournament starts with 68 teams and then goes to 64, 32, 16, eight, four, and the championship. You can bet on teams to win the championship, make the Sweet 16, Elite 8 to win their region, and more.
When betting on these, it’s similar to a moneyline in that you’ll have just one betting line to concern yourself with.
With a parlay, you can bet on multiple games simultaneously, combining various bet types, such as the moneyline, point spread, totals, and even props (more on those soon).
Here’s the catch with parlays—all games you add to it must win for it to be a winning wager. For example, if you have a parlay with two games and just one wins, you won’t get a partial win or anything like that—it’s a loss.
With that in mind, the betting odds you receive reflect the individual lines but also factor in the risk.
EXAMPLE:
You decide to make a parlay bet on two selections:
One is +125; the other is -240. Together, they combine for +220. So, if Maryland and Virginia win and you bet $100, you’d get $220.
In addition to a traditional parlay, Same Game Parlays have the same premise but are focused on a single game.
For college basketball, there are three types of prop bets:
You’ll wager on props similar to over/under wagers, especially for player props, in that there will be a line that you’ll wager whether or not the player will do better or worse than the line indicates. For other props, like predicting the exact score (game prop), there will be a single betting line for multiple options.
Live betting is exactly what it sounds like—betting on a game live, as it’s actively in progress. Like a pregame wager, the odds will reflect what’s happening at the time you wish to wager.
Each made/missed basket or foul can change the odds slightly. With this bet type, you’ll need to think quickly and act fast before odds and lines are locked so the sportsbook can adjust the odds.
A tip for live betting—wait until a timeout happens. This will be the longest period in which the odds will be stable.
We’re about to begin the NCAA Tournament at the time of writing. Below, we’ll look at an example of a game and analyze the latest lines.
SPREAD | TOTAL | MONEYLINE | |
---|---|---|---|
USC | +1.5 (-105) | O 137.5 (-115) | +110 |
Michigan State | -1.5 (-115) | U 137.5 (-105) | -130 |
We want to draw your attention to something here when examining the latest lines in this game. The point spread shows that Michigan State is -1.5 with -115 odds, and USC is +1.5 with -105 odds.
As mentioned, the point spread odds are consistently at or around -110. The -115 is important because this could point to a change in the point spread.
This is also an excellent tip for betting the latest lines—as the odds get away from -110 and go to -115 or -120, there’s a chance that the sportsbook could adjust the point spread and bring the odds back to -110.
In this example, the sportsbook could make Michigan State -2 and go to -110.
So, if you wanted to bet on Michigan State here, you’ll want to do so now. However, suppose you were considering betting on USC +1.5. In that case, it might be worth waiting a bit longer to see if you get that additional 0.5-point value.
The latest lines in college basketball present bettors with opportunities to win money and pad their virtual wallets. However, as you learned from the information above, there are ways to analyze the latest lines to forecast a potential change, how you can bet, and what the lines will pay.
After you’ve determined where you want to play, we urge you to come back to this page to ensure you’re evaluating the latest college basketball betting lines in the best possible way.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
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