As we approach the 2023 edition of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, more commonly known as March Madness, here are some fun facts that you may not know.
- No conference has more championships than the ACC, with 16.
- No #5 seed has ever won the men’s basketball tournament.
- You should average about 1 bet for a #14 seed to knock off a #3 seed every two years.
- Between 1985 and 2020, 62.8% of the titles were won by a #1 seed.
- No team has beaten more #1 seeds than Duke has (9).
These are just some of the tips that we have for you to consider as you begin to put together your NCAA Basketball betting strategy for one of the biggest gambling events of the year.
NCAA News: March Madness Betting Tips
Ways to bet on the tournament
There are three primary forms of March Madness wagers that you can make, either in person or online: bracket pools, conventional bets and prop wagers.
A bracket pool involves you filling out a blank tournament bracket with your predictions for each game after the initial tournament lineup is set. You use the first-round pairings and then use your own picks after that, picking from your winners, round by round. In most cases, each successive round is worth double the points from the previous round, and tiebreakers are resolved by predicting the score of the championship game.
Benefits of this format include a simple way to get action on each game, and if you do well enough, you can turn a huge profit on a relatively small buy-in. It’s also a fun way to get to know co-workers or to renew an annual tradition with family and friends.
Disadvantages include the fact that your money is locked up for the whole tournament, as no payouts come until after the championship game. You are also less likely to win than you will with conventional wagers. Also, it can take just one or two upsets of highly ranked teams for your whole bracket to get demolished.
With a conventional bet, your wagers work like they do for any game. You can bet on the point spread, on the moneyline, on over/under point totals for each game, as well as futures wagers, such as which team will win the whole tournament.
Benefits of conventional bets include having a chance to win on all 67 of the games in the tournament. You can take advantage of predictions or tips on individual games. You have a lot of flexibility, depending on the props you choose.
Of course, it’s unlikely that you’re going to win a huge jackpot from one bet this way, unless you’re like Houston’s Mattress Mack and have six figures to drop on an individual bet.
Finally, there are prop bets. There are as many different props (short for proposition bets) as you can imagine. How many points will an individual player have? Which team will win a tip-off? Which team will get more rebounds?
There are also some wider prop bets, such as whether a certain team will make it to a certain round, such as the Elite Eight or the Final Four. You can bet on whether the ACC will have a certain number of teams get to the Sweet 16, for example. You can even bet on whether a certain player will foul out in a particular game.
One benefit of prop bets is the fun and excitement they bring to a game. If you watched the film Uncut Gems, the sheer suspense on the prop-laden parlay that Adam Sandler’s character bets at the end of the movie brings excitement to each contest. You can also find more opportunities in the form of imbalance in the lines.
It’s also true that some prop bets (such as who wins a tipoff) are purely up to chance, with no research available to give you an advantage, and the sheer number of prop choices can be dizzying. On the whole, though, these types of bets explain why this is such an entertaining diversion during March Madness.
Bet NCAA Basketball Today
Xbet Betting Lines for the Game
College Basketball Betting Odds
Love betting NCAA basketball? | Xbet Sportsbook offers up to date college basketball lines
