March Madness odds today - March Madness betting lines & spreads
While March Madness is a while away yet, odds and lines on the USA’s favorite college basketball tournament are already available at the best sportsbooks in the country. With reigning national champion UConn looking to repeat their success this season, it’s crucial to understand the odds/markets that you can explore to make the most of the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Read on to see how Oddspedia can be an invaluable resource to find the best college basketball odds.
How to bet on March Madness
Every spring, the college basketball season concludes with a sports betting extravaganza that sees 68 different college basketball teams competing in a single elimination format. These college basketball teams are packed with upcoming talent and players dreaming of making the next NBA draft. This basketball national championship offers a variety of betting opportunities for enthusiasts to wager on their favorite teams and players. From moneyline beats on teams such as UConn, Purdue Boilermakers, Kentucky Wildcats and the Duke Blue Devils to prop bets on the season’s star players like Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and Ace Bailey, March Madness combines the versatility of the basketball betting market with the fast-paced excitement of a single-elimination basketball championship.
March Madness moneyline
In case you’re brand new to the world of sports betting and have never placed a wager before, a moneyline bet is the most straightforward bet that you can place on a March Madness game. In the simplest terms, a moneyline bet is a wager on who you think will win a particular match.
For example, in a game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Kansas Jayhawks, the odds are +155 on Michigan to win and -180 on Kansas to win. While we will offer an in-depth explanation of college basketball odds later in this guide, a $100 bet on Michigan would yield a payout of $155, while you would have to bet $180 on Kansas to win $100 if your pick came off.
March Madness point spread
When two college basketball teams are at different levels of ability, a point spread is a safe way to bet. With points spreads, the sportsbook will assign a certain number of points to one team while deducting the same number from the opposition. This addition and deduction of points will serve to create a more level playing field between the two competing teams.
Here’s how it works; instead of betting on which team will win, like in a moneyline, you will bet on whether a team will win by more points than the spread or lose by fewer points than the spread. In March Madness point spreads, the favorite is represented by a negative number (watch out for the minus sign) while the underdog has a positive number (with a plus sign), just like with moneylines. Here’s an example from the 2023 season below:
| Teams | Moneyline | Point Spread |
| Connecticut | -250 | -5.5 |
| Miami | +180 | +5.5 |
March Madness totals
Also known as over/under bets, March Madness totals are another popular type of wagering that focuses on the total number of points scored in a game. In this bet type, the goal is to predict whether the combined total of points scored by both teams will be over or under a specific number decided by the sportsbook.
For example, if the over/under for a matchup between Virginia Tech Hokies and North Texas Mean Green is set at 155 points, you will be able to wager on whether the final score will be more than 155 (betting over) or less than 155 (betting under). It’s important to note that the outcome of the wager isn’t linked to which team wins or loses; total bets are determined by the total number of points scored over a game.
March Madness props
March Madness props are an exciting and diverse category of wagers that allow bettors to experience a broad range of betting opportunities regardless of a particular game’s outcome. Think of props as a great way to enjoy betting without the emotional investment of wanting your favorite team to win - or your least favorite to lose!
March Madness props cover a range of scenarios like player performances, team achievements, and in-game events. For example, you can place prop bets on how many three-pointers Zach Edey will score throughout the tournament. With prop bets, you can also try out unique scenarios, such as predicting the exact margin of victory or which team will be ahead at half-time.
March Madness futures
March Madness futures allow you to make predictions on outcomes that will take place in the distant future. Many future bets revolve around the eventual champion, but you can also find several other wagers covering other significant events during the tournament.
Futures odds can be found for several interesting scenarios, such as which player will be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, the teams in the final game (or final four), or even the total number of upsets taking place during the tournament (many tend to happen in the first round). Remember, future bets require long-term commitment and planning. Most importantly, futures odds offer substantial payouts if everything goes according to plan and you bet wisely.
March Madness tournament odds
As we touched upon earlier, March Madness odds refer to a numerical representation of the likelihood of a particular team winning the tournament. Negative numbers such as -150 indicate a favorite, while positive numbers such as +100 indicate an underdog. However, with tournament odds, you will only find positive figures, as we are not pitting teams against each other. Rather, we are choosing from a set of teams, as shown in the table below:
| Team | March Madness National Championship Odds |
| Kansas | +1,000 |
| Duke | +1,300 |
| Purdue | +1,400 |
| Kentucky | +1,600 |
| Michigan State | +1,600 |
| UConn | +2,000 |
| Arizona | +2,000 |
| Marquette | +2,000 |
| Miami | +2,000 |
| Houston | +2,200 |
March Madness MVP odds
The March Madness MVP refers to the player who receives the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) award at the end of the NCAA Division I tournament. This award is one of the most prestigious to be handed out to college basketball players in the country. Accordingly, players who are likely to win the award are assigned odds based on various factors such as past performances, team success, and individual skills. Here’s an example of the odds from the 2023 March Madness season:
| Player | MVP Odds |
| Adama Sanogo | -135 |
| Jordan Hawkins | +250 |
| Matt Bradley | +500 |
| Lamont Butler | +1,000 |
March Madness parlays
To understand parlays, let’s imagine that you placed several bets on a game between North Carolina Tar Heels and Kansas Jayhawks. These bets could include a moneyline bet, a spread bet, and a handful of prop bets on players from either North Carolina or Kansas. Creating a parlay would mean taking all the bets that you have placed separately and tying them together under a single wager.
A parlay is a high-risk, high-reward wager where all your individual bets under that parlay need to win in order for the parlay to win. With parlays, the more bets you include, the more potential payout increases. On the flip side, the likelihood of winning decreases with each additional wager added to a parlay.
March Madness live betting
The best online sportsbooks available today are known to provide players with access to live bets that are only available once a game begins. To facilitate the experience, several sportsbooks also provide live streams of games so that players can follow all the action in real time, all within the unparalleled convenience of a single interface.
Live betting has several critical differences from wagers available before a game. For example, while you can expect moneylines, props, and parlays at the start of a game, you can also get more nuanced bets in a particular game's ‘live’ section. Some examples of live bets include the number of fouls, the number of points at halftime, and the top-scoring player. Live betting is only possible thanks to the constant advancement of digital betting technology. Also known as in-play betting, this wagering format makes bets available to players as the game progresses, adding a previously unheard-of level of complexity to sports betting.
March Madness picks & predictions
March Madness picks and predictions are valuable pieces of information shared by sports experts, analysts, and enthusiasts on the possible outcomes of the March Madness tournament. Remember always to take picks and predictions with a grain of salt. After all, college basketball picks and predictions are subjective opinions, and no expert in the world can claim to be right 100% of the time.
Regardless, picks and predictions are especially important and popular during March Madness because it is a thrilling, single-elimination tournament filled with unpredictable moments, making it a challenging proposition even for seasoned bettors. Accordingly, bettors flock to NCAA men's basketball experts and analysts to gain additional valuable insight into the outcomes likely to occur during March Madness. Experts discuss and share their views on player form, team chemistry, strengths and weaknesses, and more to help bettors make more informed decisions.
At Oddspedia, we have a host of experts dedicated to providing picks and predictions for the upcoming March Madness season. Remember to visit our predictions section once you're done with this guide.
Understanding March Madness odds and betting lines
How to read March Madness odds
Reading odds should give you an indication of the likely outcome of a particular game. In the United States, odds are represented with whole numbers preceded by a plus or minus sign. Odds usually come in three common formats: American, decimal, and fractional. Let’s take a look at an example to understand American odds better.
A matchup between the UConn Huskies and the West Virginia Mountaineers may have the following odds:
UConn: -150
West Virginia: +130
The negative odds for UConn mean that they are favored to win. At -150, you would have to wager $150 to win $100. Conversely, the positive odds for West Virginia indicate the underdog, meaning you could win $130 by wagering $100. Since March Madness is primarily an American betting favorite, we can leave out decimal and fractional odds, as you will only need to understand American odds to wager on this tournament.
How to calculate March Madness winnings
Becoming familiar with calculating wagers will help you quickly calculate potential payouts for bets, allowing you to spend more time indulging in the fun of betting rather than crunching numbers to calculate your profits and losses.
The stake refers to the amount of money you are willing to wager on a specific bet. Let’s use $50 as a stake for a bet on Duke to win at -150. The odds indicate the amount of money that you will need to wager to win $100. Here’s how you can calculate your potential winnings: (stake/100) odds+ stake. In this example, your potential payout would be ($50 / 100) (-150) + $50 = ($50 / 2) -1.5 + $50 = $25 -1.5 + $50 = -$37.50 + $50 = $12.50. Therefore, a $50 on Duke at -150 odds would potentially payout a profit of $12.50 if you win.
What to know when betting on the March Madness in the USA
There are several factors to consider before you wager on March Madness in the USA. Before all else, it’s important to ascertain the legality of sports betting in your state. The legality of betting varies wildly across the country, and betting on college sports like college basketball remains illegal in several states, such as California. Once you’ve assessed the legal situation, it’s crucial to sign up and wager only with legal and reputed online sportsbooks, like the ones listed on Oddspedia’s best sportsbooks page. Betting with a licensed sportsbook is guaranteed to offer you a safe experience with the reassurance of trusting your money with an established platform.
Odds of a perfect March Madness bracket
Predicting the March Madness bracket has turned into an annual ritual for sports and NCAA basketball fans around the US. The allure of competition combined with the excitement of the tournament’s single-elimination format creates tremendous potential for bragging rights among the sports and betting community. The 'perfect bracket challenge' refers to trying to predict the outcome of every game in the tournament.
In reality, the difficulty of accurately predicting the March Madness bracket is monumental. The tournament has gained infamy for being one of the most unpredictable sporting spectacles in the world. Upset victories are exceedingly common, and even the most seasoned basketball experts have made bad calls while trying to predict the March Madness bracket. The unpredictability of the tournament is further compounded by variables such as player form and injuries, individual performances, coaching strategies, and the fast-paced nature of March Madness. In numbers, some estimate that predicting a perfect bracket is a 1 in 1.92 quintillion chance.
Things more likely than predicting the perfect March Madness bracket
To fully grasp the difficulty of accurately predicting the bracket, we need to look at some examples of things that are far likelier to take place. Here are a few comparisons between the odds of a perfect bracket and other popular and well-documented ‘rare’ events. There is a 1 in 15,300 chance of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime, which makes it 603 million times more likely than the 1 in 9.2 quintillion chances of predicting the March Madness bracket.
Similarly, you are 31.5 trillion times more likely to win the Powerball jackpot and 800 billion times more likely to be attacked by a shark than to predict the March Madness bracket accurately.
Why compare March Madness odds on Oddspedia?
Oddspedia is one of the most useful resources on the internet for a bettor, as it allows you to compare odds from different sportsbooks all in one place. Comparing odds on Oddspedia is simple; all you have to do is navigate to the sport of your choice to see upcoming games and the odds for that particular game at different sportsbooks. Comparing odds allows you to get the best value on all of your bets.
Odds comparison helps you win more on March Madness
Better odds significantly improve your profits while betting, as they have a direct impact on the potential payout of your wager. Higher odds mean a higher potential payout for the same bet. For example, if DraftKings Sportsbook is offering +150 odds for a bet that you want to make on Duke, while Caesars Sportsbook is offering the same bet at +200, then you are better off placing your bet at Caesars since the potential payout is much higher in comparison. Always remember to choose the odds that give you the best value.
Find the best March Madness odds for today
Track March Madness line movement
Line movement refers to changes to the basketball odds or point spreads for a game that takes place after the sportsbooks start accepting bets. Line changes are important because they indicate the market’s general sentiment and can provide insights into which team is receiving the most wagers. Oddspedia offers tracking of line movement from the opening odds onwards in real-time, allowing you to see the shift as it happens. This tool can help you identify trends and potentially capitalize on opportunities.
Find the best March Madness betting sites
Oddspedia is a valuable (and free) resource for basketball bettors as it offers a concise and comprehensive list of the best basketball betting sites. You can find essential details like available bonuses, sportsbook promotions, and offers. At Oddspedia, we believe in empowering bettors to make well-informed choices based on their personal preferences when choosing college basketball betting sites.
