How to Read and Interpret NCAA Odds

The March Madness is just around the corner. This means the betting season on NCAA championships at all major sportsbooks will be in full swing! NCAA stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association, a non-profit organization that is active in the USA and Canada and helps students who take part in student sports. 

If you’re a newbie looking at online sportsbooks, you’ll realize that the NCAA betting lines work differently compared to professional leagues. 

To make the best of your betting experience, you need to know how to bet on NCAA games, whether it’s football, basketball, hockey, or any other sport. Lucky for you, this article explains the NCAA betting trends and the basics of how to read and interpret their odds. 

So read and reread as much as you need till you get your bearings.

The Basics of How to Bet on NCAA Games

There’s a particular art to betting that makes it all the more rewarding. It’s not luck, as first-timers may believe. Betting requires logic, gut instinct, and strategy, which can take years of practice. Many beginners don’t understand this, and without knowing how the system works, they find themselves losing quickly. 

No matter if you have solid NCAA basketball betting picks or NCAA football betting advice, it all ultimately comes down to understanding and playing the odds sportsbooks throw at you. 

In collegiate games, sportsbooks present odds in three formats: American, decimal, and fractional. In the United States, American odds are the standard. They appear as positive or negative numbers and indicate how much you stand to win or need to bet.

You can bet on a game based on points spread, moneyline, or the total score. Each has a different way of viewing the outcomes of a match, potential risks, and winnings players can make. Let’s look at these in more detail. 

NCAA Point Spreads Betting

Point spreads are one of the most common betting methods for NCAA games. If there are two teams unevenly matched, the point spread makes the betting a little more exciting. Let’s see this example: 

• For example: Kentucky Wild Cats are playing North Carolina Tar Heels. The Wild Cats are the favorites, and the sportsbook sets the bet at Kentucky -6.5 vs. North Carolina +6.5
• This means if you place a bet on Kentucky (-6.5), they need to win by at least seven points. If you choose North Carolina (+6.5), they need to either win the game or lose by six points or fewer.
• The favorites will always have a minus (-) number, while the underdogs have a plus (+) number. The bet is almost always in a fraction (½) or a decimal (0.5), which means the game cannot end in a tie. 

If you find a sportsbook bet with whole numbers, then you should know the bookie thinks a match could end in a tie, and if it is tied, all the bets would be off, and money will be returned to the bettors. 

Moneylines in NCAA Odds

Moneyline bets are the simplest, and if you’re a newbie playing downright on your luck, you should always choose NCAA betting lines. In this bet, you only pick a team you think will win. That’s it. 

Say you see a bet: Duke -150 vs Michigan +130 on a moneyline. How will you read this? A bet on Duke (-150) means you must bet $150 to win $100. A bet on Michigan (+130) means a $100 bet would make you $130 if Michigan wins.

Again, the plus and minus signs indicate the favorites and underdogs. Moreover, a plus sign will tell you how much you’ll win when betting $100, and the minus sign will tell you how much you must bet to win $100.

Over/Under Totals in NCAA Betting

Now, if you’ve got no favorites, then NCAA over/under picks should excite you. In this betting system, you wager on the combined score of a game. So, let’s say a bet is listed as Over/Under: 170.5, and you’ll bet on whether the total score will be over or under the number listed. 

If the game ends with a total of 171 or more, an ‘Over’ bet wins. If it’s 170 or lower, an ‘Under’ bet wins.

How NCAA Odds Are Set

Now that you know how to read the odds, let’s get a strategy going. But don’t jump too far ahead too soon. Before testing NCAA live betting, understand how bookies set the odds. Read the game, the players, the coaches, the styles, their aggression on and off the field, and the team’s performance to make an informed decision.  Research is everything.

Factors Unique to NCAA Games

Unlike professional leagues, NCAA games feature younger, less experienced athletes. The coaches are also in their infancy, and all this can lead to unexpected results. You can never correctly predict human behavior, so more than anything, NCAA betting odds are about cracking said behaviors. 

Sportsbooks consider many factors when deciding bets, and it’s essential you do the same! Here is the list we’d suggest you look at: 

• Team rankings and trends
• Player injuries and suspensions
• Home-court or home-field advantage
• Coaching style
• Past betting tendencies

Advanced Strategies for Reading NCAA Odds

You improve your betting betting skills the more you bet. This is a time-tested statement. The more you play, the more you strategize, and the more you master your gut instincts and learn to notice patterns. When you have done that, it’s time for next-level excitement. 

Live Betting on NCAA Games

Live betting lets you wager on the game as it unfolds. Odds shift constantly based on what’s happening. You need to be on top of your game and stats to crack the outcome, interpret the moves, and adjust your bets to have the best chance of winning. 

Comparing Odds Across Sportsbooks

Experienced bettors know which sportsbook to try and the pitfalls to avoid. For different games, sportsbooks offer various odds, so it’s always a good idea to check multiple bookies. 

In our experience, 20Bet provides the most competitive NCAA odds. Their website offers exclusives, live betting, and a range of sports.

Responsible Gambling

When you’re betting and winning, you feel the rush, and you’ll be on top of the world. When you are losing, you want that thrill of the win again, so you go chasing it. The rush and the chase are dangerous urges. As responsible adults, we need to keep our impulses in control. 

Betting should be a fun activity, not a stressful one, by losing too much or thinking it’s a way to overnight success. Always choose a sportsbook that offers responsible gaming support, self-exclusion, time freeze, and betting limits to save yourself when that urge takes over you. 

Trust us, it is crucial to be a responsible bettor! 

By Alyona Laptieva

Updated: 19 Feb 2025, 18:18