How to Bet on College Basketball

30 March 15, 2021

College Basketball Spread Betting
Spread betting is the traditional way to wager on college basketball games. In most cases, the betting line will look something like this:

  • Arizona -6 -110
  • UCLA +6 -110

What this means is that if you like Arizona you lay 6 points at -110. For every $110 that you invest, you’re potential profit is $100 should Arizona win by at least 7 points. If you like UCLA, you take the 6 points. If Arizona wins by only 5, you win your wager if you bet on UCLA and lose if you bet on Arizona.

Moneyline Betting
Moneyline betting simply means to put money on the team that you think will win the game straight up. For example, if the odds on Arizona are -300 on the moneyline than for every $300 that you wager, the potential profit will be $100. If the moneyline odds on UCLA in our example are +250, then for every $100 you wager on UCLA, your potential profit is $250.

College Basketball Totals
Betting on College Basketball Totals simply means to wager over or under a specific total points scored number. Let’s say that the total on Arizona versus UCLA is 126.5. If you bet over the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 127 or higher. If you bet under the total, you only win your wager if the total score is 126 or lower.

College Basketball Prop Betting
A college basketball prop bet is any wager that isn’t tied into who wins the game, like a moneyline wager, the total score, like a College Basketball Total wager, or a traditional against the spread wager. College Basketball Prop betting includes wagers like how many points a particular player will accumulate during the game or which coach will call the first time out.

Parlay Betting
Parlay betting is simply putting together two or more bets into a single wager so that the outcome of all bets is related to each other. An example is below:

  • Arizona -6
  • Connecticut +8
  • Over Total Arizona vs. UCLA 126.5

The above is a 3-Team(Wager) College Basketball Parlay Bet. You have to win all three bets to win the parlay. This is why parlay bets pay out more than individual bets.

Teaser Betting
College Basketball Teaser bets are wagers where one or more bets are directly related to each other, like a parlay bet, but teaser wagers give you the added benefit of moving the line. Let’s take the Parlay Betting example and illustrate a 6-Point College Basketball Teaser Bet.

  • Arizona -6
  • Connecticut +8
  • Over Total Arizona vs. UCLA 126.5

In our 6-Point College Basketball Teaser bet Arizona “gets” 6 points. Arizona’s line changes to even, 6 -6 = 0. Connecticut gets 6 points. Connecticut’s line changes to +14. The Total in the Arizona vs. UCLA game was 126.5. We liked the over. In our 6-Point College Basketball bet, the line changes from 126.5 to 120.5, 126.5 – 6 = 120.5. Teaser bets will never pay out more than parlay wagers because you always change the line.