How to Bet on March Madness 2024

Well folks, it's almost here! The pinnacle of the American sports calendar in 2024 for many fans and bettors is undoubtedly March Madness. Entertaining people around the country, the NCAA Division Men's Basketball Tournament is a frenzy of action with 68 schools competing in a single-elimination bracket.

In case you're unfamiliar with betting on sports or the competition itself, taking part in college basketball lines may seem like venturing into an unknown world. For this reason, How To Bet can help you learn everything about the famous tournament and make you a college sports fan at the same time.

Best March Madness Betting Sites 2024

Understanding March Madness Odds

The gambling process and NCAA odds for March Madness is typical for the majority of basketball games. However, March Madness betting is a little bit different to your typical game.

Oddsmakers provide point spreads, Over/Under totals, and extra March Madness odds for every bracket matchup as soon as the tournament's roster of 68 teams is announced on Selection Sunday.

Even though the point spread, over/under, moneyline, and prop bets are the most popular methods to wager on March Madness chances, we'll discuss these in-depth and college basketball betting lines a bit later in the article.

March Madness 2024 Favorites

Naturally, a few teams are beginning to edge ahead of the pack and announce themselves as favorites early on. Any team in the tournament can win, of course, but there are certainly four schools that have a slight advantage over other teams in the 2024 NCAA tournament. Here's the teams to watch out for:

UConn Huskies

The Connecticut Huskies are leading the board in the most recent March Madness odds after easily defeating San Diego State, 76-59, in the National Championship.

Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins both left UConn for the NBA, however, coach Dan Hurley has both Donovan Clingan and Alex Karaban returning, along with senior Andre Jackson Jr.

Just two squads have defeated the Big East Huskies heavyweights by more than 80 points, and the top-ranked UConn are now 24-3.

Houston Cougars

The Houston Cougars, led by coach Kelvin Sampson, are seeking revenge for their early Sweet Sixteen exit the previous season.

The 23-3 Cougars are led on the offensive end by guard L.J. Cryer (solid with 15.0 PPG), and they own the top defensive rating in the country (87.7), despite suffering back-to-back defeats to TCU and Iowa State in January.

Purdue Boilermakers

The Purdue Boilermakers finished 29-6 in the previous year and won the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Yet, when Farleigh Dickinson shockingly beat the No. 2 Boilermakers in the March Madness opening round, destiny was not on their side.

With six victories over teams ranked in the Top 25, the Boilermakers are an incredibly experienced squad, thanks largely to 7-foot-4 senior, Zach Purdey, who is having a standout season with 23.2 points per game and 11.9 rebounds per game.

Arizona Wildcats

The only other club in the top five of both the NET (third) and KenPom.com (fourth) rankings is Coach Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats (20-5), who are also the only team in the country ranked in Pomeroy's top 11 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

The Wildcats (20-5) are one of the best steadily even teams in the county, boasting a solid offense and defense that will see them go far in the tournament. The squad is also fantastic at scoring fast and picking up rebounds, not to mention all five starting players have scoring averages in the double digits.

Caleb Love (18.8) remains one of the most interesting players, especially as he transferred from North Carolina.

Placing Your March Madness 2024 Bets

You can have everything ready and prepared to wager on the 2024 NCAA tournament for men's basketball before you can say "slam dunk." Just choose a respected online sportsbook, create an account, add a deposit method, and then start placing your bets and (hopefully) withdraw some winnings in the next few weeks.

Rest assured, we’ve also covered the tournament before in our NCAA March Madness betting guide if you want to delve deeper into the odds and statistics.

Types of Bets

There are several bets you can make when deciding to wager on the tournament and consider college basketball lines. It’s not just about who wins or loses, as you’ll discover, so here’s what options you have when taking part in college basketball betting.

Point spreads

Prior to every March Madness 2024 tournament game, oddsmakers determine the point spread, which is the expected difference between the two schools on the scoreboard.

To take the bet and cover the spread, the odds-on favorite needs to win by a margin greater than the chosen spread, and the underdog needs to win by a margin that is smaller than the spread.

Just for a quick example, Arizona is the underdog by +7.5 points. To cover the spread, Arizona would need to either win comfortably or be defeated by less than 8 points.

The favorite in this example is Houston. To cover, they must triumph by a margin of greater than 8 points. The cost of making the wager, often known as the vig or juice, is an additional set of odds along with the spread. A bettor must stake $110 at -110 in order to take home $100.

Over/Under totals

The predicted total points that the two schools will score in a 2024 NCAA Tournament matchup is known as the Over/Under. Betting on whether the final score will be over or under this number is what this type of wager is all about.

Let's say a game is set at 145.5 points as an over/under, those who bet over will succeed if the total points are 146 or more, whereas anyone betting under will win if the points are 145 or lower. Remember, this is the total points combined by both teams, not a single team’s score.

Moneyline bets

The simplest way to wager on the 2024 March Madness bracket is to choose which team will be victorious using the moneyline. A moneyline figure is given to each squad according to their estimated chance of winning the game.

For instance, if Houston is the underdog at +165, it's possible to make $165 on a $100 wager. Conversely, the favorite of Arizona is set at -205, which means anyone gambling would bet $205 to get back their original bet plus $100.

Prop bets

You may place a wager on events that take place during a game via prop betting, also known as propositional betting. The game's final result isn't included in these types of bets. For example, you could place a bet on a certain player scoring over 30 points, grabbing 15 rebounds, or making 10 assists.

There are even some quite wild prop bets, such as the color of the Gatorade shower used by the winning team at the Super Bowl! Prop bets can be very specific or very general (which player will score the first points), so have fun with this one.

NCAAB Betting Tips for Beginners

In order to make some serious money when betting on the college basketball betting lines, there are a few ideas you can try if you’re learning about college basketball betting systems.

March Madness 2024 futures odds

There’s already a list of favorites ready for which team can win the championship during the 2024 March Madness bracket. This is the top 10 list of teams’ odds before the tournament has started.

March Madness 2024 Dates, Times, and Locations

Some important dates for the forthcoming basketball March Madness 2024 tournament are shown below.

Selection Sunday takes place on March 17th, two days before March Madness begins.

The competition starts when the first four tournament games are played on March 19th and 20th. The Round of 64 begins on March 21.

In 2024, the Final Four is scheduled for April 6th–8th. State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, will host the games.

March 21–30 is when all of the matches from the Round of 64 to the Elite 8 will take place. The first and second stages of the 2024 NCAA tournament will be held at the stadiums listed below:

March Madness History

The first year of the famous college basketball tournament dates back to 1939, when Oregon won the title.

The current champions of the March Madness tournament are the UConn Huskies, who defeated San Diego State, 76-59, in 2023. UCLA is the college with the most champions (11), followed by Kentucky (8), North Carolina (6), then Duke, Indiana, and UConn each have five titles.

There was some major controversy in 2018, when the NCAA took away Louisville 2013’s championship following a tournament infraction discovered years later.

March Madness Fun Facts

There have been many incredible moments and records set during the years of March Madness, and hopefully the 2024 NCAA tournament is no different. Here are a few interesting facts for some insight into the major college basketball competition.

Final Thoughts

Online sportsbooks typically experience their busiest moments during March Madness, as it happens to be a hugely popular time for sports bettors and college basketball lines.

March Madness odds are available on all betting platforms, but look for the best ones that are incredibly secure, have a large selection of deposit and withdrawal methods, and provide a vast opportunity of betting types for every game.

That said, simply enjoy watching some fantastic college hoops and likely future NBA stars!

March Madness 2024 FAQs

Here are a few answers to common FAQs surrounding the basketball tournament.