Free College Basketball Picks for Today
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PARLAY
Nov 06 2023
GAME
Market
Odds
Picks
Georgia Bulldogs @ Oregon Ducks
Spread
-110
Oregon -6
Columbia Lions @ Providence Friars
Spread
-110
Columbia +18.5
Missouri State Bears @ West Virginia Mountaineers
Spread
-110
Missouri +4.5
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College Basketball
College basketball is a great sport to bet on because of the constant excitement that takes place throughout a contest. You will witness incredible displays of athleticism and teamwork over 40 minutes of play.
If you are looking to wager college basketball, you must have some knowledge of the sport and the betting concepts behind the game to attain success. This does not take a lot of effort to learn, so college basketball is a fantastic sport for bettors of all skill levels.
The team at BParlay is here to help you win. We study the game so you can profit, but here are some things that you should know about the game and how to bet the sport.
History of the Game
The history of college basketball goes back to the late 1800s in Springfield, Massachusetts. The sport was created by a high school gym teacher named James Naismith. If you are familiar with this name, it’s because there is a National Player of the Year Award named in his honor.
Basketball made its way to college campuses by 1891. The first college team was established at Vanderbilt, and they played the Nashville YMCA team on February 7, 1893. The first competition between two colleges was played between Drexel and Temple in the late 1800s.
However, basketball in this period did not resemble the five-on-five game that we watch today. Colleges started widely establishing basketball programs beginning in the early 1900s. The NCAA started tournament play with the National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament in 1922.
The NCAA enacted the NCAA Tournament in 1939, which is what we know today as March Madness. The field started with 25 teams, and now 68 squads play in the competition.
College basketball has transitioned in countless ways over the years. Betting has always been a piece of college basketball once consistent games started being played throughout the nation.
Initially, betting was done through bookies, and then an overwhelming transition to offshore sportsbooks occurred. This movement was caused by internet accessibility, which revolutionized betting.
Offshore sportsbooks are still widely used throughout the United States for people in states where sports betting has not been legalized. In 2018, the Supreme Court gave states the rights to legalize the form of gambling, but there are still numerous areas of the country where legal wagering is not accessible.
No matter where you wager, you will find similar lines for every college basketball game during the season.
NCAA Basketball Conferences
There are 32 Division I men’s basketball conferences in the United States. The cumulative number of teams that play Division I basketball is 357 schools. Some of these teams do not compete very well with the more prominent schools in the NCAA.
Some of the best conferences every season are the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, Big East, Big Ten, SEC, and the WCC.
There is typically a team in the Final Four representing at least one of these conferences every season.
Here is a list of some of the best teams in college basketball history.
1. Kentucky Wildcats
2. Duke Blue Devils
3. North Carolina Tarheels
4. UCLA Bruins
5. Kansas Jayhawks
6. Louisville Cardinals
7. Indiana Hoosiers
8. UConn Huskies
9. Villanova Wildcats
10. Syracuse Orange
College Basketball Bets
There is a wide variety of bets that you have the ability to place on sportsbooks for college basketball. The best bettors take advantage of a range of bets and place wagers on games that give them the highest chance to win.
Here are some of the betting markets that you will be able to utilize for college basketball.
Moneyline – The moneyline is when you choose one team to win a game. The only thing that matters is for them to have the lead at the end of a contest. This is a simple wager that is frequently used in all sports.
If a team has positive odds, it means they are an underdog. If a team has negative odds, it means they are a favorite.
If you wagered Kentucky at +150 on the moneyline, you would be taking the underdog in the matchup.
Point Spread – The point spread is the bet that most college basketball bettors place. Point spread bets give you the ability to pick an underdog to be within a certain number of points. You can also wager favorites to win by a specific number of points.
If a team has a positive spread, they are dogs. If a squad has a negative spread, they are favorites.
Here is an example of a spread bet.
North Carolina is -6.5 over Duke, which means the Blue Devils are +6.5. If you take the Tarheels, they must win by seven points. If you wager Duke, they must be within six points or win the game for you to prosper.
Over/Under – The over/under bet is great for bettors who want to root for both teams. A sportsbook will set its projection for the total number of points that will be scored in a game. You have to choose if the cumulative score will go over or under this amount.
Prop Bets – Prop bets are usually tougher to win on a consistent basis because they deal with a smaller portion of the game. Prop bets deal with statistics for players and teams in the game.
Here are some prop betting examples.
– Will Duke shoot over or under 89.5% from the free throw line?
– Will there be over or under 5.5 fouls in the first half?
– Race to 20: Who will reach 20 points first?
The number of props varies depending on the sportsbook. However, these are very fun wagers to utilize on all platforms.
Parlays – Parlays are when you combine bets from different games into a group. This lowers your chances of winning a wager because multiple outcomes need to happen. The more bets you group, the higher your potential payout will become.
Here is a parlay example.
1. Duke ML
2. Kansas -6.5
3. UConn vs Villanova – Over 150.5
All of these bets would need to hit for you to win, so it’s wise to choose wagers that have a high likelihood of hitting.
College Basketball Betting Tips
College basketball is a game where you need to understand what is happening before placing a bet. Never place a wager based on your gut instinct because this is a quick way to lose money.
Numbers drive college basketball, so make sure you place bets based on analytics. You should always be studying how a team is performing in their most recent contests before placing a wager.
The magnitude of college basketball is immense, so it’s tough to follow. You should focus on a couple of conferences when it comes to gambling.
This allows you to understand how good a team is and how they will do against other squads. If you consistently watch the ACC or SEC, you will be able to place a winning bet because most games throughout the regular season are played in the conference.
This does not mean that you should not bet on games that you do not know religiously. Nevertheless, you should pay attention to college basketball teams before risking your own money.
College basketball games are usually decided by narrow margins, which makes line shopping critical. Line shopping is when you study different books to pick the best bet. On the point spread, one book may have a team at -2.5, and another could have them at -3.5.
One point on the spread may seem like a subtle difference, but this could make a massive difference for the final betting outcome. If you do not think this makes a difference, you will lose more frequently than you win.
The NCAA Tournament
The college basketball season concludes with the NCAA Tournament, which is the most wagered sporting event in the United States. The NCAA Tournament is nicknamed March Madness because anything can happen.
Sixty-eight teams make the tournament, and the official field starts with 64 teams. Eight teams play in the First Four round to earn their spot in the field of 64.
The field is divided into four regions, with 16 teams in each part of the bracket. There are six rounds of games that occur over three weekends. The tournament concludes with the National Championship Game, which is played in early April.
As a bettor, you can wager 67 games during the NCAA Tournament. Sportsbooks focus on March Madness and give bettors tons of wagering opportunities.
Research is critical to bet during the NCAA Tournament, and you should not trust any specific site. BParlay is an excellent spot to look for bet picks because we are here to help you win games.
We do not give betting picks that we would not wager. Other betting sites are guilty of this every day, which does not cause you to profit. College basketball betting is all about winning money, and many sites do not help you reach this goal.
BParlay is dedicated to giving you the best recommendations to win big on college basketball.
What is a Double-Double in Basketball? Find out in our learn section