Best Online Sportsbooks
Best March Madness Sportsbooks In 2024
The best March Madness sportsbooks in 2024 tend to be available online. These books are located outside of the US, and are thus not bound by the restrictions that they have. This is very good for college basketball betting - it often means that you can get better odds on local teams, it means that you can actually place the bets you want in any state, and it means there are no restrictions on prop betting. All of these are issues you might run into when you wager at state based sportsbooks in the US.
Bovada Sportsbook
Elite March Madness Odds
Bovada is an excellent sportsbook for March Madness. Offering a ton of different ways to wager, from futures to props to bracket contests and more, you can find all the betting action you want at Bovada. They have excellent bonuses on deposit, although they are slanted towards bitcoin, and you should be aware of their playthrough requirements before applying them. Overall, Bovada's easy to use website and large amount of March Madness odds makes them a preferred betting destination for the NCAA tournament.
BetOnline Sportsbook
Excellent NCAA Tournament Betting
BetOnline's famous bracket contests make it one of the best March Madness tournament betting sites around. This is only one of the ways in which you can bet on March Madness at BetOnline though, as they're a full service online sportsbook that allows you to wager on both individual games and futures bets. You can also place different kinds of prop bets at BetOnline, and it's available all across the United States, making it a top option for many different types of players.
March Madness Betting Trends
Futures Betting On March Madness
March Madness futures betting, given the format, is wildly unpredictable, and that means that there are often very generous odds even on the most favored teams in the bracket. However, just being a very good team is no guarantee of success - there are teams that were clearly better than their opposition losing anyway every year.
2024 March Madness Futures Betting Odds
- Duke+1100
- UConn+1200
- Kentucky+1300
- Kansas+1400
- Michigan State+1600
- Marquette+1800
- Arkansas+2000
- Houston+2000
- Purdue+2000
- UCLA+2000
- Alabama+2200
- Arizona+2200
- Gonzaga+2200
- Texas+2200
- USC+2200
- North Carolina+2500
- Maryland+2800
- Creighton+3000
Betting On Individual March Madness Games
As much as predictions and futures wagers take on a significant portion of the March Madness betting market, betting on the result of individual games is fairly easy to do as well. There are two major game bets to make - spreads and moneylines. When you bet on a moneyline, the odds look like this:
Example March Madness Moneyline
- Team A -200
- Team B +150
Using the same teams, a spread would look something like this:
Example March Madness Spread
- Team A -5.5 -110
- Team B +5.5 -110
In this example, Team A, the favorite, is receiving a handicap of -5.5. In order for anyone betting on Team A -5.5 to cash their bet, they need to win by six or more points. If they lose, or win by five or less points, they will not have covered the spread.
You'll notice that the payout on a spread bet is far more even - the -110 odds on both sides mean that a wager of $110 is required to cash out at $100. This is far more even than the moneyline, which saw odds of -200 and +150 on the favorite and the underdog respectively.
March Madness Bracket Contests
It's impossible to mention March Madness without talking about the famous bracket contests. Bracket contests at gambling sites for US players combine futures betting and individual game betting in a unique and fun way. Many online sportsbooks offer bracket contests, but the most popular are found on ESPN, playable for free, although you're about as likely to win them as you are to win the lottery. Some prefer to play on sportsbooks where you can vary your wager amounts in each contest, which allows you greater control over your bankroll.
2024 March Madness Schedule
2024 March Madness Locations
The Men's March Madness tournament locations will occur all over the US.
First Four Location
Round of 64 And 32 Locations (March 19th-20th)
Regional Locations (March 28th-31st)
Final Four and National Championship Location (April 6th - 8th)
March Madness Betting History
| Year: | Champion: | Preseason Odds: |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | Connecticut | +6600 |
| 2021-2022 | Kansas | +1400 |
| 2020-2021 | Baylor | +800 |
| 2018-2019 | Virginia | +1350 |
| 2017-2018 | Villanova | +2700 |
| 2016-2017 | North Carolina | +1900 |
| 2015-2016 | Villanova | +2500 |
| 2014-2015 | Duke | +900 |
| 2013-2014 | Connecticut | +6500 |
| 2012-2013 | Louisville | +700 |
| 2011-2012 | Kentucky | +550 |
| 2010-2011 | Connecticut | +4000 |
| 2009-2010 | Duke | +1200 |