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2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament

Is it just us, or is there a whiff of upsets, brackets bursting left and right, stress, but also thrills, passion, excitement and suspense in the air?

Could it be? Is it that time of the year?

Yes, yes, it is! The 2024 March Madness Tournament is coming, both in men’s and women’s basketball and with it the chance to make bank betting on your favorite tournament picks!

Here at BetUS Sportsbook, aka your favorite online sportsbook in the world, we have taken it upon ourselves to bring you all the latest and best information, betting tips, game and tournament previews, 

news, rumors, you name it!

With a full understanding of everything that entails a tournament as enthralling as March Madness, let us take the wheel here and make your March Madness betting experience one for the books!

Event Details

Have you ever given any thought on how to explain the March Madness Tournament to a person that has never experienced it? Furthermore, have you ever thought of how to explain the beautiful, wonderful world of March Madness odds to that same person?

Lucky you, us here at BetUS Sportsbook, your friendly neighborhood top-caliber betting destination, we have got you covered.

So let’s get to the basics of the men’s and women’s tournament first!

Consisting of seven rounds of games in which 68 teams battle it out in a win and you’re in style of tournament, March Madness makes perfect homage to its name, with madness reigning from beginning to end.

Starting out with the “First Four” round, where eight teams, the four lowest-seeded conference title holders and the four lowest-seeded national bids battle it out for a chance to win one of the final four spots in the round of 64, each year, the March Madness schedule begins.

Afterwards, the “Round of 64”, the first true round of competition, with 32 matchups divided in four regions with 16 teams per region gets going. There, a seeding matchup system that pairs up highest vs. lowest seed takes place, with this round being the only one in the tournament where each team’s seed is guaranteed.

Following the previous round comes the “Round of 32” in which 16 games are played between the remaining 32 teams through all four regions, with a similar win and you’re in style of game.

Up next in the schedule comes the “Sweet 16” round. Here is where dreams begin to take on a whole new meaning for the remaining squads here in competition as the finish line is now visible in the horizon.

One very interesting component to this round is the five-day break that happens between the Round of 32 and its successor. That allows fans to prepare a bullet-proof March Madness Sweet 16 betting strategy to win big.

Ok, ready for the action to get kicked up a few more notches? Welcome to the “Elite Eight” round. Here, in each of the four regions, a finals style game is played to decide who the four national semifinalists end up being.

What’s that now?

You still want more action?

You’re thinking of cueing Russell Crowe “Are you not entertained?” scream from “Gladiator”?

Then you clearly need to check out the “Final Four” round. While the glory goes for the winner, the real drama and action usually live in this round, where the four best teams in the tournament battle it out for a spot in the last game of the tournament.

Finally, after everything is said and done, and there’s only two teams left in the competition, the “National Championship” round, where the title is decided, is played.

After surviving six grueling rounds of competition, it all boils down to one game where March Madness predictions are put to the side, and the best of the best compete for the title.

Starting out with Selection Sunday on March 17th, and the action beginning between March 19th and 20th  for men, and 20th and 21st for women, going all the way until April 7th for the women’s title game, and  April 8th for the men’s, the stage is set for what promises to be another thrilling year of championship college basketball action.

Predictions and Picks

Here at BetUS, we believe that the earlier the predictions the better they are, so how about we get to talking about some very early March Madness bracket predictions?

On the men’s side of the ball, while teams like last year’s champions UConn, Purdue, Houston, Arizona, Tennessee, Auburn, North Carolina, and Alabama are all looking like they are ready to spearhead the road towards becoming this season’s squads to follow once the tournament gets going

Leaving favorites aside though, considering March Madness is everybody’s favorite time of the year for drama, and of course, upsets, which schools are looking like this year’s potential Cinderella story teams?

While last season everything regarding underdog stories revolved around San Diego State and Florida Atlantic University, alongside Princeton, this year Princeton once again is looking like it wants another Cinderella ride in the tournament, alongside fellow Ivy League schools Cornell, and Yale.

Besides that, James Madison University, Indiana State, Grand Canyon, McNeese State, Appalachian State, Drake, Charleston, and Samford University, all are looking like teams all ball fans looking to bet on March Madness underdogs should be keeping a close eye on.

Moving over to the women’s side of the tournament, yes, we know about LSU and Iowa, as well as the surprisingly dominant South Carolina women’s basketball team, but what other squads should pundits be looking at?

UConn, a staple of excellence when it comes to women’s college basketball, stands out as a team to keep in the backburners, alongside Stanford, Ohio State, Texas, UCLA, and North Carolina State.

When it comes to underdogs for this coming tournament, don’t look now, but Indiana, Utah, Creighton, Oklahoma, Princeton, and Notre Dame could end up pulling off a shock here and there and giving the favorites a true run for their money.

Favorites to win March Madness 2024

Now that we have covered the basics of the 2024 college basketball tournament, how about we get into what really matters, what we’re all here for, talking about March Madness odds and which teams stand as top picks to win the title this season.

Men’s Favorites

UConn Huskies

Starting out the list of favorites to win March Madness, and with no surprise to college ball fans left and right are the defending champions UConn Huskies.

With their odds at +500, the departure of Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins to the NBA has apparently not been a problem whatsoever for Dan Hurley’s squad, as Alex Karaban and Donovan Clingan, alongside Andre Jackson Jr. are at the head of the squad leading the Huskies on what promises to be another strong title run.

Purdue Boilermakers

Who here had the Purdue Boilermakers as their March Madness Pick to win the tournament last year?
Don’t be shy.
We all thought Zach Purdey’s team would cruise to a title win, and then, well, they didn’t.
In a scenario no March Madness bracket predictions expert could have seen coming, the Boilermakers ended up being on the wrong side of the tournament’s history after falling in the first round of the tourney against the #16 seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA basketball.
Coming back to the present though, with their odds for March Madness slated at +750, everything is looking up for Purdue once again, especially after having already shown their worth knocking down over five top 25 teams this season.

Houston Cougars

Just like Purdue, another team looking for some revenge this season are the Houston Cougars, whose odds stand at +750.
After being eliminated in last season’s Sweet Sixteen round, the Cougars, aka, the best defensive team in the league, will be looking to make this year’s run, one with the NCAA basketball title waiting for them at the end of the line.

Women’s Favorites

South Carolina Gamecocks

You’d think that after losing this season’s WNBA No.1 Draft pick Aliyah Boston alongside four other players to the pros, the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team would be in a sort of rut.

Come to figure though, with center Kamilla Cardoso leading the way, showing some of the best shooting percentage numbers in the game at 59.5%, the Gamecocks are sitting pretty comfortably as this season’s favorites to win the women’s March Madness tournament.

With their odds at EV according to our odds to win the 2024 NCAAW Basketball Championship, the question here is, can anybody stop South Carolina?

LSU Tiger

Yes, champion’s prerogative is a thing, and when it comes to a team like the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team, believing that they can repeat as champions is a very easy assumption to make.
After snagging up Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow through the transfer portal before the season began, having paired them up with the “Bayou Barbie”, all star forward Angel Reese only managed to make this team stronger than last season.Slated as second favorites in our women’s March Madness odds list at+800, is a title repeat coming?

Iowa Hawkeye

You didn’t actually think we were going to make this list and leave Caitlin Clark’s team out of the running now did you? Women’s college basketball has seen a very strong uprising in viewership and fandom, mostly thanks to Clark, and the effect she has had on the sport during her tenure with the Hawkeyes. Of course, with the nation’s top scorer at the helm, and with the team steamrolling through their opponents, averaging a cool 90+ points per game this season, could a title win be the perfect story book ending for Clark’s career in college before moving to the pros? Plus, just picture what an LSU vs. Iowa rematch for the title, like last year’s bout would be like? Can you say March Madness championship pandemonium?

How to Bet on March Madness

There are two things to understand when wanting to bet on March Madness action. The first is that, like any other basketball tournament or game, you are usually offered the same betting options. So if you’re familiar with wagering on basketball games, then you’re pretty much set.

But don’t worry we’ll get to those types of bets in a second. For right now, let’s talk about the one kind of wager that March Madness is known for, and that can be as fun as volatile.

March Madness, unlike other sporting tournaments, offers a specific niche betting option that you won’t find anywhere else, bracket pool betting.

Don’t act like you don’t know about March Madness brackets. Every college basketball fan has at least once tried their luck trying to beat the virtually unbeatable tournament bracket.

When betting on brackets you wait until all matchups are made, and then you start making your March Madness predictions from round one to the national title game.

There’s no more science to it. You are just picking an outright winner for each game in the tournament and praying for the best, hoping your favorite to win March Madness pulls through for you.

Simple, right? Fun too. Some various sporting sites and platforms offer very enticing prizes for people willing to try their luck going for the perfect bracket.

While it’s not impossible to achieve, it still hasn’t been done. So, by all means, if you think you can beat the unbeatable monster that is the March Madness bracket prediction beast, go for it, I’ll be rooting for you.

Now, going back to traditional betting options, if you’re more into looking at immediate results and having a better grasp of your strategy, then this is the way to go:

Point spread

Betting on the March Madness spread works the same way as in pro basketball, and basically any other sport with a point scoring system. To bet on the point spread in every March Madness game, you bet on the margin of points with which the proposed winning team will triumph by.

Let’s say you have Duke -3 (-110) vs. North Carolina +3 (-110), according to the online betting spread Duke is a three-point favorite to win. If you were to pick the Blue Devils, then you would need them to beat UNC by at least three points, thus covering the spread.If on the other hand you take the Tar Heels to take down Duke, you would be betting against the spread, thus needing UNC to either win the game or lose by no more than 2 points.

Over/Under Totals

Again, just like in pro basketball, and other sports with a point scoring system, betting on the over/under in the total works the exact same way.
Here, you are betting on the combined number of points both teams in the game will score and if they will go over the mark set by the bookmaker or stay under.
Let’s go back to the Duke vs. North Carolina matchup once again. If on your favorite online sportsbook, the total is listed at 128.5, that means that the combined score will end up either over or under 129 points. See, simple, very very simple.

Moneyline

This is the easiest bet of them all, and in a scenario like the March Madness Tournament, it’s a no brainer kind of bet. Here, you pick an outright winner of the game.

Hey, look at that, it’s Duke vs. North Carolina once again! Let’s say the Blue Devils’ odds to win stand at -120 and the Tar Heels’ odds stand at +110. You can take Duke as the favorite to win, or try to go for the college basketball betting upset by taking UNC to win, given they are the underdogs in this game.

Props

Lastly, but certainly not least, one of the most popular betting styles at the moment, and one that could elevate your experience betting on March Madness games to a completely different level. Here, you are betting on individual performances, propositional wagers and whatever out of the blue scenario you can think of happening in the game that might end up having odds.

You think Duke’s “X” player can score over 20 points? Go for it. What’s that, UNC’s defense will amount to over 20 rebounds? Bet on that too. The options are endless here, and if there are odds for them, then you should definitely be getting behind that action.

March Madness Betting Trends and Stats

If there’s one thing any and all experienced March Madness odds fanatics know, it’s that volatility, unpredictability, and havoc are three of the main components in the annual college basketball tournament.

It can even be argued that it’s what makes the competition that more enticing to follow, especially from a bettor’s perspective. Betting on March Madness games usually puts not only your knowledge to the game, but also your stress and anger management skills to the test.

That in itself is why, keeping up with the tournament’s trends and stats is usually the best road to follow.

For example, when it comes to trends:

Two Number One Seeds Have Gone Down In The First Round Of The Tournament

Yes, upsets are a dime a dozen during March Madness, but only twice in history has the No.1 seeded team in the tournament gone down to the No.16 seeded team. With a historic 143-2 record when it comes to No.1 vs No.16 seeds playing against each other, unless you have a once in a lifetime hunch, taking the underdog in this matchup will mostly never pay off.

#1 Seeded Teams Are Usually Money After Round 1

There’s a reason #1 seeded teams get those positions. After making it out of the first round alive, the #1 seeded squads usually win in over 85% of their following games.So, in short, don’t mess with the favorites.

If You Run Into a #7 vs. #10 matchup, take the #7

When betting in the college basketball tournament, even if upsets are usually an everyday thing, if you run into a #7 vs. #10 matchup, it’s safe to say that taking the #7 team will usually pay off the best dividends.With that said though, if the #10 seed survives to play another day, they usually end up becoming dark horse threats with their winning percentages over slated at over 40% when moving into the second round and further.

Always keep an eye on the #11 seeds

We couldn’t tell you if there’s some mystical reason behind it, or just the fact that #11 teams usually end up being strong schools, but when looking to bet on March Madness action, if you run into an #11 seed, take the bet and watch the magic happen. It might not happen all of the time, but the probabilities of that team winning are usually rather high, especially considering tournament numbers from the past ten years until now.

When it comes to stats for the 2024 season, some of the most important to keep an eye on, and that could end up shifting the balance when thinking of March Madness betting predictions is how some of the favorite teams have been performing from a betting perspective.

For example, the UConn Huskies (59.3%), Houston Cougars (50%), Purdue Boilermakers (60%), Arizona Wildcats (65.4%), Tennessee Volunteers (48%), Iowa State Cyclones (72%), and Marquette Golden Eagles (60%), the seven best teams in the country at the time of writing, have covered the spread in their respective games in over 45% of the time.

When it comes to beating the over in point totals for their respective games, UConn (53.9%), Houston (42.3%), Purdue (66.7%), Arizona (53.9%), Tennessee (57.7%), Iowa State (57.7%), and Marquette (38.5%) have all shown a rise towards crushing the over in 52.9% of their games in average.

2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament Schedule

Round and round college hoops teams go until they get to the Final Four or Round and round college hoops teams go until one remains standing

  • Selection Sunday: March 17
  • First Round: March 19 – 20
  • Sweet 16: March 28 – 29
  • Final Four: April 6
  • First Four: March 19 – 20
  • Second Round: March 23 – 24
  • Elite Eight: March 30 – 31
  • NCAA Championship Game: April 8
  • Selection Sunday: March 17
  • First Round: March 19 – 20
  • Sweet 16: March 28 – 29
  • Final Four: Saturday, April 6 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
  • First Four: March 14 – 15
  • Second Round: March 18 – 19
  • Elite Eight: March 25 – 26
  • NCAA championship game: April 3

2024 NCAAB

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March Mania Contest

March Madness FAQs

When is Selection Sunday?

Selection Sunday, the day in which a specialized committee determines the 68 teams in the running for the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship will happen on March 17, 2024.

When does March Madness begin?

The 2024 March Madness Tournament is set to begin between March 19th and 20th, 2024 with the men’s First Four and on March 20th and 21st with the women’s First Four.

Who has won the NCAA Tournament the most?

The UCLA Bruins have the record of having won the most NCAA Tournament titles with 11, followed by the Kentucky Wildcats with eight and the North Carolina Tar Heels with six. On the women’s side UConn with 11 titles, Tennessee with eight, plus Baylor and Stanford with three titles round up the list.

Who are the favorites to win March Madness MVP this year?

Purdue’s Zach Edey stands as the overwhelming favorite to win this season’s men’s Wooden Award with his odds standing at -2500.

Who is the Favorite to Win March Madness 2024?

According to BetUS Sportsbook, the favorite team to win the 2024 March Madness tournament is the UConn Huskies with its odds slated at +500, followed by the Purdue Boilermakers at +700 for the men’s tournament.

For the women’s the South Carolina Gamecocks with their odds at EV, as well as the LSU Tigers and Iowa Hawkeyes at +800 stand as the favorites to win.