Games Become More Important as the Season Progresses
Mississippi State at Tennessee Betting Analysis
The SEC gauntlet is never more evident than this four-game run for Mississippi State.
The game on Tuesday at Tennessee ends a stretch where the Bulldogs play teams ranked in the Top 25.
Talk about brutal. Mississippi State lost the first two before downing rival Ole Miss. This road test will be a rough one for the Bulldogs.
Tennessee has been ranked No.1 but lost two of its last four, including a stunning loss to Vanderbilt in its most recent game.
Pick: Expect the Vols to bounce back and throttle the Bulldogs.
USC at Nebraska Betting Analysis
Neither team is ranked but that doesn’t mean this game should be avoided when it comes to college basketball predictions.
Nebraska is 8-1 at home but is on a four-game losing streak. If the Cornhuskers are going to get right, this has to be the spot. Brice Williams is the Husker’s leading scorer but he had a subpar effort in a loss to Maryland with 14 points.
For USC, Desmond Carter leads the way at 16 ppg. This is do-or-die for Nebraska so the time could be ripple to play the Huskers.
Villanova at Marquette Betting Analysis
Big East powers play on Friday as Villanova visits Marquette. The Wildcats are not having a great season.
Marquette remains strong and looks like it could be a player in March Madness. Maybe not a national champion but definitely a school that could win a game or two.
The Golden Eagles lost their most recent home game to Xavier. It was their first home loss after 10 wins. Don’t expect this to be a losing streak at home.
Villanova is vulnerable. Kam Jones leads the Golden Eagles in points and assists. Look for him in a combo bet on the prop market.
The Wildcats are mild cats on the road and their troubles continue here.
Iowa State at Arizona State Betting Analysis
The Cyclones head to the desert for the first of two games. They will play Arizona State on Saturday and Arizona on Jan. 27.
Iowa State had a 12-game winning streak snapped last week with a loss at West Virginia. And the fact this is a Big 12 road game is a reason to give the Sun Devils hope.
Bob Hurley’s team isn’t anything great and has had trouble in conference play.
The Sun Devils already have a couple of losses at home and this test should be another game that would end up in the “L” column.
Before jumping into the prop market on over points for any Cyclone player recognize Iowa State has six players between 9.6 points per game and 17.8 ppg.
Look for Iowa State to be the play in college basketball predictions.
March Madness Odds Betting
March Madness only comes once a year, and everyone loves the excitement of the March Madness odds during the tournament and all the betting opportunities it brings. Still, the college basketball season has plenty of ways to wager on games.
The first week of November marked the start of the 2024-25 college basketball season, with several teams looking to have big years and capture the national title glory that UConn has enjoyed the last two seasons.
You can make College Basketball picks on a team to make a title run, on individual games, or even players’ stats by the season or the game. Just as many teams across the country are playing for March Madness glory, there are many betting options on college basketball.
Betting On A Champion
Some people prefer to wait for the tournament field to be announced and make a bet on a team they think will win it at all at that point, but from the moment the previous champion was crowned, futures odds have been set for the following season’s champion.
The UConn Huskies have won the last two national titles, and heading into the 2024-05 season, they’ve been anointed the favorite in the NCAAB championship odds. Before a single game had been played, UConn was sitting at +800 to win a third straight title, but there are plenty of other betting options.
Kansas, Duke, and Alabama joined Houston, North Carolina, and Gonzaga as other top contenders when looking at the college basketball odds. Iowa State and Kentucky are among the teams trending in the right direction in the championship odds. If you feel confident about a team being the next champion, putting down a bet at any point is an option.
If you think a small school will make a championship run, you can wager on them to win the title. The odds will be long, but hitting on a wager like that can give bragging rights and a very nice payout.
There are also college basketball odds for every Division I conference championship in the country, so don’t feel limited to “National Title or Bust” bets. Women’s basketball championship odds are also available through the BetUS Sportsbook.
NCAAB Single-Game Betting
The easiest way to bet on college basketball is by picking out a single game and making some wagers. NCAA basketball lines are set for every game across the country throughout the regular- and postseason, so you have plenty of options, even within each game.
There are two options for betting which team will win for the game result. The first is the point spread set at BetUS Sportsbook for every game. The team expected to win is favored by a certain number of points, and they need to win by at least that many for you to get a bet that pays out. Make sure to get your bets in before the opening tip.
It could be as small as a single point or, in some cases, as many as 25 to 30 points, depending on the amount of a mismatch the game is. But if you’re confident that that team will win and “cover” or win by that many points, that’s the best way to go because it will give you better odds than if you bet on a straight-up win.
Taking the underdog will give you a chance to win if that team loses by fewer points than the point spread. A five-point underdog losing by one, two, three, or four points would deliver a winner.
The college basketball point spreads help you get a win in a game, but they’re not the only way to wager on a game result.
Also, the moneyline sets college basketball odds for which team could win without a point spread involved. If you have San Francisco to upset Gonzaga and feel like you don’t need the help of a point spread, you can bet on the moneyline and get much better odds for the upset win.
To show the difference in the odds on a moneyline bet compared to a point spread bet, let’s look at that San Francisco vs Gonzaga game a little closer. Let’s say Gonzaga is favored by 5½ points. If you bet on San Francisco getting those 5½ points added to its score, you’d likely get -110 odds.
But, if you bet on San Francisco on the moneyline, which doesn’t get any points, meaning a straight-up win is required, you could have odds like +180. That’s certainly a better payout if you believe San Francisco will win outright.
Betting The Totals
There are other ways to bet on the game from a team standpoint. Let’s say you think Michigan State vs Illinois will be a high-scoring game, but you’re not sure which team will win. You can bet the total.
A total bet – or over/under – is taking the total number of points that will be scored in the game as set by the sportsbook and make your bet on whether the actual point total will be over or under that predicted number.
Michigan State and Illinois may have a total set at 165½, but you think it will be more of a defensive struggle. You can bet the under and cheer on the defense throughout the contest, hoping for a final score that adds up to 165 points or less.
You’ll usually get identical odds for either the over or under bet, but sometimes, the odds can vary slightly depending on how the betting has gone on the game thus far.
There are also total bets that you can make for each team, as well as for the first or second halves. If you think the Illini will start fast offensively, you can bet the over on their set first-half total.
There are a multitude of college basketball bets you can make on the totals, with BetUS Sportsbook providing all that you could ask for.
