Live NCAAB Odds Explained
With more than 30 regular season games and a 68-team tournament to determine the champion of the college ranks, there are plenty of opportunities to bet on live NCAAB lines.
Live betting is a betting market where you’ll wager on games as they’re actively happening. The live NCAA basketball odds change rapidly during this time as every shot and possession can alter them. Below, we’ll dig into this market even more, describing how it all works.
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How does Live College Basketball Odds Betting Work?
As mentioned, live betting allows you to wager on a game as it’s happening live, with the odds changing to reflect how each team performs. While a team might be the favorite before the game, if they’re losing during the game, the live betting odds in that NCAA basketball game might reflect them as the underdog.
There are plenty of ways to live bet on college basketball, including the moneyline, point spread, totals, props, parlays, and more. Nothing changes regarding how you define these different wager types, whether pregame or live. Still, they will likely differ from the odds you saw before the game. This is a great way to bet if you forgot to bet before the game or, as you’ll learn later, as a NCAAB betting strategy to help pad your wallet.
How To Read Live College Basketball Odds
Whether you’re looking at live NCAAB odds or ones from pregame, they read the same way. Below is a table of multiple scenarios when live betting and what it means for you if you want to bet on it.
| Betting Example | What It Means |
| Kansas Jayhawks -13.5 | This indicates a point spread with Kansas as the favored team. If you were to bet on this, you would need Kansas to win the game and do so by 14 or more points. |
| Kansas Jayhawks -13.5 (-110) | We’ll use the same example above but add the betting odds. At -110, this means that to win $100, you’d need to wager $110. For “-” odds bets, the number associated with it is the amount you need to wager to win $100. |
| Florida Atlantic +13.5 | With a point spread of +13.5, this would mean that FAU needs to either win the game outright. However, they could still cover the wager if they lost by 13 points or less. |
| Florida Atlantic +750 | If the odds on FAQ were +750, you’d win $750 if you bet $100 on them, and they won. With “+” odds wagers, the number associated with it is how much you’ll win if you bet $100. |
| Kansas Jayhawks -550 | Same thing here as the example above if they were -110—you’d need to wager $550 to win $100. |
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Live College Basketball Odds: Terms to Know
As you continue to read live betting advice, pregame wager advice, or read other guides on our site, you may see some sports betting-specific jargon used that you may be unfamiliar with. We’ll define those terms for you below regarding live betting.
- Juice/Vig: When you look at odds with a “-” next to it, the number that makes it go beyond -100 is the “juice” or the “vig”—it’s something like a commission on the bet. For example, if something is -120, you’d need to bet $12 to win $10 instead of getting even odds on all bets.
- Legs: Legs is a term for each contest added to a parlay. So, if you create a live Same Game Parlay with the moneyline, totals, and a prop bet, you’d have a three-leg Same Game Parlay.
- Hook: In the examples above, we saw point spreads like -13.5, +13.5, and 20.5. Well, as you know, games can’t end in fractional points. For betting, the 0.5 point on a point spread or totals line is the “hook,” meaning there can’t be a push.
- Push: The word “push” is betting equivalent to a tie. However, this can only happen if the total or point spread is a whole number, like -13 or -20. If a team -20 wins 100-80, yes, they won the game, but after you “deduct” the point spread, they would have tied or “pushed,” meaning you’d get your wager back.
- Cover: We’ve referred to this term a couple of times already, but to cover means to satisfy the requirements of the bet. For example, if a team is -13 and they win 80-60, they win by 20, which is more than enough to cover the point spread of 13.
Live NCAA Basketball Odds Strategies
The best way to use live betting outside of simple entertainment is to hedge your pregame wagers. If Kansas is -550, you bet $100 on them before the game. Suddenly, they find themselves up just 67-66 with two minutes to go; you may see that Florida Atlantic still has underdog odds of +140. If you’re not feeling totally confident in Kansas winning, you can bet $49.24 for a total bet of $149.24. This will result in a hedge profit of -31.06 but could be used to limit your losses. There are other scenarios where you could be put in a position to turn a profit.
Monitor In-Game Injury Reports
When you want to engage in live betting, pay attention to the injury reports during the game. A player could be questionable to come back. Still, if you monitor the appropriate beat writers on Twitter or watch the broadcast, you may receive updates on the player’s availability to return to the game. This will alter the live betting odds, depending on the player.
This is a pretty basic March Madness strategy, but it’s vital, especially for live betting college basketball; you’re actually watching the game. You can only tell so much from a live betting box score on a sportsbook. Does one team look tired? Are teams making lots of mistakes turning the ball over or committing fouls? Trust your eyes.
Bet During Timeouts/Breaks
With so many possessions happening in basketball every game, the odds will change almost non-stop. There will be openings to bet as the game is actively happening in terms of a player dribbling the ball up and down the court, but the betting window is much more narrow. However, if a team calls a timeout, the odds will stabilize until gameplay resumes.
Look For Online Sportsbooks With Live Betting Promos
This can be hit or miss, but if your favorite online sportsbook offers live betting promotions, then take advantage of them. If your favorite site doesn’t, take some time to explore, the other sportsbooks live in your state to see if any of them offer it. This can add more potential funds to your bankroll for just a bit of research.
Getting Started On College Basketball Live Lines
- Explore our online sportsbook reviews to see which one you may enjoy the most. When doing so, be sure to consider what the welcome bonus is.
- When you’ve decided where you want to play, head over to the desktop site or download the mobile app.
- Create your new account.
- Make your first deposit while keeping in mind what the welcome bonus is and if a minimum amount is required.
- Head to the NCAAB betting page or live betting page to see what/if any games are live.
- If not, wait until a game starts and navigate to the live betting page to view the game's live odds.
- Pick what you want to bet on live, add it to your betslip, and complete your wager.
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Conclusion on Live NCAAB Lines
As you can probably now tell, there are a lot of things to consider when live betting on college basketball. Sure, you can find a game in progress and place a bet on them, but the chances of actually becoming successful with that on-the-fly wager aren’t exactly sky-high.
Here, you’ve learned about some strategies to deploy when live betting, what it is, and how to read the odds you’re seeing.
Before you dig into the next slate of live betting odds for college basketball games, come back to this page to ensure you’re ready to start making money.
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