College Sports Betting 101: Where to Bet on College Sports in 2022
When most people think of wagering on sports, they immediately think about placing bets on major professional sports leagues. But you can also bet on college sports.
While betting on college sports is similar in many respects to wagering on major league sports, there are also some differences.
In this guide, we are going to introduce you to which college sports you can wager on, the pros and cons of betting on college sports, types of bets you can place, and strategies you can use.
You can find our top recommended sportsbooks for college sports below. Click on any of the links to start betting now, or scroll down past the recommendations to read our full guide.
Top Sportsbooks for Betting on College Sports
As perhaps the most prominent US-facing sportsbook out there, Bovada has built a rock-solid reputation. Their selection of betting markets is massive, and you can trust their fairness, integrity, and reliability. They have been our top recommendation for more than a decade now.
At Bovada, you can wager on college basketball, college baseball, and college football. You can either make straight to-win bets, or you can combine your wagers into parlays.
When you sign up for an account on Bovada, you can claim a $750 Bitcoin Sports Welcome Bonus or a $250 regular Sports Welcome Bonus. If you also want to gamble in the online casino, you can pick up a $3,000 Casino Welcome Bonus, or a $3,750 Bitcoin Casino Welcome Bonus.
Bovada offers a rewards program that lets you accumulate points as you gamble on college sports. You can then exchange them for cash-back. If you take a break from betting, you will maintain your rewards program status.
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Bovada is an overall great choice for betting on college sports. If you are in search of a sportsbook with an unassailable reputation, this is it.
US and Canadian bettors alike swear by BetOnline.ag when it comes to a great sports betting experience online. With their rapid and dependable credit card processing, their fast payouts, their low betting minimums, and their excellent security, they are another of our top recommendations for betting on college sports.
Like Bovada, BetOnline lets you bet on college basketball, college baseball, and college football. You can make straight bets, if bets, parlays, and teasers.
Additionally, if you click on “player props” when you are in the sportsbook, you will bring up a menu where you can build customized prop bets. You can select a player, then choose a statistics (i.e. points or assists). Next, you can input the details. So, for instance, you could pick “points,” and then specify a number along with “at least,” “under,” or “over.”
If you want to save time, you can click on “Quick Picks.” This will pull up some preset prop bets you can take.
When you join BetOnline, you can claim a 50% Sports Welcome Bonus up to $1,000. The first time you deposit crypto, you also can claim a 100% Match Bonus of up to $1,000. Reload bonuses of 25% and 35% for regular currency and crypto respectively are offered to returning punters.
At the time of this writing, BetOnline is also offering a Special Promotion for March Madness. By inputting promo code MM2022, you can claim a 100% Reload Bonus of up to $1,000. That is a huge benefit just for those who want to bet on college basketball!
Even though that bonus offer will eventually expire, BetOnline regularly runs these kinds of promotions. So, be on the lookout for other NCAA bonuses on this site in the future.
Best For:
If you want to customize your wagers on college sports, you will love what BetOnline has to offer!
Our next suggestion for betting on college sports is to head on over to BookMaker. This site has been giving punters with large and small bankrolls a like a great home for online betting for more than two decades now.
At BookMaker.eu, you can find action on college football, basketball, and baseball.
You can also snag some sweet bonuses, like a Welcome Offer of 15% Cash + 50% Casino up to $1,600. Reload bonuses vary based on customer tier. At the Gold level, you can get a 10% Cash Reload Bonus up to $400. At the Platinum level, it increases to 15% up to $600. At the Diamond level, it is 20% Cash up to $800. Through the loyalty program, you also can earn points you can redeem as cash.
Do you enjoy betting on college sports and playing casino games? Then you are going to love some of the NCAA-themed casino promos BookMaker runs.
For example, right now there is a promotion called “March Machine Madness!!!” In celebration of March Madness, the site is running “a basket full of slots tourneys giving away over $200,000 in Cash Prizes!”
The site writes, “After you’ve filled out your brackets, and are kicked back enjoying some round ball, take a spin or two or three in our March Madness slots tournament series.”
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If you want to mix sports betting and casino gambling together during March Madness, BookMaker is right for you. Be sure to check their contests and events throughout the year for other exciting opportunities.
Another reputable sportsbook for USA players is MyBookie. When we first discovered this site, they were the new kids on the block. But today, they are well-established as one of the most high-quality sportsbooks online. We do recommend them more for bettors with smaller accounts than we do for high rollers owing to their bet ceilings.
Like the other sites we have recommended, MyBookie offers bets on NCAA football, basketball and baseball. At the time of this writing (March Madness), the focus is mostly on basketball. Action includes live lines, 1st half lines, and team totals. You can bet on NCAA men’s and women’s games.
When you join the site, you can pick up a 50% Sports Welcome Bonus. If you prefer, there is also a 10% Cash Bonus up to $200 that you can claim for your first deposit. Reload bonuses of 25% up to $500 are available when you are ready to make future deposits. A range of competitive casino and horse racing bonuses are also offered, along with contests. In fact, sometimes there are even contests that involve NCAA sports. One example is the “Squares” contest that is running at the time of this writing.
Best For:
We suggest this website if you want to wager on men’s and women’s NCAA games.
The same impressive folks that operate BetOnline took over SportsBetting.ag a few years back. Since then, they have transformed what was once an ailing sportsbook into a superb place to wager. We have had nothing but great experiences with them ever since.
SportsBetting offers betting on NCAA basketball, baseball, and football.
Standard promotions on the site include a 50% Sports Welcome Bonus, a 25% Sports Reload Bonus, a 100% 1st Time Crypto Bonus, and a 35% Crypto Reload Bonus.
SportsBetting also offers promotions specific to NCAA. For example, there is a 100% Reload Bonus available right now for betting on March Madness. There are also a couple of exciting contests. These include a $100,000 Sweet Sixteen Bracket Contest and a $250,000 Bracket Madness Contest.
These contests are quite generous; there will be 1,000 Winners in the $250,000 Contest, and the top winner will get $75,000.
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SportsBetting is an ideal option if you want to gamble on a site that offers awesome contests for NCAA bettors.
Remember Intertops? It didn’t go away. It just changed its name to Everygame. It remains the same great site you have come to know and love over the past couple decades.
At the time of this writing, we are seeing action on NCAA basketball for men and women, but not other NCAA sports.
New bettors at Everygame can grab a $750 Sign-Up Bonus when they make their first deposits. What we love about Everygame is that they offer a lot of other sweet promotions as well throughout the year. Sure enough, at the time of this writing, we see a 50% March Madness Bonus as well as a bonus for $600 Extra for Hoops Parlays. There is also a $5K Hot Hoops Chase and a March Madness Poker Special.
So, whenever you sign up at Everygame, be sure to check what is going on. You won’t want to miss out on any college sports promos they are running.
Everygame also offers some ongoing promotions that are aimed at people who like to make parlays bets. So, if that is something that interests you, then you will definitely want to join this sportsbook.
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Think about choosing this site for it’s men’s and women’s NCAA markets and its superb promotions for NCAA and parlays.
Want to use cryptocurrencies to wager on college sports? Cloudbet is a good option. This site lets you start wagering with a minimum deposit of only 0.001 BTC.
On Cloudbet, you can find action on NCAA football and basketball.
Promotions on Cloudbet include a massive Welcome Bonus up to 5 BTC, Zero Margin Sports Bets, and membership in the Cloudbet Loyalty Rewards Program.
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Those who want to wager on NCAA using bitcoin will love the convenience of Cloudbet.
BetAnySports, or “BAS” for short, is the sportsbook that stepped in when 5Dimes went away. You will notice, in fact, that this website looks super familiar. The software that powers it is identical to what 5Dimes used. So far, the experience we have had using BAS has also been pretty much interchangeable with what we remember over at 5Dimes. In fact, if you have a big bankroll, you will be glad to know you will feel just as welcome here as you did there.
BAS is a wonderful option if you want a wider variety of NCAA markets than you will find elsewhere. Along with NCAA basketball, baseball and football, you can also find NCAA softball here.
Like BetOnline, BAS features a cool “props builder” feature you can use for custom college sports bets.
There are a whole bunch of different promotions you can pick from on BAS. The top one we recommend is the Less Juice Package. You can use this package to reduce your juice on NCAA football, basketball, and other sports.
Best For:
To reduce your juice while betting on college sports, pick BAS. This is another great option for customized props as well.
GTBets, or “Game Time Bets” is a cool sportsbook with unique promotions and reliable payouts. On this site, you can wager on college baseball, football and basketball.
When you sign up, you can grab a 100% Cash Bonus up to $500 on your first deposit, followed by a 50% Bonus up to $250 on your next deposit.
One promotion we especially love at GTBets is the “Favorite Teams” promo. The site explains, “That’s right, gtbets.ag is offering you a free 1/2 point on one team in each the NFL, College Football, NBA and College Basketball. Log in to your account and follow the links to select your favorite teams for the season and you’re locked in to this one-of-a-kind promotion.”
We do not know of any other site that is offering a “Guaranteed Best Line” promo like this, and as it says, you can use it for college sports!
Best For:
If you have been hunting around for competitive lines on NCAA games, GTBets will satisfy your needs!
If you like what MyBookie has to offer, you will also want to swing by Xbet, another sportsbook run by the same folks.
Xbet offers action on college football, baseball and basketball. You can make spread, moneyline, and totals bets, as well as futures wagers.
Upon making your first deposit on Xbet, you can get a Bonus up to $500. Generous Reload Bonuses of up to $250 are also available.
At the time of this writing, Xbet is offering a $10,000 Bracket Contest for March Madness.
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Xbet’s contests can add to the excitement of NCAA tournament seasons.
What College Sports Can You Bet On?
In the United States and Canada, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the organization responsible for overseeing college sports for men and women.
This organization is a non-profit founded in 1906. The college sports that are most popular to wager on are:
- College football
- College basketball
- College baseball
The NCAA also oversees many additional college sports, however, including baseball, golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track and field, volleyball, wrestling, rowing, and more.
You are less likely to find action on these other sports, but you might sometimes run into wagering opportunities for them.
What are the Benefits of Betting on College Sports?
They may still be “kids”, but you can have a ton of fun winning some cash by betting on them!
You may be wondering what the allure of college sports betting is. Well, if you enjoy major league football or basketball, it stands to reason you might also have fun betting on college games. But there are also some very specific benefits to college sports betting.
- There are so many games to bet on.
- Competitive odds abound.
- Betting on college sports can give you a preview of what is next in professional leagues.
- College sports are exciting.
- You can participate in tailgating.
There are numerous colleges and universities throughout the US and Canada, which means that there are also numerous college sports games happening on a frequent basis. As a result, you can count on finding plenty of action.
Sportsbooks tend to have a harder time keeping up with handicapping for college sports than they do handicapping for major league sports. This is due to both the number of college sports games and the higher value of major league sports to the betting sites. The reality is that as popular as college sports are, they are often overlooked by bettors, who spend most of their time and money on professional games. So, that is also where bookies invest their own time and resources. Thus, odds bookies set for college games are more likely to be inaccurate than odds for professional games. Check around, and you may be surprised by just how often this gives you an edge.
The athletes who are playing for college teams today may be playing in professional leagues tomorrow. If you are following how they are developing in college games now, you will know a lot more about what you can expect from them when they start their pro careers. Indeed, you will be able to make educated guesses about how they will reshape their teams, and whether they will thrive or fail. So, betting on college sports can help you wager more profitably on professional sports.
Many college athletes are hoping to launch careers in sports and have a lot at stake. Even those who plan to do otherwise may be attending school with aid from athletic scholarships, so they have a lot on the line as well. College athletes are also just coming into adulthood, which further intensifies their experiences. As a result, amazing stories unfold in university settings, and play tends to be action-packed and exhilarating.
Profit is not the only reason to wager on college sports—fun is an equally good reason! There are few more enjoyable ways to spend a day mingling in your community than to attend a local tailgating party while wagering on a college sports game.
Does Betting on College Sports Have Any Drawbacks?
Now you know some of the reasons to consider betting on college sports. But are there any drawbacks to be aware of?
Well, it can be harder to conduct research into college sports games than professional sports games. They tend to receive less coverage overall, especially at a national level. But with good local resources on your side, you can certainly find some data to help you handicap.
Another caution with betting on college sports is to be aware of the unpredictable nature of college games.
Luck always plays a part in any sports game, whether it is at the professional level or not. But college games tend to be even more unpredictable than professional games. So, that is just something to watch out for when you are making your bets.
What Types of Bets Can You Make on College Sports?
- To win:
- Over/under:
- Live:
- Futures:
- Props:
- Accumulators:
Wager on which team will win an NCAA game. This could take the form of a moneyline bet or a spread bet.
Wager on whether the total number of points will be over or under a given number. You can also call this type of bet a “total.”
This refers to any wager that is placed on an NCAA event while it is in play.
Sometimes you will see action for an NCAA event that is scheduled some time in the future. For example, early in an NCAA season, you might be able to bet not just on upcoming games scheduled for the days ahead, but also on the tournament bracket games. It can be hard to win a futures bet, but you will love the hefty payouts when you do.
If you are betting on anything that is not directly tied to the result of an event, it is a proposition or “prop” bet. Some sportsbooks offer prop bets for NCAA. In fact, in our recommendations area, we even suggest a couple of sites that offer custom prop bets you can design yourself.
You can combine multiple bets on NCAA games into a single accumulator wager if you have a strong appetite for risk. Winning an accumulator is unlikely. Thankfully, you can just make a small bet and still come out with huge winnings if you are lucky.
College Sports Betting Strategies
You still need a good strategy if you want to walk with that extra dough!
Now that you know some of the types of bets you can make an NCAA sports, let’s go over some strategies that can help you wager on college sports successfully.
- Check small conference games for competitive odds.
- Make wagers early in the season.
- Watch out for big turnovers.
- Put weight on coaching.
- Be wary of the effects of fatigue, especially on the road.
- Expect the unexpected.
- Watch out for your own emotions.
- Open more than one sports betting account.
As we discussed earlier, one of the benefits of betting on college sports is that sportsbooks do not have as much time to set the odds. Naturally, the games that they give the least amount of attention to are small conference games. So, if you focus on those games, you can find some of the most amazing opportunities for value betting.
Sportsbooks tend to give the most attention to college sports later in the season since tournament betting is a major draw. But that means that if you make bets earlier in the season, once again, you have an opportunity to find an edge.
Every year, there will be significant changes to the composition of any given team. Some athletes will graduate, while others will simply shift to a different focus and leave the team. There will also be fresh players to take their place, some right out of high school. Never lose sight of how challenging this can make a to handicap games, especially early in the season when there are so many unknowns.
Because of all the unknowns involved in college sports each year, a lot of people choose to focus on coaching styles and records. Coaches may stick with teams for a long period of time, bringing a degree of consistency to college sports.
Fatigue is something to monitor with professional sports teams. But you arguably should take it even more seriously in the context of NCAA. To understand why, just think back to your own school days. Even if you were not a college athlete, you probably vividly recall how exhausted you were sometimes just from your schoolwork. Now imagine trying to start a career in sports on top of that. And now picture traveling while juggling all of those responsibilities. This is why a home team may have an even more significant advantage in college sports than a home team in professional sports.
College sports have a reputation for being extremely unpredictable. That is part of the excitement of watching them, and it is part of the fun—and risk—of betting on them. Manage your stakes with care.
Sometimes, an upcoming game could feature your alma mater. Or perhaps it is simply the college that is located in your community. Either way, it is easy to allow your emotions to guide you when you place your wagers. If you are betting purely for the fun of it, then go ahead and do that. But if you want to make money, do not place wagers purely on emotion about your old school or your community.
Since one of the advantages of wagering on college sports is having the opportunity to find excellent value in the odds, it makes sense to leverage that benefit to its fullest by joining more than one sportsbook. That way, you also have access to more odds. You can then find the very best value out there.
Mistakes to Avoid When Betting on College Sports
Finally, here are some practices to steer clear of when you are wagering on NCAA games.
- Skipping small conference games.
- Making too many wagers.
- Giving into hype.
- Assuming last year’s great team will be this year’s great team.
As we already discussed above, you will find some of the best opportunities wagering on small conference games. Nevertheless, we feel the need to emphasize this again because there are so many people who simply skip even thinking about these games. They focus mostly on the tournament bracket games, and assume that small conference games will be a waste of their time. There could not be further from the truth.
If you sometimes get frustrated with a lack of action in other betting markets, you will find the sheer number of NCAA games to wager on refreshing. But this could cause you to have a hard time not betting. You will be surrounded by temptations. So, try and discipline yourself in advance to only take the best value opportunities. Also, do not make more wagers simultaneously than you can juggle in terms of executive function. You do not want to make mistakes because you are trying to do too many things at one time.
People enjoy exciting stories about how young athletes are developing. Plus, the fact that sometimes schools people never even heard of suddenly start doing really well can add to the thrill of an NCAA season. As a result, there can be a huge amount of hype. Try not to wager on a team just because they are currently the public’s darling. Instead, do your own research and wager according to your strategic analysis.
Finally, because there can be such big turnovers in team members from year to year, it is a mistake to assume that the team that did so well last year will do the same this year. A repeat performance may not be possible if core members have left. Plus, students’ lives change in dramatic ways from one school year to another. So, you could sometimes see surprising differences even in the performance of team members who stay from year to year. Do not forget that luck may also play a sizeable role in college team performance.
Bet on College Sports Now
Are you ready to dive into the excitement of NCAA sports betting? To wager on college football, basketball, or baseball now, click on any of the links in this post. During tournaments, be sure to check for special promotions!
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