NCAA Tournament Betting

For a lot people, NCAA Tournament betting is the most exciting action they'll have all year. Even better are the first two days, with 16 games overlapping each other which equates to about 12 straight hours of college basketball.

There really is nothing better in the sports world. Upsets are bound to happen, but it's up to you to figure out where they might be...but even more important, who's going to cover the spread? NCAA Tournament betting is a whole different animal, but it's one that offers some great opportunities if you've done your homework.

There are many handicappers who consistently turn a profit year in and year out during the "Big Dance" (Jefferson Sports) and you could be one of them. Just as with conference tournaments, the NCAA Tournament will take even more homework on your part.

To truly be successful, you really need to utilize both qualitative and quantitative handicapping. If you use a college basketball model, that's great, but then you still must look at each team individually on a much more subjective level to see how they match-up.

There's definitely some science involved, but I think it's more of a fine art than the regular season. As with all of our tips and strategy chapters, we're going to introduce a few here, but leave it up to you as to how you implement them within your own handicapping.

NCAA Tournament betting can be a lot of fun, but don't get lost as to what the true task is, and that is to turn a profit. Every game is on TV and many of them will go down to the wire, but it's up to you to pick and choose your spots of where you feel the greatest value lies.

So with that said, let's take a look at some various tips and strategies to help your NCAA Tournament betting. Some of them will be similar to our conference tournament tips (which is to be expected), but some are very distinct to the "Big Dance."

It's very important to know the location of the venue for each game you are handicapping since you may have to factor in a home court advantage. About 50-75% of number 1 and number 2 seeds will play relatively close to home while with other seeds, it can be much more random.

There is a very interesting article in the New York Times that goes into the data of how the further a team has to travel, the worse their performance is in the tournament.

It's a very interesting read which can certainly open your eyes and may influence you in whether or not you take a position in a game. Also on the same level as venue location is how well fans travel for their respective teams (bigger schools)...this again can result in needing to factor in a home court advantage. It might not be much, but it can result in a line adjustment of .5 to 1 point.

Contradictory to this though, most fans who are watching a live game when there team isn't playing will root for the underdog, actually giving them a little bit of a home court advantage.

With that said though, the game needs to be relatively close in the second half in order to achieve this distinct advantage of attracting more fans. It's up to you to recognize the 3-14, 4-13, 5-12, and 6-11 match-ups that will be close because the underdog will most likely be getting even more support in the second half.

I personally think this final tip holds a lot of value when it comes to handicapping those kinds of games. It's something I certainly factor in when handicapping those match-ups listed above.

If you haven't developed some type of college basketball betting model (and even if you have), then the first place I would recommend looking are at the power ratings of the two teams being matched up Pomeroy, LRHM, and Sagarin are my favorites).

Power Ratings can give you a good starting point as to how far apart the two teams are. You can also look at the power ratings of similar past opponents to see how each team has performed.

Once you are aware of the ratings, you can start looking at the data in a little more detail and then subjectively handicapping the game depending on certain other factors.

While most of the lines will be spot on (just as they typically are throughout the season), you can still find hidden gems here and there if you've done your homework.

I am of the opinion that lines tend to get a little sharper the further into the season since there is much more data to look upon. However, there are still opportunities to be found if you do a little research...but if you find yourself betting 50% of the games, then you probably need to tighten your parameters.

I would try to limit myself to investing on a maximum of 30% of games...trust me, the oddsmakers aren't going to be that far off with there lines...nor is public money going to push lines that much either.

Don't get me wrong though, it could happen, but most lines are going to be about right where they should be. Opportunities can be found, but it's up to you to uncover those positions through hardwork and research.

Just as with conference tournaments, sometimes teams don't have a lot of time to prepare for their next opponent. With pairings being announced on Sunday and the first games being played on Thursday and Friday, most teams will have 3 or 4 days to get ready for their opponent.

Even this is a relatively short time, since most likely, teams aren't going to be familiar with one another. However, if a team is to win their first game, they're going to be playing again in two days against another (most likely) unfamiliar opponent.

One of the keys to NCAA Tournament betting is to find those teams who play a very unique style and are going against an unfamiliar opponent. Most likely, the team with the unique style of play will be an underdog, so you'll have some points on your side.

Even better is if they're matched up against a public team where the line is shaded even more. I'm certainly not saying to take the team straight up, but there are opportunities to be taken advantage of in these types of situations.

These are some pretty good NCAA Tournament betting tips to open your eyes when it comes to finding value. Obviously, there's a number of different factors that should be accounted for when handicapping the "Big Dance."

In my opinion, the NCAA Tournament is the best sporting event of the year (especially that first Thursday and Friday). There is a ton of public money being played, which opens a number of avenues for the astute handicapper.

While you do need to have a little different perspective when handicapping the post season, it's still the same players and teams involved. Certainly their are some different criteria to look at, but it all comes down to finding where the value lies.

Now that we've covered a few tips and strategies on NCAA Tournament betting, let's take a look at some various college basketball betting systems. As always, best of luck in all your sports betting endeavors.

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