The New York Post ranks the best legal basketball betting sites, with a thorough look at the top sportsbooks for college basketball. Find out the best sportsbooks to place your bets, and get involved on NCAA basketball wagering.
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More on the top college basketball betting sites
Upcoming College Basketball Schedule
College basketball is finally back in full flow, and the long road to March is underway.
There are a number of Top 25 matchups this weekend after the first round of games saw some blowout wins for the nation’s best teams.
UCLA takes on Illinois on Friday night as the Bruins look to bolster their No. 8 national ranking. Also in action on Friday, No. 5 Baylor entertains No. 18 Virginia, whereas number one in the nation, North Carolina, will have to wait until Saturday to play James Madison.
College Basketball Sportsbook of the Month
College basketball is finally here, and the games will only get better this November with high-level tournaments and fun non-conference games. FanDuel Sportsbook is a great way to get in on the action.
FanDuel is great because it has a simple, user-friendly app and lets bettors make prop bets, live bets, and same-game parlays. The highly-rated sportsbook also has odds for mid-major teams, so you’re not limited to the power conference teams.
It’s ideal for new sports bettors, too, because FanDuel offers a No Sweat First Bet up to $1,000 that lets new users get the money back from their losing wagers as free bets. Sign up for FanDuel to make your college hoops bets.
Best College Basketball Betting Sites Ranked
1. Caesars Sportsbook
| Live Betting | CBB Promos (/5) | Odds Strength (/5) | Parlay Betting | Live Streaming |
| ✓ | 5/5 | 5/5 | ✓ | ✓ |
Caesars is the top choice for betting on college basketball. The sportsbook offers competitive odds, and there are more than enough promotions for college basketball and the NBA. Caesars often charge less ‘juice’ than the competition to handle the same wager as well.
The sportsbook has alternate spreads and interesting prop betting options, and some of the best value out there. Caesars is a great choice for college hoops betting.
2. BetMGM
| Live Betting | CBB Promos (/5) | Odds Strength (/5) | Parlay Betting | Live Streaming |
| ✓ | 4/5 | 4/5 | ✓ | ✓ |
BetMGM comes in at second place, and it brings a great user experience for college basketball betting. Their markets are released earlier than anyone else, and they regularly update their futures markets.
BetMGM sportsbook has dubbed itself the “King of Parlays,” and it’s a worthy title since it has multiple college basketball parlay betting choices and boosts.
It also offers an interesting way to bet on parlays with its parlay generator that can automatically create a specialized parlay for you based on the parameters you set.
3. FanDuel
| Live Betting | CBB Promos (/5) | Odds Strength (/5) | Parlay Betting | Live Streaming |
| ✓ | 4/5 | 4/5 | ✓ | ✓ |
FanDuel is one of the most popular sportsbooks in the United States after it rose to prominence in fantasy sports. It has a great mobile app and has plenty of ways to bet on college basketball.
There are all sorts of great promotions offered by FanDuel, and it also has neat features like Same Game Parlays, cross-sport parlays, and uncomplicated live betting. They also have excellent promotions during March Madness.
From the ACC to the Summit League, FanDuel has you covered for college hoops.
4. PointsBet
| Live Betting | CBB Promos (/5) | Odds Strength (/5) | Parlay Betting | Live Streaming |
| ✓ | 5/5 | 4/5 | ✓ | ✓ |
PointsBet offers competitive odds for prop betting and college basketball spreads, which is great if you are looking to make some unique wagers to make the games more interesting.
This is also one of the best sportsbooks for risk-free bets. PointsBet markets multiple promotions to new bettors, topping out with a sign-up code that lets users claim up to $2,000 in risk-free bets. It also rewards existing customers with a variety of attractive promotions.
While not the most well-known sportsbook, PointsBet offers excellent promotions to new and existing users that make it a good spot for college basketball betting.
5. BetRivers
| Live Betting | CBB Promos (/5) | Competitive Odds (/5) | Parlay Betting | Live Streaming |
| ✓ | 3/5 | 4/5 | ✓ | ✓ |
BetRivers is another good sportsbook with good odds and a simple mobile app. Their strength is live betting and live streaming that features in-game statistics, real-time updates, and adjusted odds as the game progresses.
What holds back BetRivers is their underwhelming sign-up offer and no promotions for existing customers. The most common new user promo code is a 2nd chance bet up to $500, a solid offer but not up there with some of the other sportsbooks.
Overall, BetRivers is worth your time; it just doesn’t have quite the level of promotions as some different options.
College Basketball Betting Sites Features
Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dunks the ball against the NC State Wolfpack. Getty ImagesWith so many excellent online betting choices for college basketball, there are a lot of things to consider before you choose a particular betting site. Each company has different offers for new users, and its own unique strengths, and obviously, they all offer different odds.
The Post takes a look at some of the features to look for when deciding where to bet.
- Strong Sign Up Offers
- Basketball Promotions
- Live Betting
- User friendly app
- Variety of Markets
Strong Sign-Up Offers
There are so many different sign-up offers from all the sportsbooks, which can sometimes make it difficult for new users to pick a betting site. We break down the common types of sign-up offers that you will see when choosing a betting site.
Having full knowledge of an offer is very important, and that’s why you should read through the terms and conditions of the offer so you know exactly what you are getting into. That way, you’ll be able to take advantage of the offer better.
These are some examples of the typical sign-up offers you will see for betting sites:
Here are just a few of the examples of sign-up offers you will come across when choosing your basketball betting site.
- Free Bets: Free bets are an extremely common offer among major sports betting sites. It’s a good way to convince people to sign up for the site because the promotion allows new users to make bets without the stress of losing their money. Instead, the original stakes from losing wagers are just returned back into the user’s account as free bets.
- Deposit-Match Bonus: Also very common, deposit-match bonuses are where the sportsbook matches the original amount of money a new user puts into their account. So if someone deposits $50 to their account, the sportsbook would add $50.
- Enhanced Odds: This type of sign-up offer lets new users bet on specifically-selected events at boosted odds. Basically, it adjusts the odds to favor the bettor more.
Basketball Promos
Many betting sites will offer promotions for college basketball, particularly around March Madness when college hoops is most relevant in the sports calendar.
The promos will probably be the common types of offers listed above, like free bets or enhanced odds bets.
These are good ways to make some more money beyond traditional sports betting.
Live Betting
Live betting has emerged as more people are betting online, and college basketball is a great sport for it. You can react to whatever is happening on the court and make bets in real time. College hoops work so well for live betting because there are momentum shifts within games and the games are fairly short to begin with.
Odds constantly change throughout the course of a game, so when you bet matters. Let’s say a below-average team takes a 10-point lead on a highly-ranked team halfway through the first half. That’s a perfect opportunity to live bet the highly-ranked team because they likely have the talent and coaching to come back.
Standard wagers like spread, moneyline, and totals bets open and close during games to give the sportsbook time to readjust odds with more information. Different sportsbooks will also have different live odds available, so it’s always a good idea to shop around for the best value.
Betting Apps
When deciding on an online sports betting company to go with, it’s important to consider the quality of their app. The company’s app needs to be just as good as its desktop interface because there’s a good chance you’ll be betting on the app more often than a computer. Many of the best college basketball betting apps have unique features, like updated stats and live streaming.
App speed is also critical because odds and point spreads can change at a moment’s notice. If you see that a star player is out for a game and the line hasn’t been changed to reflect that, then you don’t want a slow app preventing you from taking the bet you want before the line moves. The same logic applies to live betting as well, so make sure to consider an app’s speed when looking for a college basketball betting site.
Variety of Basketball Markets
Betting is always more fun with more options. Thankfully, most sports betting companies go far beyond just spreads, moneylines and point totals.
College basketball is great for different types of betting markets because there is just so much college basketball. There are over 350 division one men’s college teams in the United States which means there are games on pretty much every day.
Big college basketball fans will want to know if their basketball betting site has unique markets. Here are some different markets out there:
Prop Bets – These are bets on statistics or game scenarios. Betting on a statistical outcome would be “Will player X have over 9.5 rebounds?” and a game scenario bet would be “Which team scores first in the second half?”.
Halftime – This is where you bet on which team will be leading at half or which team will cover the first-half spread. Most sportsbooks have halftime total points bets as well. There are no quarters betting in college hoops since games are just divided into two halves, but quarters betting is available for NBA games.
Odd/Even – This type of bet is about predicting whether the combined score of a game will be an odd or even number. Some betting sites odd/even bets for the score of one team.
Race to – This is a bet on which team reaches a set number of points first. It could be reaching a certain number of points at halftime or throughout the course of a whole game. Either way, the eventual winner or final score doesn’t matter for this type of bet.
Best Basketball Betting Apps
Chet Holmgren scores a layup in March Madness.NCAA Photos via Getty ImagesAll of the best basketball betting sites listed in this article have excellent mobile betting apps available. Each app is different, with its own strengths and weaknesses and unique features, allowing you to make bets from your own phone.
| Rank | App | New User Promo | T&Cs | iOS? | Android? |
| 1 | Caesars | Up To $1250 First Bet on Caesars + 1,000 Tier Credits + 1,000 Reward Credits® with code NPBONUSFULL | New players only, 21+. Available in AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV only. Full T&C apply. | ✓ | ✓ |
| 2 | FanDuel | No Sweat First Bet up to $1,000 | New customers only. 21+. NY, AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, IN, LA, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, WV only. T&C’s apply. | ✓ | ✓ |
| 3 | BetMGM | Risk free bet up to $1,000 | New customers only. Must be 21+. AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, LA, MI, NJ, NY, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY only. (Welcome Offer not available in NY) Full T&C apply. | ✓ | ✓ |
| 4 | BetRivers | Up to $250 Deposit Bonus | New players only, 21+. AZ, CO, IL, IN, LA, MI, NY, PA, VA, WV only | ✓ | ✓ |
What College Basketball teams can I bet on in New York?
New York has tons of passionate sports fans and they have a lot of options when it comes to college hoops. Whether it’s upstate New York or NYC, the state has loads of Division 1 college basketball teams. The unfortunate news is you cannot wager on these teams within state lines, and you will not find any of these teams on any college basketball betting sites in New York.
- University of Albany (America East)
- United States Military Academy (Army) (Patriot League)
- Binghamton University (America East)
- Buffalo (MAC)
- Canisius College (MAAC)
- Colgate University (Patriot League)
- Columbia University (Ivy League)
- Cornell University (Ivy League)
- Fordham University (Atlantic 10)
- Hofstra University (CAA)
- Iona College (MAAC)
- Long Island University (NEC)
- Manhattan College (MAAC)
- Marist College (MAAC)
- Niagara University (MAAC)
- Saint Bonaventure University (Atlantic 10)
- Saint Francis College (NEC)
- Saint John’s University (Big East)
- Siena College (MAAC)
- Stony Brook (America East)
- Syracuse University (ACC)
- Wagner College (NEC)
College Basketball Betting FAQs
Arkansas vs. Baylor March Madness 2022. NCAA Photos via Getty ImagesWhy can’t I bet on NY-based teams in New York?
Each state has different rules as sports betting is slowly becoming legalized across the country. Some states have limited the ability to wager on in-state teams, with Illinois and New York being the most prominent examples.
Bettors living in New York are not allowed to bet on any college basketball team from New York, even if the team is on the road. Maybe this rule changes in the future, but for now this is how it is.
What’s the best sportsbook to use for college basketball?
There are plenty of online sportsbooks available to New York residents. Check out the best sports betting sites for more information about what each sportsbook has to offer. It’s also a good idea to have multiple sportsbook accounts because each book has different lines.
What happens if I leave the state?
If you make the bet before leaving the state, then your bet is all good and there’s nothing to worry about. Now, if you travel to a state where online sports betting is not legalized, then you won’t be able to make any wagers in the apps.
It works the other way as well. If you go to a state where online sports betting is legal, like New Jersey, then you can use the apps permitted there.
What happens if I do a player prop and he does not play?
If you place a player prop and that specific player does not play, your bet will be voided and refunded.
If he starts the game and gets injured, then it will be graded as a loss. Of course, sportsbooks’ rules vary between each book, but the common rule is if they touch the court, then they are considered actionable.
Can I bet on March Madness?
Yes. March Madness is the best tournament in American sports, and it’s even more fun with the option of betting games. Wagering on March Madness can involve betting on specific games each round or putting money on a team to cut down the nets in a futures bet.
Reminder: Just because it is the tournament, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to bet on your in-state team if sports betting is not legal in your state.
