Explore NCAA college basketball odds, lines, popular betting events, and frequently asked questions with DraftKings for the 2026/27 season. Men’s NCAA college basketball begins in November, and each team plays approximately thirty games. The exact number of games depends on the conference and how well a team does in the conference tournament.
There are many ways to bet on basketball including spreads, moneyline, prop bets, parlays, and futures bets. Once you've learned how to bet on basketball, it's time to decide which type of bet is right for you. One option is to keep things simple and pick the winner, but if you like the spread, you can bet on that instead. Feeling a low-scoring offensive struggle? You can bet on that too. At DraftKings, there are all sorts of bets and all sorts of ways to win.
Moneyline bets are a straightforward bet for which team will win outright. The odds and payouts depend on how favored a team is. If you bet on an underdog and they pull off the upset, your bet will win!
Odds are based on a bet or payout of $100. Which one depends on a ( + ) or ( – ) symbol. The ( + ) represents the underdog and means a winning bet of $100 will return that amount. For example, a $100 bet on a +180 underdog will pay out $280 ($180 in winnings plus original $100 wager). On the other hand, the ( – ) means a team is favored, so you must bet that amount to win $100. In other words, a –180 favorite means you must bet $180 to win $100.
Let’s say Kansas is taking on Gonzaga. The moneyline may look like this:
| Moneyline | |
| Gonzaga | -130 |
| Kansas | +120 |
In this example, Gonzaga is the favorite, so you’ll have to bet $130 to win $100. Kansas, being the underdog, will pay more for a victory. In this case, a $100 bet will pay $120. Something worth noting is the home team is always listed second. So in this example, Kansas is at home, and Gonzaga is visiting.
The spread is the number of points a team is favored to win or lose by. If the spread says a team is favored to win by nineteen points, you get to decide whether they’ll beat their opponent by that margin.
Spread will have ( + ) or ( – ) odds to show the margin of difference the bet needs to qualify as a win or loss. So using our previous example, an NCAA point spread may show up as:
| Team | Spread |
| Gonzaga | -5.5 |
| Kansas | +5.5 |
In this example, Gonzaga has to win by at least 5.5 points because they’re the favorites. If Gonzaga wins by 6 or more points, a bet for them will payout $100 if you wager $110. If you bet on Kansas, even if they lose, you’ll still win if it’s by 5 points or less, or you will win if they win the game.
Over/under bets are focused on a specific statistic of a game. An example of this would be if the total score of both teams in a college basketball game exceeds a specific number set by DraftKings.
Total bets look at the combined total of the team(s) score for the bet. You can bet if the total will be over (O) or under (U) the amount projected.
So now our example may look like this:
O 130 –110
U 130 –110
The total score, both teams combined, is projected to be 130 points. You get to decide if the actual result will be over or under. Either bet pays $100 if you put up $110.
Prop bets are wagers on a single player’s performance in the game. These are wagers on a single player’s performance in the game. For example, you can bet on a player’s total number of points, assists, or rebounds. There are additional prop bets not linked to a player’s stats. Who will win the tipoff? Who’s going to score first? What team will get the most rebounds? Prop bets are a great way to make a game interesting apart from the final score.
College basketball live betting allows you to place wagers after a game has started. Live markets may include the game spread, moneyline, total, quarter or half betting, and eligible player props. With NCAA live betting, NCAA basketball odds shift with the game's progress.
A parlay combines multiple bets into one. All the combined bets have to win in order for the parlay to pay out.
Futures are bets on future events before they have happened. Pick who you think will win months before it happens, for example, choosing the championship winners during the regular season.
The college basketball regular season is where the action starts. From November through March, teams play conference and non-conference games as they compete for wins, improve their rankings, and prepare for the postseason. Every game brings new college basketball odds, including spreads, moneyline bets, totals, and player props.
The NCAA Tournament features 68 teams competing in a single-elimination tournament. You can bet on individual games with March Madness spreads, moneyline bets, totals, and prop bets, or look ahead with futures and tournament parlays.
