Sports

Betting College Basketball Like Football

By March 17, 2015June 18th, 2018No Comments
COLLEGE-BASKETBALL-BETTING

COLLEGE-BASKETBALL-BETTING

March Madness is here and that means the second best sports betting time of the year is upon us, college basketball betting season! There are more March Madness pools, bracket challenges, and soft core versions of gambling to choose from than ever. From casual fans to diehards, everyone is covered. Well, almost everyone.

My gambling year consists almost entirely of football, college and NFL. Once the season is over I go into hibernation until Phil Steele’s College Football Preview comes out later in the summer. I am still just as ravenous about all other sports all the time, it’s just not on a game by game betting basis.

Football is easy to bet on and understand. I know what the key numbers are, I understand value, and I can bet against the public thanks to all the data out there. It makes enough sense that I don’t feel like a total square when I place my bets. Only a partial square.

When it comes to college basketball betting, however, there’s way more to take into account. And let’s be clear, I’m talking about against the spread type betting, just like I do with football. I don’t feel comfortable betting college basketball because I feel less informed, opting instead for the more casual action/games.

For one, are key numbers even a thing? If so nobody has told me about them and they aren’t plastered all over the place like 3, 7, and 10 are with the NFL. This already has me feeling uneasy since I don’t like to bet stupid.

Next, the fouling game. Sure backdoor covers happen all the time in football, but with college basketball betting you have to deal with late game fouling. This can take a close, well contested game and turn it into a backdoor cover loss because the losing team instantly fouls in the hopes of extending the game.

On Chad Millman’s Behind the Bets podcast he often says, “the right side is the winning side.” I feel more comfortable with the right side being the winning side in football since Geno Smith can’t just foul three straight times down the court late in the game. Oh wait.

Despite everything I just said about not betting on college basketball I am in the spirit of the season. Maybe I just need to give college basketball betting a chance. Maybe it’s easier than I think (queue Las Vegas strip with gigantic casinos picture.)

That’s why I’m going to do some football betting on college basketball games this March Madness. I haven’t 100% figured out what my strategy is going to be but I can tell you one thing, I’m going to be taking the words and numbers of men and websites who are much smarter and well-informed than I am. That means I’ll be getting a heavy dose of Ken Pom Rankings, the predictions on Five Thirty Eight, and maybe sprinkling in some Alan Boston with a side of Stanford Steve.

I’ll likely bet against the public, which means I’m gonna be on the side of a lot of dogs. I’ll track the bets I make and like eating sushi for the first time, see if I just need to have an open mind and give it a chance.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @BaconSports to keep up with the bets plus the random college basketball banter and sports awesomeness that I’ll be spitting.

 Join our March Madness Bracket Challenge, Win Some Penalty Flags and Koozies

 

Rob Cressy

Rob Cressy

Sports loving free throw specialist and yinzer living in Chicago who is awesome most of the time, has run with the bulls in Spain, and is a graduate of Second City's Improv program.