How to Choose College Basketball Picks: Key Factors to Consider

When learning how to choose college basketball picks it’s essential to consider a variety of factors to make informed bets. Betting on college basketball teams involves more than just picking winners—it requires analyzing stats, understanding coaching styles, evaluating team dynamics, and considering spread and moneyline betting lines. To increase your chances of success, you must take a holistic approach to each game and make smart, data-backed decisions.

Key Factors to Consider When Betting On College Basketball Picks
NCAAB Betting Boost: The Most Profitable Strategies with a Roadmap to Success

2024 College Basketball Season | 86th season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men’s college basketball national champion
Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 16th, 2024

Betting 2024 College Basketball Season

Picking the right college basketball team to back agaisnt the spread or to win on the moneyline can be a daunting task.

The process requires an ability to study both stats, intangibles such as coaching styles, and spread and straight up betting lines.

Then we must put it all together to make winning plays.

Check out how to choose college basketball picks. After a while, the process will become second nature.

Writer’s Factors Wehn Betting on College Basketball Season

Factors to Consider When Betting College Basketball

• Consider team performance and trends
  It goes without saying that in college hoops teams that are hot often stay hot. But here’s the thing. The key is to know when the team you wish to back is going to go cold.
  A good rule of thumb is three to four games or four to five games depending on the next opponent. We want to combine the performance trend with the home team and conference game trend. So keep reading to figure out how to do that.
• Home teams almost always outperform in college hoops
  Home squads almost always outperform. When college players hoop it up in front of their home crowd, they tend to play faster and make more shots.
  There’s a saying in college hoops, the rims favor the home team, which means the ball tends to bounce off the rim and into the basket for home squads. That doesn’t mean that every team offers a value line. Always consider number 1.
• If the matchup is a conference game, both teams will step up their play
  Once you’ve nailed down number 1 and number 2 on the list, think about the game and whether it’s a conference game. Teams attract automatic bids when they win either their regular season or conference tournament.
  Most teams, like the 4-5 Arizona Wildcats at this point in the 2024-2025 season, will work hard to win their conference to ensure a bid to the Big Dance. The Wildcats played a ridiculously tough early schedule to prepare for Big 12 Conference play. It might pay off.
• Individual player matchups mean a lot in college hoops
  1, 2, and 3 are overall things to consider. Now we get to the actual game. Individual matchups are everything in basketball. It doesn’t matter if it’s the NBA or college. One-on-one matchups can break a team.
  While thinking about individual matchups, it’s important to consider the bench as well as fatigue and injuries. One team to keep an eye on that is scorching right now but could run into a road block are the Duke Blue Devils.
  The Devils boast the top freshman in the country in Cooper Flagg. Flagg might be the best player in the United States. But Flagg has already logged a ton of minutes and the season has just started.
  If Flagg tires towards the end of the regular season, the Blue Devils could be vulnerable to straight up road upset losses.

Coaching styles, pace of play, and free throw percentage will have an effect on which team covers

The style a coach plays, the pace of the game, and free throw percentage all have a major impact on the game.

Dan Hurley, the two-time National Champion coach of the Connecticut Huskies, plays a defense first style that he switches to a fast pace depending on, yep, you guessed it, individual matchups.

Hurley also preaches free throw percentage.

The Syracuse Orange lost the National Championship to the Indiana Hoosiers back in the 1980s because Derrick Coleman, who was the best freshman in the country at the time, was a horrible free throw shooter.

Making Winning College Basketball Plays

Once we’ve checked out the key factors to consider when betting college basketball we can turn to the money aspect.

The money part, studying betting lines, goes a long way in how to choose college basketball picks.  

Is the line fair or unfair for the team you wish to back?

It doesn’t matter the sport. Basketball, football, hockey, baseball, horse racing, anything.

We bet on overlays where the line shows value and we stay away from underlays where there is no value in the betting line.

This goes for both ATS and SU plays. It also goes for over/under plays.

Always look for value. Use the above process to find value. Is Duke tired after three straight road games and face rival North Carolina at home?

Will the Blue Devils cover at an underlay -8?

That’s an example of the questions we should ask ourselves before betting on any college game.

Did the public inflate the line on the popular team in the matchup?

Has the line moved?
Is the move significant to assume it’s “smart” money?

These three questions are one big question.

The public loves to back the popular or favored team, which is why a lot of times mid-majors are great plays to cover when they’re at home versus a power conference squad.

Always check line moves. If the line has moves, we must consider how big of a move and whether the line moved because the public, which gambles much more overall than the pros, made the line move.

Don’t forget that pro college basketball bettors wait for the line to move before making their plays.

Pros wait for the public money to settle so that they can correctly gauge wether a line is fair or not.

Learning how to choose college basketball picks is the key to making winning plays.

The factors to consider when betting college basketball includes recent performance, home versus away, injuries and fatigue, and coaching styles.

But we must never forget that if the line isn’t fair or is at an overlay number, we keep our hands in our pockets and wait for the next possible bet. Never bet on underlays.

Always look for overlays. Good luck!

Bet the College Basketball | College Basketball Live Betting MyBookie Betting Lines for the College Football League

🏀NCAAB PLAYS🏀

Memphis +5.5 (1u)
Memphis ML +200 (0.5u)
Purdue-2.5 (2u)
Illinois +1.5 (3u MAX)
Arizona -4 (2u)
Dayton -1 (2u)
Gonzaga -2.5 (3u MAX)

College basketball plays have been hot all year. Let’s keep them rollin pic.twitter.com/ywyO5Vu1TM

— Millie’s Locks (@Millie_Locks) December 14, 2024

College Basketball Betting Center

---

College Basketball Odds | Online Bookies with Vegas Odds

Test Your College Basketball Picks with a MyBookie Account

By understanding the factors to consider when betting on college basketball, you’ll be in a much stronger position to make confident picks and place smart wagers.

Sign up now to access expert insights, up-to-date NCAA basketball picks, and exclusive betting tools to enhance your betting strategy and boost your chances of winning!

I have read enough, I need to place my bet now. What to do?

MyBookie College Basketball Betting Lines
MyBookie Odds for the Canadian Football

College Basketball Betting Center

---

College Basketball Odds | Online Bookies with Vegas Odds

mybookie App Download App

Download Remind me later