March Madness Betting: Make Your Picks A Slam Dunk
by Bodog Sportsbook

Every year, millions of people are captivated by the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, which determines the sport's national champion.

Whether you make a habit of betting on March Madness every year - as millions do, and Las Vegas sportsbooks will attest - or, if you are a casual sports fan who simply partakes in the annual office pool, there are a number of factors you'll need to know before the tournament starts.

The first key to successful college basketball betting is to spot the hottest teams entering the tournament. The college basketball schedule is a long and arduous one, so teams have hot and cold streaks. If you can find a team that's on a roll heading into the March Madness tournament, you might just be able to bet them all the way to the Final Four. This works even better if you can find a team, perhaps from a small school, that has flown under the radar all year. These teams are the ones that make March Madness betting so much fun. If an underdog from a small school knocks off some big favorite, then there's pandemonium in the betting world, in the office pool, on the winning school's campus.

Another big factor to consider when handicapping the March Madness field is to find a team with quality big men. The fact is college basketball is overpopulated by guards and small forwards, simply because they are easier to find than seven-foot giants with basketball skills. Big men can dominate at the college level and you can ride them all the way to the bank in your March Madness betting.

If you live in a college town that's home to a team playing in the tournament, you might want to think about betting on their March Madness games. That is, if you can bet with your head and not your heart. The thing is, if you're a keen basketball fan, you'll know your team better than most, experts included. You'll know what kind of teams they play well against, and also those opponents who tend to give them problems.

Though it's often the top-ranked teams that eventually hoist the trophy at the end of the day, it's incredibly tough to find betting value with these teams. Schools like Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana and a few others have massive support from the public. Thus, it is very expensive to bet on these teams during March Madness. Your best bet is to find a team that has a chance at winning, but perhaps has been underestimated in the seeding by the selection committee.

In 2005, fourth-seeded Louisville made a run all the way to the Final Four. They also made their backers a lot of money. The same went for fifth-seeded Michigan State, especially after knocking off top-ranked Duke in the regionals. In 2003, it was third-seeded Syracuse that made bettors rich, marching all the way to the Final Four and winning the whole thing. In the process, they knocked off two top seeds as underdogs.

Finally, don't feel that you have to bet on every March Madness game. (Unless you're in a pool, of course. In which case, make sure you fill out your entire bracket!) March Madness is 20 days long and features a slew of games, many of them exciting contests that come down to the final seconds.

You'll want to keep your bankroll alive so that you can bet on the Final Four, and betting on too many early games will put that goal at risk. After all, you can't be expected to have a feel for every game on the tournament board.