Gambling on college basketball is an American institution. Every March we fill out brackets, participate in office pools and put down money on futures then root like heck to win big.
But with more and more states legalizing online sports betting, college basketball betting is only getting bigger. With no shortage of apps available, it’s never been easier to get in the game and place your bets on college basketball.
But you might be wondering what app you should use, and what differentiates each from the other? Fortunately, we’re here to help.
Where Can I Legally Bet on the NCAAB on Mobile?
Betting on college basketball on mobile apps is available pretty much anywhere online sports betting is legal. Just keep in mind that you may not bet on in-state teams in New York or New Jersey.
States that offer online betting are:
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Washington, D.C.
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Benefits of Betting College Basketball on Mobile
There are incredible benefits to betting on college basketball on your phone. For instance, it’s easy. Placing a bet is as simple as loading your preferred sportsbook app and making a few taps on your mobile device.
Given the ebbs and flows of regular-season games, it is easier to place live bets on your mobile device — thus ensuring those plus-money odds before the team you pick goes on that inevitable run. Or if you’re smelling an upset, you can max out your odds by placing your bet before the odds turn against you.
Sportsbook apps also have a robust market of futures bets for fans who love a certain team or believe that one is going to cut down the nets in April.
Best NCAAB Betting Apps
There’s no shortage of apps to gamble on college basketball. But these are a few of our favorites:
Caesars Sportsbook App
Caesars has a robust selection of college basketball markets to gamble on, including futures, spreads, moneyline, totals and team props. Caesars also will toss in specially curated odds-boosted parlays, where you can bet on every team in a particular state that plays in a night or wager on every team in a particular region.
The Caesars app also allows bettors to gamble on every game every night, so if you’re a huge fan of mid-majors like the Ivy League or Big South, you can wager on those games as well.
BetMGM Sportsbook App
BetMGM has an awesome, user-friendly interface and great customer support for all your college basketball gambling needs. BetMGM offers good odds and even provides stats, facts and other research data to inform bettors who want to have the most knowledge before placing their college-basketball bets.
The BetMGM app also makes finding each marquee games a cinch by highlighting major conference and rivalry games at the top of its college-basketball page. Plus, live betting is simple with BetMGM, so you’ll always get the best odds while doing so.
FanDuel Sportsbook App
FanDuel is the top-rated app in the United States, and it’s easy to see why. FanDuel offers elite odds and will periodically offer special promos like Spread The Love where fans can boost their playable funds by picking a team to cover a wildly unrealistic spread like +145.5.
But what really sets the FanDuel app apart is the player props they offer, especially for marquee major-conference games. Few other apps offer such a robust selection for college games.
If you’re a fan of small conferences, you’re in luck too. FanDuel may not have props for most mid-major and small D1 conference games but still will allow you to put up your money on the moneyline, spread and totals.
DraftKings Sportsbook App
DraftKings, like FanDuel, offers player props for marquee games, which makes them unique in the college-basketball space. DraftKings also has exceptional odds for each college-basketball game each night and offers an array of alternate lines and totals for fans and bettors looking to put together a same-game parlay.
The DraftKings app also offers a ton of research options — for every game, not just marquee ones — for bettors who are trying to find every little advantage in their college-basketball wagers.
BetRivers Sportsbook App
BetRivers (SugarHouse in CT) is one of the best apps especially for new and novice online sports bettors. They provide informative stats and analysis while also breaking down terms that may seem foreign to unseasoned gamblers.
But the BetRivers/SugarHouse app is a haven for college-basketball betting. Not only do they offer about 100 bet-able markets for each NCAA basketball game, but they also have an unparalleled number of futures bets for gamblers, like which player will win the John Wooden national player of the year, which team will win each major conference’s regular season as well as which team will ultimately reign as national champion on the first Monday in April.
How To Pick the Best NCAAB Betting Apps
Picking the best app to bet on college basketball is a matter of preference and what type of wagers you care to make. But here are some ways to help choose the right one for you.
- Odds. Obviously, bettors want the best college basketball odds to max their payouts, which means shopping multiple apps for the games you love is integral.
- Promos. Do you like odds-boosted parlays or even single-game odds boosts? Do you want odds boosts for marquee games? There are apps that offer both.
- Fast Live Bets. You want an app that will let you put in your live bet before the odds change drastically, so you can get plus-money before the favorite goes on that 12-0 run.
- User-friendly. You don’t want to get a headache while assessing your odds on each game, and you want your preferred bet to be easy to navigate so you can easily find and put in your bets.
- Ease of payment/withdrawal. The point of betting is to win money right? And you sure don’t want to wait a week for your withdrawal money to come back, right? So shop for the app that lets you deposit with your preferred method and get your winnings quickly.
What Bets are Available on Legal US Betting Apps?
There are fewer bet-able markets in college basketball than on pro sports since prop betting is limited and some states, like New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, have laws against betting on in-state teams.
Still, legal betting apps offer all the traditional options for fans, including moneylines (aka, which team will win), spreads and totals as well as alternate spreads and alternate totals for fans looking to craft a multi-leg or Same-Game Parlay.
NCAAB Betting Apps vs Desktop
You might say why is a betting app better than placing a bet on my laptop or desktop computer. Well apps have distinct advantages, such as:
- Speed. Putting in a bet on your phone is as simple as a few taps. It should be equally as convenient to do it on the computer too, but it just isn’t.
- Betting live. Those live odds change very fast, and you want the convenience and speed of betting on your mobile device vs. opening and loading a clunky computer.
- Confirming Location. Your phone will automatically confirm your location thus speeding up the process of placing a bet. This is especially important while betting live but also if you want to cash in on the best odds, since betting is still legal only on a state-by-state basis and it is a more time-consuming process for a computer to affirm where you are.
- Odds Boosts. Apps will curate regionally specific promos and boosts since having your phone track your location is easier than getting your computer to do so.
How to Download an iPhone Betting App
Downloading a betting app on an iPhone is simple after you sign up to bet in a web browser to cash in on the new signup bonus.
The process is as follows:
- Visit the App Store
- Search for the preferred sportsbook using the store’s search function
- Click “Get”
- Open the app, log in and start gambling!
How to Download an Android Betting App
Downloading a sportsbook app isn’t just for Apple users! Every sportsbook app also offers an Android edition, and here’s how you get in the game if you have a non-Apple phone:
- Visit the Google Play Store
- Search for the preferred sportsbook using the store’s search function
- Click “Get”
- Open the app, log in and start gambling!
NCAAB Betting App Offers to Keep in Mind
Every sportsbook app offers a promo for new users, and each is a little different.
No Deposit Bonus/Free Bet
A no-deposit bonus and/or free bet is typically reserved for people who sign up in states where online sports gambling is not yet legal but will be soon. If you live in one of these states, it is really important that you sign up and cash in on these bonuses when online gambling goes live in your state.
There are apps that offer no-deposit bonuses for users in states where online gambling is legal, but it’s less common.
First-Deposit Bonus
Many apps will offer a first-deposit bonus, meaning they’ll match your deposit usually 100 percent. This is a great offer because it essentially doubles your playable amount — you can’t withdraw the bonus amount until you place a certain amount of money in bets — without having to make multiple deposits or depositing more than you’re comfortable.
Second-Chance Bet
Risk-free bets are essentially wagers where you are reimbursed if you lose. Many apps offer second-chance bets up to a certain amount, sometimes as much as $5,000, and they will reimburse you if that first bet loses. That means you can test out a bet on a longshot underdog or multi-leg parlay and not worry about having enough playable funds if the bet doesn’t hit.
Bet & Get
Bet-and-get promos are really fun because you can more-than-double your playable funds by participating in them as a first-time user. For instance, in a bet-and-get you can deposit as little as $1, place a bet that is sure to hit and cash in with hundreds of dollars in playable funds for future betting.
Bet and gets are great for people who want to wager but don’t want to deposit huge sums of money until they get the hang of online sports betting.
Choose More Than One Betting App
It’s fine to have a preferred sportsbook app, but you’ll want to have money in more than one account at a time for several reasons, including:
- Odds shopping. Odds can vary, sometimes drastically, from sportsbook to sportsbook. If your underdog pick is +200 on one app but +230 on another, that is a significant difference that should be taken advantage of.
- Boosts shopping. Maybe a favorite who you really like is boosted from -110 to +100. Or a boosted three-leg parlay is speaking to you. You’ll only know after shopping each app.
- New user bonuses. Every app has a new-user bonus, and not cashing in on those is like leaving free money on the table. Maybe it’s a second-chance bet. Maybe it’s a deposit match. But whatever it is, you’ll want to take advantage.
