For as glorious as March Madness is, the prelude to the chaos, conference championship week, is a glorious appetizer.
Before the NCAA Tournament brackets can be filled, conference champions must be crowned. And if you’re waiting for your bracket to make money, well, it’s time to reconsider. There are plenty of conference tournament betting picks to be made to take you straight into bracket mania.
The second-best week of the hoops calendar is upon us. Here are some NCAA conference championship best bets.
CBB Conference Tournament Best Bet
Please note that all CBB odds and lines are current as of Monday, March 6, at 11 a.m. ET, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Read on for the rest of my college basketball tournament betting tips.
CBB Conference Championship Tournament Odds
Keep up with the latest futures for predicting the winner of college basketball’s conference tournaments.
CBB Conference Championship Winner Best Bets
ACC Tournament Winner: Miami (+340) | DraftKings Sportsbook
The No. 1 seed in the ACC is not the betting favorite, although I like the Hurricanes in this spot. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster this season for Miami, but they closed out the year winning eight of their final nine games.
Duke is playing better, and Virginia will be a defensive force (per usual). Still, I like the value for a team pointing up, again, at just the right time.
Big 12 Tournament Winner: Kansas (+275) | DraftKings Sportsbook
Well, the final game against Texas didn’t go well. There’s no sugarcoating it.
But before that outcome, Kansas looked like the best team in college basketball. Even now, a strong case could be made in the Jayhawks’ favor.
The Big 12 Tournament is going to be a wild event given the talent of teams top to bottom, but the effort and athleticism Kansas possesses is poised to shine. There are plenty of underdogs worth considering; Kansas still feels like the elite group.
Big Ten Tournament Winner: Michigan State (+600) | DraftKings Sportsbook
On the topic of deep conferences and incredible depth, give me Michigan State to come out of the Big Ten.
A double-bye will certainly help, and there were plenty of glimpses down the stretch that tell me Sparty could be a nice surprise in this tournament.
The top teams (Purdue, Indiana and Northwestern) are all vulnerable. And if Tyson Walker gets hot, which has happened on more than a handful of occasions this year, Michigan State has a chance to really surprise.
Big East Tournament Winner: Creighton (+300) | DraftKings Sportsbook
That six-game losing streak from early in the year feels like a distant memory.
Still, Creighton hasn’t been perfect to say the least. And yet, this feels like the most talented, capable team in a really solid conference.
I like UConn, I like Xavier and I certainly like Marquette. But when Creighton is on, the Bluejays can and should be the best team in the conference.
Pac-12 Tournament Winner: UCLA (+100) | DraftKings Sportsbook
The value isn’t robust, but the talent certainly is. Against Arizona on Saturday night, we saw just how good this UCLA team can be.
Winners of 10 straight, the Bruins have found a rhythm toward the end of the season. As such, they are a convincing favorite as the Pac-12 tourney begins.
It’s hard to argue with. There just isn’t the same depth in this conference as in other places.
CBB Conference Tournaments
- America East (March 4-March 11: Highest Seed)
- American Athletic (March 9-11: Fort Worth, Texas)
- Atlantic 10 (March 7-12: Brooklyn, N.Y)
- ACC (March 7-12: Greensboro, N.C.)
- ASUN (Champion: Kennesaw State)
- Big 12 (March 8-11: Kansas City, Mo.)
- Big East (March 8-11: New York, N.Y.)
- Big Sky (March 4-8: Boise, Idaho)
- Big South (Champion: UNC Asheville)
- Big Ten (March 8-12: Chicago, Ill.)
- Big West (March 7-11: Henderson, Nev.)
- CAA (March 3-7: Washington, D.C.)
- Conference USA (March 8-11: Frisco, Texas)
- Horizon League (Feb. 28-March 7: Indianapolis, Ind.)
- Ivy League (March 11-12: Princeton, N.J.)
- MAAC (March 7-11: Atlantic City, N.J.)
- MAC (March 9-11: Cleveland, Ohio)
- MEAC (March 8-11: Norfolk, Va.)
- Missouri Valley (Champion: Drake)
- Mountain West (March 8-11: Las Vegas, Nev.)
- Northeast (Champion: Fairleigh Dickinson)
- Ohio Valley (Champion: Southeast Missouri State)
- Mountain West (March 8-11: Las Vegas, Nev.)
- Pac-12 (March 8-11: Las Vegas, Nev.)
- Patriot League (Feb. 28-March 8: Highest seed)
- Southern (March 3-6: Asheville, N.C.)
- Southland (March 5-8: Lake Charles, La.)
- SWAC (March 8-11: Birmingham, Ala.)
- Summit League (March 3-7: Sioux Falls, S.D.)
- Sun Belt (Feb. 28- March 6: Pensacola, Fla.)
- West Coast (March 2-7: Las Vegas, Nev.)
- WAC (March 7-11: Las Vegas, Nev.)
NCAAB Conference Tournament Betting Tips
Here is what you should keep in mind when coming up with bets for each conference tournament:
Every Futures Bet is a Parlay
To win a conference championship, a team must win several games in a row. Given that, every conference championship bet you make is essentially a moneyline parlay of those games.
Neutral or Home Court
Four of the 32 conference championships are played at the home court of the higher-seeded teams (No. 1 is highest seed). The other 28 are played in neutral venues.
With home-court advantage a bigger factor in college than the NBA, it is important to consider which teams were hurt or helped by home-court advantage during the regular season.
First-Round Byes
Generally, the highest-seeded teams in a conference will have a first-round bye. Playing fewer games is an advantage for the best teams as it reduces their chances of losing to a lesser team.
Rest Between Games
Basketball is an exhausting sport, and players need rest. Typically, there is a two or even three-day layoff between games. During the regular season, back-to-back games are rare, but they are commonplace during conference tournaments.
The trick is to look at each conference tournament’s schedule to see which play back-to-back games and then figure out which teams, namely those that lack depth, are hurt by this.
