Basketball Betting Differences Between The NBA & NCAA Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

Basketball Betting Differences Between The NBA & NCAA

I thought that I would provide this brief article on the major differences when betting on the NBA & NCAA since March Madness is next month and the NBA is now half way throught their season.  Although, NBA & NCAA basketball is the same sport, college hoops and NBA hoops are very different in terms of betting on them.  The NBA has fewer teams and play a longer season than the NCAA.  Many sports NBA bettors look at aspects that the long schedule has on a player and/or team such as travel, player injuries, and player stats in home and away games.  Sports bettors that bet on the NCAA games look at some of those aspects as well in addition to others, such as big rivalries and motivational factors which play a role in the NCAA.   You will find that many sports bettors that bet on college hoops will not bet on NBA hoops and vice versa.

The biggest difference between the NBA and NCAA betting options is scheduling. Generally, in the NCAA the college basketball teams play a couple of times per week.  Thus, fatigue is not usually a factor, as it is in the NBA.  In the NBA the teams can play up to five times per week.

Another difference is that there are over 200 teams in college to bet on not including non-Division 1 teams, while the NBA only has 30 teams.  This means that there are usually more NCAA games to bet on any day of the week.

In the NCAA, there are big rivalries.  This needs to be considered in betting on the NCAA college game.  The atmosphere in the NCAA game can get crazy. Sure, there are big rivalries in the NBA, but nothing like in the NCAA where the students and fans go crazy for their team.  In the NCAA it is for pride since the college players are not in it for the money.

In the NCAA the stakes are high each and every night since every game is important.  In the NBA only about half the teams make the playoffs.  Thus, in  many games, motivation is not a huge factor.  This is important when looking into betting NBA games.  In fact, many times playoff teams can already be named by sports bettors around the all star game. 

In the NBA a team can have an off night and lose to the worst team in the league.  However, while there are upsets in NCAA they do not happen as often since they are always motivated to win in order to make it to the NCAA Tournament.  An NBA team losing a few games in a row is not a big deal over an 82 game season, but in the NCAA a lost can either make or break you in getting to the Big Dance.

Betting on NBA away underdogs can be a profitable, but in the NCAA away underdogs do not win often, as the home court advantage is much bigger in the NCAA.  In addition, all NBA teams have players that were stars in college, so it is not a big shock when there is an upset, even a pretty big one.  Most NCAA teams might have one star on their team. 

Betting on the NBA in the playoffs and in the NCAA finals is a huge difference.  In the NBA there are series’ of 7 games, while in the NCAA there is only one game and if they lose they are done for the season.  Because of this there are a couple ways to make money.  Even in a NBA playoff series the underdog usually wins one game and therefore you can cash in on some good odds.  On the other hand, if the NCAA basketball team loses a game, they are done.  However, if your NCAA team is a winner, you can ride them far in the Big Dance if they go on a run.

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