Betting on NCAAB futures

An NCAA basketball futures bet is a wager on an event that will take place later in the college basketball season. Throughout the campaign, you can wager on an individual player to win an award or a team to win their conference, conference tournament, or most importantly of all, March Madness.

With NCAAB futures betting, you earn your stake if your chosen team or player wins the event on which your bet was placed. Given the sheer number of teams (350+) that compete in NCAA Division I basketball, even the favorites to win March Madness at the start of the season can have odds that represent good value.

Whether you bet on NCAAB team or player futures, you should always be aware of significant injuries, suspensions, and other incidents that can affect a team or individual’s performances and drastically shift the odds.

Overall, there are no shortage of markets for college basketball futures betting. With the odds moving and adjusting as the season progresses, that means there are also plenty of opportunities to get value from NCAAB odds.

College basketball is overseen by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. The NCAA is subdivided into three divisions of which the highest (Division I), has a total of 358 schools which are divided into 32 conferences. Of these 32 conferences, six of them are ranked as major conferences; the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC.

In NCAAB betting, a conference future bets is therefore a straightforward bet on a team to win their conference in the regular season. Conference rankings alter from year to year and even during the season. The more teams from a conference that progress to March Madness, the more prominent the conference is regarded. Some of the finest conferences will sometimes have up to half of their teams (if not more) invited to the tournament.

The conferences with the most competitive teams, such as the Big East, are arguably not the best to wager on for futures betting. The major conferences will often be closely contested and regularly feature a lot of games that are too close to call.

On the other hand, certain conferences feature fewer teams that progress to March Madness, which implies there is room for one or two teams to dominate the standings. However, it is important to remember that such teams will likely have shorter odds in NCAAB conference future markets.

Since its inception in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award has been given to the most outstanding collegiate basketball players in the NCAA. The award is named after John Wooden, Purdue's national collegiate basketball Player of the Year in 1932. Later in his career, Wooden taught and coached men's basketball at Indiana State and UCLA, winning 10 NCAAB titles with the latter.

The Award's National Advisory Board, a 26-member group, chooses roughly 20 contenders for the Player of the Year and All-American Team awards each year. The selection ballot is released prior to March Madness to 1,000 voters made up of sportswriters and sportscasters from across the US. The 10 players with the most votes are chosen for the All-American Team, while the player with the most gets the John R. Wooden award after the NCAA Championship game.

Statistical performance is the most important determining factor in deciding who receives this award. Wooden Award winners generally post a significant number of points, rebounds, and assists on a game-to-game basis, leading their respective teams to a winning record by contributing in a variety of different ways.

As per other player award markets, the odds and favorites are determined by the performances of individual players. They can change throughout the season, meaning timing your bet is important if you want to get the best value from the odds.