College baseball betting presents some interesting opportunities to make money, but players must understand the differences between betting the college game and betting the pro game. College baseball is often more exciting and run-scoring is more prolific, so bettors want to get in on the action.
But what are the differences that you have to know before jumping into college baseball betting? Well, there are definitely quite a few, it’s important to exert many things when betting on NCAA baseball. This includes patience, recognizing there will be more mistakes than in pro ball, and of course knowing that emotions play into college baseball a lot more than in MLB.
Understand that betting opportunities will be more scarce, on-field mistakes will come into play, and emotion plays a significant part in the game. If you understand these things, then college baseball betting will come much easier as a result.
Which Sportsbook Is Best For College Baseball Betting?
There are several legal sportsbook options that allow you to place bets on college baseball. Several of these betting sites have NCAA baseball futures for the College World Series winner, but DraftKings Sportsbook is one of the only providers to offer college baseball odds throughout the season.
For that reason, DraftKings Sportsbook is the best sports betting service for college baseball. New to DraftKings? You can get free bets by following the link below.
Keep in mind that you will need to be in a legal betting state to place a bet through DraftKings.
Other Online Sportsbooks With College Baseball Odds
DraftKings isn’t the only sports betting service with college baseball odds, as FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM Sportsbook also allow you to bet on the College Baseball World Series winner.
However, these betting sites don’t have lines to bet on regular-season games. FanDuel and BetMGM are taking bets on select College World Series games, so it’s worth checking them out, especially when NCAA baseball moves to its annual tournament in June.
If you are new to these legal sportsbook options, you can receive risk-free bets and deposit bonuses by following the links below.
More legal sportsbook sites will take bets on college baseball in the future, even if they only have lines posted for the Collge Baseball World Series like FanDuel and BetMGM Sportsbook.
Which States Allow College Baseball Betting?
Sports betting is now legal in 30 different states. However, you cannot bet on college athletics in every state. That’s because state laws prevent any sort of wager on amateur events. Here are some states where you are not able to participate in college baseball betting for local teams:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Illinois
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Virginia
- Washington
Take note that college prop bets are also restricted or outlawed in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Sports wagering (and sometimes casino options) are legal in these locations, but you cannot bet on local college teams. Keep these restrictions in mind while wagering on college baseball.
Betting On NCAA Baseball Futures
As brought up earlier, several legal sportsbooks have odds on the College Baseball World Series winner. These wagers are different than betting the game, as your payout will be tied up for the duration of the season.
Odds can fluctuate wildly as the season goes on and more games are played. For example, in early 2022, the Tennessee Volunteers were listed at +2000 to win the College Baseball World series. That means a $100 bet would have a $2,000 payout. After a few months, it became apparent that they had a great chance to be the best team in the nation.
The lines and odds adjusted to the fact that Tennessee was ranked first in every college baseball metric. After about 20 games into the season, Tennesse was +250 to win the College World Series. That same $100 bet would now payout $250.
9 Tips For Betting On A College Baseball Game
Like the MLB, there are many different ways to bet on college baseball games, whether it’s via runline spreads, parlays, or traditional money lines. No matter your betting preference or level of experience, these tips will hopefully help you win at a higher rate.
The next time you handicap college baseball games, keep these tips in mind:
1. Patience Throughout Baseball Season
Chances are that you won’t have tons of opportunities to bet on college baseball games during the year. Some betting operators (like DraftKings Sportsbook) offer college baseball odds on select regular-season games. These are usually the big games of the day as well as all College World Series game lines in June.
This puts a huge premium on patience throughout the season. Some gamblers might have a tendency to attack any college baseball game they see since those opportunities are more scarce compared to college football and basketball.
Smart handicappers will fight this urge, betting only when value presents itself. Possible opportunities to bet on college baseball will come with the following events:
- Televised conference weekend games
- Conference tournaments
- NCAA Tournament
- College World Series
The vast majority of betting opportunities come at the end of the year, so you’ll have an entire year’s worth of data at your disposal when making bets.
2. Expect Mistakes In College Baseball
When betting on pro baseball, you can usually count on routine ground balls being converted into outs. Players will make all of the easy plays and most of the hard ones, too. This isn’t always the case in college baseball, so it adds something that you need to be aware of.
When handicapping, you’ll want to look at pitching matchups, hitting strength/contact, and all of the usual factors. Add in some analysis of defense, too. You don’t want to have your bet on a team derailed by a shortstop who can’t make the easy play. This is true for bettors eying the under as well as those who just bet on sides of games.
3. Emotions Run High (And Low)
Know that when betting on college baseball, you’re wagering on games played by 18 and 19-year-old kids. They’re just learning to play at this higher level and are often slaves to their emotions. This makes it even more important to analyze hot teams and others that are down. When teams are riding a wave of confidence, they tend to play harder and reach their ability levels.
Additionally, you need to look out for those squads with extra motivation. In college baseball betting, there are rivalries that will impact the way schools play. Be wary of this and understand how teams fare against their most-hated rivals. This will keep you from betting on college squads that are about to run into an emotional wall against a team from just down the road. Take note of the history between the two teams playing and how that dictates the lines. Just because a side won the first game, that doesn’t mean they’ll do it again, especially in rivalries.
4. Don’t Overreact To Rankings
There are several different ranking systems when it comes to college baseball, but the two most prevalent ones are:
- Baseball America Top 25 Rankings
- College Baseball RPI
Baseball America’s top 25 is the publication’s rankings for the top teams in college baseball. Conversely, the college baseball RPI rankings score each team based on three primary factors:
- team win percentage
- opponents win percentage
- win percentage of opponents who played that opposing team
In other words, RPI is a formula that tries to score how well a team is performing and the strength of its opponents. However, it has flaws as well. Here are some additional factors to consider when using rankings to bet on college baseball games:
- injuries
- days of rest since last game
- recent games and win rate
- breakout in runs scored
The goal is to find a team that is on the upswing. That’s the best way to find value when betting on college baseball games. Rankings tell you the current standings of certain teams, but it is your job to determine which squad is moving up/down and how that translates to upcoming games/odds and the matchup at hand.
5. Bet With Your Brain, Not Heart
This is a universal betting approach for every sport. It’s simple advice, but it can help you win at a much higher rate:
- Bet on the team you think will win the game, not the team you hope to win.
Yes, that sounds extremely simple, but even veterans of the sports betting game occasionally lose sight of this philosophy.
In other words, don’t let your fandom or emotion dictate your betting action. Try to be objective in your action and you will see more desired results. Wipe away your emotion and formulate your true expected outcome for that game.
For example, let’s say the LSU Tigers are your hometown team. You want LSU to win their upcoming game against Florida, but do they actually have betting value when looking at the odds? Ask yourself that honest question before putting any action on these games.
6. Find The Best NCAA Baseball Odds
This applies to all sports, whether you are betting on college baseball, MLB, college football, NFL, college basketball, NBA, or a different sport. You always want to find the best odds whenever placing a bet.
For that reason, it pays to sign up for multiple sportsbook options. Earlier in this article, we mentioned three sites that offer college baseball betting. While the options will remain limited in the regular season, expect there to be more opportunities to bet when the College World Series games are posted.
Also, you can take advantage of three separate bonus offers while signing up for the trio of betting sites mentioned earlier. This gives you more value for future wagers while shopping for the best college baseball odds along the way.
7. Take Advantage Of Bonus Offers From Online Sports Betting Apps
As mentioned earlier, you will want to take advantage of the “free bet offers” available at legal sportsbook options.
By adopting these bonus offers, gamblers boost their winnings and build a bankroll to help fund future bets. If you lose the bets placed with bonus money, then you are no worse for the wear. If you win, then you are essentially playing with house money on additional wagers.
Betting on college baseball games with initial bonus funds is an excellent way to give yourself a trial run into the sport.
8. Only Use Legal Online Sportsbooks
There are many different sportsbook options available, but you want to be sure you are using a legal sports betting site. Why is this important? Consider these factors:
- A legal sportsbook site is held accountable by gaming boards.
- Illegal offshore betting sites don’t have to answer to a higher authority.
- There is no recourse if you do not receive a payout on an illegal offshore site.
- Legal sportsbook providers must pay winnings in a timely fashion.
- Legal online sportsbooks have higher standards and better reputations.
As alluded to earlier, DraftKings Sportsbook is one of our favorite sites for college baseball betting. It is also one of the most popular and reputable sportsbook options in the United States.
FanDuel Sportsbook and BetMGM Sportsbook are also prestigious legal sportsbook apps that pay winnings in a prompt, timely fashion.
9. Follow People Smarter Than You
It’s no secret that sports fans love Twitter. There happen to be a large sports betting community on Twitter as well. You can find people who take an interest in college baseball betting and follow them to get information as it applies to NCAA baseball odds.
The key here is to find people who explain their college baseball betting process as opposed to someone who just gives betting picks. What things are they looking for when scanning the college baseball odds board? Are there any objective stats they use to help their decision-making?
