March Madness is one of the most awaited basketball events of the year. It’s the culmination of the hard work and dedication that collegiate players and coaches put in and an opportunity for them to etch their names in the NCAA record books.
The NCAA March Madness is also exciting for the entire basketball community, especially with how technology has made the games more accessible worldwide. In addition, the festivities of the March Madness tournament attract sports bettors from every corner of the world. With so many games to place your bets in, you’ll surely find the perfect opportunity to get lucky and make money.
Placing bets on your favorite NCAA teams and players is exciting and tricky at the same time. You must check each team’s stats and rankings and learn about March Madness betting trends on websites like www.pickboss.com/march-madness-betting-trends.
Moreover, it’s important for you to know which common mistakes to avoid, as we listed below for your convenience.
Avoid Going All-in on a Cinderella Pick
It’s tempting to go all-in on your Cinderella pick, but the record book is not kind to this risk. In fact, the lowest-seeded team to win the March Madness tournament was the 8th-seeded Villanova Wildcats in 1985. Other than Villanova, the fourth, sixth, and seventh-ranked teams have one championship each in the history of the NCAA March Madness.
There’s nothing wrong with filling your March Madness bracket with a couple of Cinderella picks, but don’t bet on them going all the way. If you want to place your bets on a virtually unknown team, it’s best to have them winning all the way to Elite Eight at maximum.
Don’t Trust Too Much on Superstars
Superstars steal the show in most games, but even the brightest of stars have off-nights. Betting big on a one-man wrecking crew could deal some damage to your March Madness bracket, especially if that superstar is up against a great defensive team. A smart defense will just send double-teams on a superstar and be content with letting other less-skilled players make plays.
Of course, it’s not always the case with superstars. There are great players who have great supporting casts, and it’s this kind of team that you’d want to place your bets on. Basketball is a team game, and defenses now have modernized schemes to neutralize a one-man wrecking crew.
To help you make decisions on which teams to choose, you could try researching through advanced stats and metrics. If you see a team that is ranked high on both offensive rating and defensive rating, that squad has higher chances of forging a deeper run in March Madness. Remember that the tournament is a single-game elimination format, so teams have to be good on both ends of the floor to win the title.
Don’t Put Too Much Emphasis on Crowd Advantage
NCAA still lists home and away teams on their March Madness schedule, but teams don’t have a direct home-court advantage. The home and away teams during March Madness are only decided based on their ranking in the bracket. For example, the two seed is listed as the home team when they go up against the 15 seed, which is listed as the away team.
The games during the NCAA March Madness tournament are played in neutral venues, which means that neither teams enjoy a massive advantage from their fans. While there are instances that some neutral venues are near the home city of a team, it’s still far from a direct home-court advantage where home fans can easily go to the game.
Pick a No.1 Seed on Your Final Four Prediction
Some people might pick on you when you choose a No.1 seed to go all the way, but there’s no shame in that. The teams that are ranked at the top of the pack are there for a multitude of reasons, and it boils down to one fact: they are great basketball teams. Most top-ranked teams in March Madness are good on both offense and defense, giving you more reasons to place your bets on them.
While it’s not advisable that you pick all No.1 seeds to make it to the Final Four, it’s still a wise decision to choose one of these top-ranked teams to make a deep run in the tournament. Some people term it as “playing safe”, but we call it playing it smart.
Update Your Bracket Right Before the Deadline
If you have created your bracket days before the deadline, you might want to update it from time to time. Odds and other information on sportsbooks and bracket predictors might change leading up to the tournament, so it’s important that you stay on top of these betting trends and update your bracket if you see the need to do so.
