North Carolina is clearly a March Madness state. In fact, it may very well be the March Madness state.
With the University of North Carolina and Duke, the state boasts two of the best programs in NCAA tournament history. In terms of NCAA tournament game wins, UNC is second with 130, and Duke is third with 118. Those two programs are also two of the top four in terms of National Championships (North Carolina is third with six; Duke is tied for fourth with five.)
That’s why March Madness betting should shine right here in North Carolina when the top betting sites in the country finally arrive.
Looking for the best online sportsbooks in NC for March Madness betting? Want to know all your March Madness betting options beyond traditional bracket contests? How about the best odds for March Madness games and NCAA Championship futures? You’ll find all that and more right here.
Best March Madness betting sites
Caesars Sportsbook
Caesars NC Sportsbook will bring the most competitive March Madness odds to North Carolina. Its March Madness game lines can be a half-point better than what you’ll find elsewhere. Plus, its March Madness moneylines offer more value on average.
March Madness game lines and futures at Caesars Sportsbook NC are sure to include:
- Spreads, moneylines and totals
- Team and player props
- NCAA Tournament Championship and Final Four futures
You may find some valuable March Madness promos and odds boosts at Caesars, even if the sportsbook doesn’t run a traditional March Madness bracket contest.
DraftKings Sportsbook
DraftKings Sportsbook NC will bring one of the country’s largest free-entry March Madness bracket contests to North Carolina. Plus, it is bound to offer more NCAA tournament betting options than most of its competitors. DraftKings Sportsbook NC should have March Madness:
- Spreads, moneylines and totals
- Player and team props
- National Championship and Final Four futures
These lines will be competitive, and DraftKings Sportsbook will also run March Madness betting promos alongside its big free-to-enter March Madness bracket contest.
FanDuel Sportsbook
FanDuel NC Sportsbook will bring highly competitive and comprehensive March Madness game lines and futures odds to North Carolina. That means all kinds of March Madness lines that are likely to include:
- Point spreads, moneylines and totals
- Props
- National Championship and Final Four futures
FanDuel is also known for running one of the country’s largest free-entry March Madness bracket betting contests. That said, it may come at the expense of an expanded number of odds boosts and other promos surrounding the tournament.
BetMGM Sportsbook
BetMGM Sportsbook NC seems willing to give away more money than any other sportsbook with its free-to-enter March Madness bracket contest. However, the $10 Million Perfect Bracket Challenge contest will award that big cash prize only to a perfect bracket, giving away just $100,000 to the best bracket. Still, BetMGM makes this list of the best March Madness betting websites because it features competitive odds on the following betting markets:
- Spreads, moneylines and totals
- Live odds
- Parlays
- Futures
You’ll also find various March Madness odds boosts and single game parlay boosts at BetMGM come tournament time.
How to bet on March Madness online in North Carolina
Once state lawmakers allow North Carolina’s first online sportsbooks to go live, you’ll be able to bet on March Madness online. The options start with Championship and Final Four futures that are available all year long. From there, the possibilities extend to bracket pools, individual game lines and NCAA tournament outrights once the March Madness field is set.
Of course, if you want to bet on March Madness online, you’ll need to sign up for an account with a licensed online sportsbook first. Here’s how:
- Click a link to a licensed online sportsbook on this page;
- Click on anything that says ‘Sign Up‘ ‘Join’ or ‘Register’;
- Fill out the forms with all required information, including any NC sportsbook promo or bonus code listed here;
- Accept all terms and conditions.
After that, you make a deposit, browse through all the March Madness betting lines, and fill out a bet slip to place a March Madness bet. Remember, you can pick March Madness winners all year long and then sort out your bracket and all the individual game lines once the field is set.
How to bet on March Madness futures
You can bet on March Madness Championship and Final Four futures all year long. Pick the team or teams you think have a shot at the National Championship or even the Final Four in these March Madness futures markets.
Odds are posted for the next season right after the current one ends and are available all year round. They will change alongside a team’s chances, but you lock in your odds at the time you place the bet. That means the earlier you get a bet down on a National Championship or Final Four contender, the more you stand to win. By contrast, if you wait until a perennial favorite is in the Sweet 16 already, your potential payout on backing them to win it all will be hugely reduced.
How to bet on pre-tournament props
There may also be pre-tournament March Madness prop bets available at North Carolina sportsbooks. These will allow you to bet on things like:
- How many teams from each conference will get into the tournament;
- Seeding, including where certain teams will be seeded and who will get a #1 seed;
- Over/under on the least number of regular-season wins it’ll take to get into the tournament.
How to bet on the First Four
The First Four are four play-in games between the four lowest-seeded automatic bids and four lowest-seeded at-large bids from Selection Sunday. The winners take up the last four places in the Round of 64.
The first year for the First Four was 2011 with the tournament field essentially expanding by four to 68 teams. The First Four is held in Dayton, Ohio, generally around March 14 and 15, at least two days ahead of the start of the first round.
You can bet on these games like any other March Madness game. Plus, many bracket contests now include the First Four.
How to bet on March Madness games
Broadly speaking, there are really just three ways to bet on March Madness: bracket contests, futures and game lines. Let’s dig into the possibilities below.
- Bracket contests: The traditional way to bet on March Madness, bracket contests are available at legal sportsbooks and through office and bar/restaurant/social club pools. You fill out an entire 67-game bracket (if you include the First Four) before the tournament starts. You enter your bracket in a free or paid-entry bracket contest. Pick more winners than anyone else in the contest to win. Top entries generally share in whatever prize pool is created or awarded, with the lion’s share going to the best bracket.
- Futures: Bet on any team to win the NCAA tournament, make the Final Four, or advance to a specific round at licensed sportsbooks. March Madness futures are available all year long, and odds adjust as the season progresses. The earlier you bet on most favorites, the better the odds.
- Game lines: March Madness game lines are available for every tournament game. Within that category, here are some different types of game lines.
- Spreads: Point spread betting is where you pick a game-winner on the scoreboard with a point spread line factored into the final score. For a favorite to win a spread bit, they’ll need to win by a certain margin. Likewise, an underdog need only lose the actual game by fewer points than the set spread to win this bet.
- Moneylines: Moneyline betting is where you pick the outright winner of any NCAA tournament game. Pick the winner and get paid according to the odds at the time you placed the bet, no matter how much they might change after.
- Totals: Wager on a game’s final combined tally landing over or under a line set by sportsbooks.
- Props: Bet on March Madness player and team performance and stat lines.
- Parlays: Parlay betting combines two or more March Madness bets into one, boosting the odds versus the individual bets. But you must win all your linked bets to win anything at all.
- Live to bet: Wager on March Madness game lines and props after the game has started at odds that change in real time.
March Madness betting vs. March Madness brackets
You have choices when it comes to March Madness betting. You can fill out a March Madness bracket and enter it in a contest. But that means picking winners for all the NCAA tournament games. That’s 67 games if you count the First Four and 63 if you don’t. That’s a big commitment … too big for some.
You can also bet on tournament games individually. Do March Madness your way, betting only on the games where you see an edge.
Of course, there’s a third choice as well. You can do it all. Betting on individual game lines doesn’t mean you can’t enter a bracket contest or vice versa.
In fact, March Madness game betting can be a great way to hedge the bets you’ve made in a bracket contest or counteract mistakes you made in busted brackets.
Once they’re here, NC sportsbook sites will offer you the chance to bet on March Madness game lines for every game. Plus, the sportsbooks will host a ton of paid and free-entry bracket contests. So fill out a bracket or two, bet moneylines, spreads and totals for tournament games, and have a ball betting on March Madness.
March Madness betting rules
Every sportsbook publishes rules for betting on NCAA basketball and how it handles situations that may arise during March Madness. Read these terms and conditions before betting. That way, nothing unexpected should occur with your March Madness bets.
Most of the wagering rules surrounding March Madness include things like:
- Overtime counts for game bets unless otherwise stated;
- Overtime does not count for second-half bets unless otherwise stated;
- Player props stand as long the players involved take part in the game or tournament at some point and are void if they don’t;
- Official NCAA data is used to settle bets.
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