NCAA Basketball Tournament Betting at NJ Online Sports Betting Sites
With more sportsbooks in the NJ market and total sports betting handle on the rise, March Madness 2024 numbers should soar. Due to NJ regulations, you can’t bet on NJ-based college teams or games played in NJ, but since no NCAA tournament action takes place in NJ this year, sportsbooks can take bets on almost every March Madness game.
That means you can play all the March Madness bracket contests, bet on NCAA basketball futures, or bet live on each March Madness game in progress as long as no NJ teams are involved. Here’s how to bet on March Madness in NJ. Find the best March Madness odds boosts & promos below.
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March Madness brackets
March Madness bracket contests and pools are the way most Americans bet on the NCAA tournament. It involves filling out a full bracket and picking winners for every one of the 63 games in the NCAA Tournament before it begins. There are also Second-Chance bracket contests allowing you to enter new brackets for later tournament rounds.
According to a study released by the American Gaming Association (AGA) in 2019, approximately 40 million people fill out a March Madness bracket every year. That’s around 16% of the country. The AGA also says those 40 million people will fill out 149 million brackets and spend $4.6 billion entering them in different pools and contests.
Brackets are quite different from game-by-game betting on the NCAA Tournament. The latter allows you to be more selective in the teams you back and pay out based on posted odds rather than your standing against others. With brackets, you either pay to enter your selections in a pool at the office, local bar, social club, or sportsbook, or submit it to a free-to-enter NCAA Tournament bracket contest.
Either way, you must pick more winners than just about anyone else in the pool to get paid. Contest and pool payouts range from winner take all to a small percentage of the top entries earning money. This makes it very tough to win money in bracket contests, particularly the free-to-enter contests with thousands of entries from across the US.
Early upsets will bust a lot of brackets. If a team you back to go deep goes out in the first or second round, you’ll quickly end up with too many losses in your bracket to compete. Check the current free contests and pools on our dedicated page here:
Top 5 tips for picking your March Madness bracket
The unpredictability of bracket betting aside, there’s no doubt it’s one of the most fun ways to bet on March Madness. Whether this is your first bracket or your 100th, the following five basic March Madness bracket-building tips tend to hold true:
1. Trust the odds
NJ online sportsbooks post futures odds for every team and moneyline point spread lines for (virtually) every game. This information can actually give you some help in filling out a bracket.
The lines are posted by oddsmakers with in-depth knowledge about the world of college basketball betting betting and you can lean on these NCAA experts to help you make your picks.
They aren’t always right, but they’re not often way wrong. You can feel confident in using the information available at NJ sports betting apps to help you make the majority of your March Madness picks.
Just look for the teams that oddsmakers have as massive first-round favorites, or favorites to win it all, then pencil them into the second or third round at the very least.
2. Trust the seeding early
Before 2018, no top seed had ever lost to a No. 16 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Maryland-Baltimore County win over Virginia in 2018 broke a 135-game winning streak for No. 1 seeds and proved March Madness miracles can happen.
However, it also highlighted how rare those miracles are. The truth is:
- The top four seeds almost always win in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament
You never want to ignore this when filling out our March Madness brackets.
3. Look out for the No. 12 seed
The No. 5 vs. No. 12 first round match up has proven to be a bit of a statistical anomaly in the NCAA Tournament. No. 12 seeds actually win more than statistically expected in these games. There have been 47 12 seed over 5 seed upsets since the NCAA tournament field expanded in 1985. Out of 136 total games, that puts the #12 seed win rate at 35%.
The No. 10 and No. 11 seeds often fill Cinderella’s glass slipper in the early rounds as well.
Part of filling out a winning bracket is picking upsets. You can’t just pick the higher seed to win all the way through and expect to win a contest or pool. The trick is to find the real opportunities for big upsets, and the No. 12, No. 11, and No. 10 seeds are often a good place to start.
4. Heat check
Look for lower-seeded teams that have truly played their way into the NCAA Tournament by upsetting a perennial favorite to win a conference tournament title.
Momentum is real in the NCAA Tournament, so look for hot teams that are playing above their heads to continue to win through the early rounds of the tournament at least.
5. Trust the seeding late
Historically, the higher-seeded team wins almost 75% of the time in the Final Four.
When it comes time to fill out the last few games in your bracket, take a look back at the seeding to give you an idea of who the real favorites are.
March Madness Game-by-game betting
NJ online sportsbooks offer individual bets on every bit of NCAA Tournament action. The main advantage of betting March Madness game-by-game is the freedom it provides.
Filling out a 63-game bracket requires you to pick a winner in every single game – before you even know if a team will advance beyond the first round. Betting March Madness game-by-game allows you to be much more selective and avoid betting games where you simply don’t have all the information you need.
Brackets get busted early and futures fizzle out. But combine game-by-game betting with proper bankroll management principles and you can find a way to carry your balance through the length of the NCAA Tournament.
There’s nothing wrong with entering several free and low-entry bracket contests. It’s just that it’s a lot harder to win a bracket contest than a single-game wager. Therefore, wagering a sizable portion of your bankroll on bracket contests is a bad idea.
You’re much better off doing some NCAA basketball research and applying proper bankroll management principles to game-by-game March Madness betting.
That research should start with the NCAA Tournament seeding. Just like the odds NJ online and mobile sportsbooks post on NCAA games can provide some help in filling out a bracket, the seeding can give some insight into March Madness game betting. Plus, some of the same strategies you apply to filling out a bracket can help you identify the best NCAA Tournament bets.
March Madness betting lines
The NCAA Tournament and each game that is a part of it offers a wide variety of betting opportunities. That’s a big part of the reason why more money is bet on this event than any other in US sports, college or pro.
Here is a rundown of the different March Madness betting lines:
Moneyline
For those unfamiliar with sports betting terms, the moneyline bet comes down to picking the straight-up winner.
There is a number, or odds, associated with each team. If Harvard is listed at -600 against Columbia, they’re considered a heavy favorite (you would need to bet $600 to win $100).
On the flip-side, if Columbia, +440, were to win, that same $100 wager would net the bettor $440. The plus sign before the number means the team is an underdog.
Point spread
Once the NCAA Tournament field is set, point spreads will be released for the first round of 32 games. Several of the games, including the No. 1 versus No. 16 matchups, will feature double-digit spreads.
But which side will cover the spread?
Betting on the favorite means your pick needs to win by a margin determined by the odds. Betting on the underdog gives the bettor a cushion in which a team loss may still produce a winning ticket.
Total points
No real explanation is needed. NJ sportsbooks set an over/under line, or total points, for each game. The bettor simply decides which side of the line to play.
Parlay
Parlays bring an added challenge to the sports betting game as they can range from two legs to 10-plus.
Each leg of the bet is dependent on the other to produce a winning ticket. However, there are times where one of the legs ends in a tie. If that happens, the bettor will still receive a payout at reduced odds.
Teasers
Teaser bets are a way to reduce the betting line, either reducing points on the favorite or adding them to the underdog. These wagers apply to two or more teams.
Some sites also offer Teaser+, courtesy of Kambi. Unibet and SugarHouse use Kambi to power their sportsbooks. You can read more about Teaser+ here.
Prop bets
Prop bets are the more outside-the-box wagers. Player and team props (short for propositions) are offered for most sports. A certain player scoring 20 points or more or which team will score the first basket of the game are a couple of examples.
March Madness player & game props
NJ sportsbooks will make a variety of game and player prop bets available for NCAA games. The number of props available will also increase the closer to the Championship game it is.
Props are bets on the games within the game and on players achieving various statistical milestones.
Props vary but you can expect to see game props like an over/under on the largest lead by either, the total 3-point field goals by both teams, and moneyline odds on the team to make first 3-point shot.
You can also expect to see player props including an over/under on a specific player’s points, free throws made, and rebounds.
Where can I stream March Madness in NJ
All of the games will be shown live on CBS, TNT, TBS, and TruTV. The March Madness Live app is available for iOS and Android devices. The games will be streaming on cbssports.com, as well.
New Jersey is home to 10 retail sportsbooks that will be showing all of the tournament games.
- Network: CBS
- Network streaming: CBS All Access, CBSSports.com, and CBS Sports app via phone, tablet, and connected TV devices (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Chromecast)
- Streaming services (varies by market): DirecTV Now, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV
How does Selection Sunday work?
There are 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament. The field is made up of 32 teams that earn automatic bids by winning their respective conference tournaments. The other 36 teams are given at-large bids on Selection Sunday, which falls on March 12 this year.
The NCAA Selection Committee is uses a system called NET to select the 36 teams at-large bids.
The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) relies on data to rank teams from across the country and the NCAA Selection Committee gives the top 36 ranking non-conference tournament winners the at-large bids. The data includes:
- Game results
- Strength of schedule
- Game location
- Scoring margin
- Net offensive and defensive efficiency,
- Quality of wins and losses
The NCAA then ranks all 68 teams and the eight lowest teams face off in the First Four games on March 19 and 20. The winners advance to the first round. First and second-round games will take place on March 21-24, 2024.
March Madness in NJ
NJ Sportsbooks are forbidden by law to take bets on college basketball games in New Jersey or involving NJ-based schools. That means if an NJ team makes the NCAA Tournament its games are off the board and removed from all brackets. You simply cannot bet on these games or these teams in NJ.
There are seven NJ colleges and universities that have NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs, including:
- NJIT Highlanders: New Jersey Institute of Technology NJIT (Newark, NJ)
- Princeton Tigers: Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ)
- Monmouth Hawks: Monmouth University (West Long Branch, NJ)
- Rider Broncs: Rider University ( Lawrenceville, NJ)
- Fairleigh Dickinson Knights: Fairleigh Dickinson University (Madison, NJ)
- Saint Peter’s Peacocks: Saint Peter’s University (Jersey City, NJ)
- Seton Hall Pirates: Seton Hall University (South Orange, NJ)
Where can I bet on March Madness in New Jersey?
All nine Atlantic City casinos have retail sportsbooks up and running.
Freehold Raceway, Monmouth Park and the Meadowlands Racetrack each have a sportsbook, too. Those watching the games from home, and as long as you are in NJ, can place their bets using one of the top NJ sportsbook apps.
Why bet March Madness online?
There are several reasons why more than 80% of the sports bets in New Jersey are placed online. It starts with convenience and the fact NJ sports betting apps are open 24/7 and available from anywhere inside the state. But it doesn’t end there.
The choice you have between several operators means you can line shop from your couch to find the best prices on a bet. There’s no waiting in line, no identifying numbers and no special betting jargon required to place bets.
Online and mobile sports betting gives you the chance to make the bets you want instantly from a phone, tablet, or computer. March Madness also offers 67 games over three weeks with literally thousands of in-game betting opportunities. As mentioned, if you’re from out of state you can also download and manage your account from home and simply hop across the state line to bet.
Ultimately, no missed opportunities and no lineup help make the choice between traditional retail sportsbooks and betting apps a no brainer.
NJ online sportsbooks
| Online Sportsbook | Land-Based Affiliate | Available Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Caesars Sportsbook NJ | Caesars AC | Bet $1, Double Your Winnings on Next 10 Wagers |
| Bet365 Sportsbook NJ | Hard Rock AC | First Bet Safety Net up to $1,000 or Bet $5 Get $150 in Bonus Bets |
| BetMGM Sportsbook NJ | Borgata AC | Up to $1,500 in Bonus Bets if Your First Bet Doesn’t Win* |
| FanDuel Sportsbook NJ | Meadowlands | Bet $5, Get $200 in Bonus Bets Guaranteed |
| Fanatics Sportsbook NJ | Ocean Casino Resort | Bet and Get up to $1,000 in No Sweat Bets |
| BetRivers Sportsbook NJ | Monmouth Park | 2nd Chance Bet up to $250 |
| Hard Rock Bet Sportsbook NJ | Hard Rock AC | Bet $5, Get $100 in Bonus Bets |
| DraftKings Sportsbook NJ | Resorts AC | Up to $1,250 in Bonuses + King of the End Zone Promo |
*Bonus Bets Expire in 7 Days. One New Customer Offer Only. Add’l terms.
NJ sportsbook locations
| Casino/racetrack | Sportsbook | Open? |
|---|---|---|
| Borgata | BetMGM Sportsbook & Bar/BetMGM Race & Sportsbook | Yes |
| Resorts | DraftKings Sportsbook at Resorts | Yes |
| Ocean Resort | The Gallery Bar, Book & Games @ Ocean Resort | Yes |
| Monmouth Park | Monmouth Park Sports Book by Caesars | Yes |
| Meadowlands | FanDuel Sportsbook | Yes |
| Harrah's | Caesars Sportsbook at Harrah's Resort | Yes |
| Hard Rock | Hard Rock Sportsbook | Yes |
| Golden Nugget | The Sportsbook | Yes |
| Bally's | FanDuel Sportsbook at Bally's | Yes |
| Tropicana | Caesars Sportsbook at Tropicana Atlantic City | Yes |
| Caesars | Caesars Sportsbook at Wild Wild West | Yes |
| Freehold Raceway | Parx Sportsbook at Freehold Raceway | Yes |
March Madness FAQ
Selection Sunday is on March 17, 2024, after which you’ll be able to find the official and printable 2024 NCAA bracket for March Madness on the NCAA website.
Most contests and pools wll start taking entries almost right away with March Madness brackets due ahead of the First Round tip-off on Tuesday, March 19.
It is estimated that some 10% of Americans fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket and enter it into some type of pool or contest. That’s around 32 million people filling out brackets.
With the average American filling out more than one, the American Gaming Association estimates 70 million brackets are filled out annually.
According to the NCAA, no one has ever had a perfect March Madness bracket. At least one that has been verified.
The NCAA released a story on its website in 2019 about the longest a bracket has ever stayed perfect. The longest streak to start March Madness now stands at 49 after an Ohio man correctly predicted the results of the entire 2019 NCAA tournament into the Sweet 16.
The bracket busted in Game 50 when Purdue (3) beat Tennessee (2) 99-94 in overtime.
The NCAA estimates the odds of picking a perfect 63-game NCAA bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion. Although, that assumes every game is a 50-50 coin flip.
A DePaul professor once said that injecting a little NCAA men’s basketball knowledge into the equation drops the odds of picking a perfect bracket down to 1 in 28 billion. He also said if every person on the planet filled out a bracket per minute, it would take more than 2,000 years to get to 9.2 quintillion and the perfect bracket.
Famously, wealthy investor Warren Buffett runs an annual March Madness bracket contest promising to give away $1 million a year for life to any Berkshire Hathaway employee who can pick a perfect Sweet 16 in the tourney.
The 2023 NCAA Final Four is set for April 6, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. The games will be played at State Farm Stadium. The National Championship game is on April 8.
- 2023: UConn
- 2022: Kansas
- 2021: Baylor
- 2020: Cancelled due to COVID-19
- 2019: Virginia
- 2018: Villanova
- 2017: North Carolina
- 2016: Villanova
- 2015: Duke
- 2014: Connecticut
- 2013: Louisville*
*Louisville’s participation in the 2013 tournament was later vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.