Few sporting events match the magnitude of March Madness in the United States. It is the largest single-elimination tournament in American sports and rivals only the Super Bowl in terms of popularity, viewership, and total betting revenue. With just weeks until Selection Sunday, it’s time you got a bit more familiar with America’s biggest and best basketball tournament.
What is March Madness?
March Madness is the nickname given to the NCAA Division 1 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. As its name suggests, it takes place each year in March at venues across the United States. March Madness was first started in 1939, making this year’s tournament the 86th anniversary. The only year that the tournament did not go ahead was in 2020 during the global pandemic.
The tournament features 68 of the top Divison 1 Colleges in America as selected by members of the NCAA Selection Committee. These members take into account overall records, strength of schedule, quality of wins, and statistical performances to determine which teams deserve a spot in the tournament. The top 32 teams in the nation, determined by ranking and conference championships, automatically earn a berth. The remaining 36 teams are selected by the Selection Committee on Selection Sunday.
These 68 teams are divided into four regions, which consist of 16 or 18 teams each. The regions are split geographically and determine where each team will be playing their early-round games. The matchups are determined by seed, so the first seed will play the sixteenth, the second will play the fifteenth, and so on.
With 68 teams, the tournament consists of 66 total single-elimination games, which take place over just three weekends. March Madness kicks off with the First Four which is a play-in round between eight teams competing for the final four spots in the tournament.
This year’s March Madness will take place across the country, with the Championship weekend taking place in San Antonio, Texas. The First Four games begin on March 18th-19th with Championship weekend taking place on April 5th-7th.
What is Selection Sunday?
Selection Sunday refers to the most important day of the NCAA College Basketball season ahead of March Madness. This is the day on which the NCAA Selection Committee decides which schools get to head to the big dance and which schools will have to try again next year.
As collegiate sports are very popular in the United States, this can be an agonizing day for some schools. This is why conference play is so important, as the top 32-ranked schools before Selection Sunday are automatically entered into the March Madness tournament.
Selection Sunday isn’t just to announce which teams have made the tournament. The NCAA Selection Committee releases the entire NCAA March Madness bracket with full seeding for every team except for the teams involved in the First Four play-in games.
Which Schools Have Won the Most March Madness Tournaments?
Despite there being 85 March Madness tournaments, only 37 different schools have won the NCAA Basketball Championship. Much of the recent decades in NCAA Men’s College Basketball has been dominated by schools called the Blue Bloods. These are the teams that have had the most success throughout their school’s histories. Some notable Blue Blood schools include:
- Duke University
- The University of Kansas
- The University of Kentucky
- The University of North Carolina
- UCLA
- Indiana University
- The University of Connecticut
These seven schools have won a total of 45 NCAA Basketball Championships. UCLA has won the most with eleven tournament victories, although the school has not won one since 1995. The University of Connecticut, or UCONN, won the 2024 Men’s NCAA Tournament and has won a total of six national championships.
On the Women’s side, March Madness has been dominated by two schools: the University of Connecticut and the University of Tennessee. UCONN has won the tournament eleven times, and Tennessee has won eight times. Between them, they have won 19 of the 43 Women’s tournaments held since 1982. In 2024, the University of South Carolina won its third national championship over the University of Iowa.
How to Bet on March Madness 2025
Are you looking to bet on this year’s March Madness tournament? In 2025, there are countless ways to bet on the tournament. You can get as broad as just picking an outright futures winner or get as specific as in-game props. Here are some of the best ways to bet on the March Madness Tournament in 2025.
Bet the Spread
Betting on the spread of a game is one of the most common ways of betting in sports. March Madness games will always come with point-spread odds. The favourite of the game is always given a minus sign before the odds and the underdog is given a plus sign. If Kentucky is a -6.0 favourite over Baylor, then the bettor is wagering on whether they think Kentucky can beat Baylor by more than six points.
Baylor would be given a +6.0 odds, which means you would be wagering on Baylor to keep the score within six points or for them to win outright. Given how many upsets there are in a single-elimination format, betting on the underdogs at March Madness can get pretty exciting!
Bet the Total
In basketball, betting the total means wagering on over or under the total points scored in the game by both teams. If the posted total for the Kentucky and Baylor game from above is 160.5, then bettors are wagering on whether there will be a total of 161 points or more if they bet the Over. If they bet the Under, they are wagering that the game will have 160 points or less.
There are a lot of things to take into account when betting on basketball totals. Everything from the pace of each team, defensive efficiency, three-point shooting efficiency, and even free-throw shooting efficiency. All of these play a part in determining whether a game will likely go over or under its posted total.
Bet on Outright Winner or March Madness Futures
If you don’t want to bet on individual games in March Madness, you can place bets on what you think the final outcomes of the tournament will be. For example, you can place a futures bet on the outright winner of the tournament or the winner of each region. The higher the seed of the team, the higher the odds of winning are going to be.
You can bet on March Madness futures as they are posted before the tournament even starts, as well as during the tournament. The odds will always be changing, though, so if you see good odds for an outcome you like, you should jump on them before they’re gone.
Bet on March Madness Parlays
What’s a parlay? A parlay is a wagering ticket with at least two different bets to multiply the odds of your payout. You can add multiple game outcomes, props, or futures on a March Madness parlay ticket to multiple your fun. The payouts only get bigger, but of course, the more bets you place in a parlay, the more difficult it is to win.
Are parlays a good way to bet on March Madness? If you are only betting small amounts and only what you can afford to lose, then parlay tickets can be a fun way to bet on March Madness. We wouldn’t recommend only betting parlays as it is not a winning strategy over the long run. You can even bet on same-game parlays if you want to bet on multiple-player performances or game outcomes for a single game.
