College Basketball Teasers Betting

Written by: Joseph Falchetti, Editor-in-Chief, Pro Sports Bettor and Casino Expert
Last updated:
5 minute read
College Basketball Teasers Betting

A college basketball teaser is a bet that allows you to combine two different wagers and then modify the line by a certain number of points to improve your chances of winning.

NCAA basketball offers lots of betting markets, and teaser bets are some of the most popular, apart from straight bets and parlays.

This type of bet doesn’t differ much from its pro basketball counterpart in terms of odds payout, but a different strategy is needed to maximize profit.

Read on to learn how to increase the chances of winning with NCAAB teasers while playing at the top online sportsbooks.

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College Basketball Teaser Odds Explained

Let’s look at how a teaser affects college basketball point spread odds when we are betting a 5-point NCAA basketball teaser on two favorites and two underdogs.

Let’s start with the two favorites and their odds.

Favorites’ Odds Before 5-Point Teaser

Team Odds
Illinois -9
Loyola Marymount -13.5

Favorites’ Odds After 5-Point Teaser

After we apply the 6-point, two-team teaser, the line looks like this:

Team Odds
Illinois -4
Loyola Marymount -8.5

As you can see, we added five points to Illinois’ spread of -9 to make it -4. Loyola Marymount went from -13.5 to -8.5.

A 5-point, two-team teaser typically pays out at -102. This means bettors will have to wager $120 to win $100 when betting.

Now, let’s look at two underdogs and apply a 4.5-point, two-team college basketball teaser.

Underdogs’ Odds Before 4.5-Point Teaser

Team Odds
Pittsburgh +5
NC State +10

Underdogs’ Odds After 4.5-Point Teaser

When we add 4.5 points to each side, we come up with:

Team Odds
Pittsburgh +9.5
NC State +14.5

The 4.5 points moved Pittsburgh to +9.5 from +5 and NC State from +10 to +14.5.

The odds to win this 2-team, 4.5-point teaser is -110, which is better than -120 in the above 2-team, 5-point teaser.

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College Basketball Teaser Payouts

Teasers won’t have the large payouts associated with parlays in most cases, as you’re adding points to the spread or total and not just merely hoping to hit several non-altered wagers.

For instance, while a two-team parlay has a payout of +260, a 4.5-point basketball teaser has a payout of -110. Of course, that makes sense, since teaser bets alter the point spread or total in the bettor’s favor.

Odds will vary heavily based on the number of points in the bet and the number of teams or selections.

Keep in mind that, like parlays, all selections in the bet must win for the teaser to be graded as a winner.

Top Sportsbooks For NCAAB Teaser Betting 2024

Excited to start betting college basketball teasers? Check out the top sportsbooks we recommend for your NCAAB bets.

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Calculating College Basketball Teasers Edge

Profitability of College Basketball Teaser Bets

Profiting from teasers in college basketball amounts to how much they improve your chances of winning and the payoff.

Since there is such a wide range of options for this type of bet – from 4.5 points to 6 points, at most sportsbooks – it’s tough to nail down the exact probabilities.

The Math Behind NCAAB Teaser Bets

Our odds converter and calculator offers one way to estimate your edge.

If you calculate the odds for each teaser bet, then you can determine the break-even percentage using our odds converter.

For instance, if you’re betting a 2-team, 4.5-point teaser, then you need to win more than 52.38% of the time for the bet to be profitable.

Essentially, if you input the American odds (or any other odds type) into our betting calculator, you will get your break-even percentage, which is expressed as the implied probability.

It is up to you to judge if you can beat that percentage when betting teasers and if they are worth more than straight wagers on the same selections.

College Basketball Teaser Strategy

To bet college basketball teasers, you will need different strategies compared to other sports.

There isn’t a specific winning strategy or betting system out there that is as widely used or as profitable as the “Wong Teasers” for NCAAB.

With college hoops, it’s about mastering the basics and utilizing your own strategies from there. Here are some tips to help you get on track.

Betting Tip #1Avoid Teasers of More Than Three Selections

Like college basketball parlays, teasers with more selections than 2-3 teams have an extremely high edge for the oddsmakers.

These are unbeatable, regardless of your skill level at sports betting.

This goes across all numbers when it comes to betting teasers or parlays. Stick to betting 2-team selections, or you might as well be lighting money on fire.

Betting Tip #2Place Your Bets Early

Place your college basketball teaser bets early

The college basketball market gets sharper as the day progresses and is determined almost solely by sharp bettors, with the one exception being while betting on March Madness.

The odds will undoubtedly be sharper and more accurate to the actual probabilities closer to the game tip-off rather than in the early market.

If you’re betting teasers, in most cases, you’re going to get a better line if you bet early.

Betting Tip #3Don’t Tease Totals

In general, if you see anyone teasing totals, they have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to sports betting.

There is little value gained when teasing totals due to the high number of points, and the variance of outcome is also quite high.

There is no reason why you should ever tease a total. Stick to teasing sides.

College Basketball Teasers F.A.Q

What Is A Teaser Bet In College Basketball?

A college basketball teaser bet allows you to combine different NCAAB wagers and alter the odds to your favor in exchange for having to win both bets to make a profit.

How Does A Teaser Bet Work In NCAA Basketball?

Here is a quick example. When betting a 5-point college basketball teaser, a favorite of -9 and an underdog of +5 becomes -3 and +10, respectively. You need to win both legs of the wager to win the bet.

How Many Points Can You Tease In College Basketball?

You can tease from 4.5 to 6 points in most online NCAAB sportsbooks.

Don’t Miss Our Complete Guide On College Basketball Betting

About the Author

Joseph Falchetti

Joseph Falchetti

Editor-in-Chief, Pro Sports Bettor and Casino Expert

Joe is the author of the majority of sports betting pages on SBS and he serves as a gambling consultant to our content team. He's been mentioned on Forbes.com as a gaming analyst, and his articles have been linked by larger publications, such as the New York Times.

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