When betting college basketball, be aware of the value of home court advantage.
Key Points
– Understanding home court advantage helps in betting college basketball.
– There are a number of factors to consider when determining if home court advantage exists.
Betting College Basketball – The Value of Home Court Advantage
Have you ever watched a college basketball game played at Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of the Duke Blue Devils. It is absolute chaos. Students compete for tickets to each game and show up in droves to support their team.
It’s the same at other famous venues like Kentucky’s Rupp Arena and the Phog Allen Fieldhouse at the University of Kansas. The home crowds at these arenas offer a huge challenge to opposing teams.
For college basketball bettors, there is a thought that playing at home offers an advantage. If you think about the last game you watched on TV, the home crowd is essentially right on top of the two teams. There are all sorts of distractions from signs to loud chants which helps to fuel the home team.
Does all this give the home team a true advantage. When betting college basketball, it’s helpful to understand the value of any home court advantage.
Home Court Advantage Betting Value
Home court advantage is very important in NCAA college basketball, possibly more so than in any other sport. Sports bettors should always consider the home court advantage when examining the spreads, moneylines, and totals markets. When betting college basketball, be sure to know which teams have the greatest advantage of playing at home.
The number of teams in college basketball makes it impossible to calculate the precise impact that playing at home has on the spread. When setting odds for NFL games, oddsmakers typically give home field advantage three points.
That implies that if two equally matched teams were playing one another, the home team would be a three-point favorite. There isn’t a precise number like that in college basketball. The sport doesn’t have the same amount of parity as the NFL.
When betting college basketball, home court advantage can be worth anywhere from 2.5 to 6 points or even more, depending on the location and opposition.
When setting their odds, bookmakers must consider a wide variety of factors that influence the outcome of a game. They must also determine whether or not an arena will host an opponent in front of a sold-out, boisterous crowd. Games played early in a season, for example, don’t get the same type of crowd as conference matchups in January and February.
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Betting College Basketball – The Home Crowd
Before placing your bets, you should always do your research. How much sports betting research is enough is a question you have to answer for yourself. Regardless, part of that research should include factors related to where the game is being played.
In examining whether or not a home court offers an advantage, first look at the average crowd’s size and activity level. Are home games typically sold out? Many of the blueblood programs will usually sell out all of their conference games.
It’s also worth noting how the crowds behave during a game. Some venues have some pretty wild fans and many will put their band very close to the floor. The noise can be an issue for a visiting team not used to it.
When teams play at Duke, the “Cameron Crazies” are in full force. The arena only seats a little over 9,300 fans. Many of those are students who can make life extremely difficult for opponents.
The Blue Devils win 84 percent of the time at home. Since the beginning of the 1997-98 college basketball season, Duke has won 93 percent of its home games. Against non-conference opponents, Duke is 274-4 since the mid-1980s. That is a huge home court advantage.
There are other schools with records similar to Duke’s. Keep that in mind when betting college basketball.
Arena Layout
While many fans might think “if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all” when referencing college basketball arenas. That’s not at all true.
As mentioned, Duke’s home court offers advantages because of its smaller size. The same is true of the Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball. Located in Philadelphia, the Palestra is the home of the University of Pennsylvania. It is the oldest college basketball arena still in use today.
The Palestra seats 8,725 fans in a way that makes every single one of them feel like they are right on top of the court. One of Penn’s rivals, Villanova University is located just a few miles from Philadelphia. Its home court is Finneran Pavilion, which seats 6,500.
These small venues make a difference in a team’s home court advantage.
Opponents & Home Court Advantage
When betting college basketball, you always take into account the opponents. When looking to see if a team may have an advantage by playing at home, it helps to consider the road opponents’ popularity and skill.
Is it a rivalry game? Fans – students primarily – will camp at Cameron Indoor Stadium to get tickets for the annual Duke-North Carolina matchup.
It also helps to know how the road team travels. Some teams are well-known for bringing a lot of fans to an away game. That can help reduce the effects of home court advantage. It pays to know which teams travel well when betting college basketball. Knowing can help in avoiding a big sports betting loss.
You should also consider the visiting team’s level of experience. More experienced teams are not as affected by a hostile crowd. Younger teams, especially earlier in a season, may have some difficulties dealing with all the distractions.
Travel & Betting College Basketball
The final piece of the home court advantage puzzle is considering the actual travel for the away team. Villanova and Penn play each season. The two schools are located within 15 miles of each other. Whether they play at the Palestra or at Finneran Pavilion, fans of both teams are going to be present. Home court advantage might not play a huge role.
If a West Coast team travels to the East Coast, that could play a huge role in the outcome of the game. It’s not just the home court advantage, but also the travel itself. This team would travel across time zones to play in a foreign arena. That puts many teams way outside of their comfort zones.
Take all of this into account when betting college basketball. Don’t forget to stick to time-tested betting strategies like line shopping. You may also consider working with professional sports handicapping sites to win more college basketball bets.