The Conference Tournaments are complete and the 68 teams have been selected to battle it out in the NCAA Tournament, with the Final Four taking place in Indianapolis the first weekend of April. It’s now time to build brackets and place futures and individual game bets leading into the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. I added this page to help Missouri and Nebraska residents understand how to place March Madness bets online.
On this page I will outline the following:
- Our top rated betting site for US residents looking to bet on March Madness.
- A quick summary of the sports betting regulatory climate in Missouri and Nebraska.
- Examples of the March Madness bets you can make on both individual games and futures.
- A simple “how to” guide you can follow to quickly and easily bet on March Madness online.
Best March Madness Sportsbook
- Built for American bettors
- Wide variety of competitive betting lines
- Easy to navigate betting platform
- Long history as a trusted sportsbook
BetOnline.ag and Bovada.lv are our two top rated online sportsbook for Americans looking to bet on the NCAA Tournament, including Missouri and Nebraska residents.
We will be using BetOnline for all examples below.
Sports Betting in Missouri and Nebraska
Missouri voters passed Amendment 2 in November 2024 which legalized sports betting in Missouri. The regulated online and retail sportsbook industry launched in the state on December 1st, 2025. There are now 6 licensed operators available for betting in the state.
Nebraska did pass a bill in May of 2021 that makes sports betting legal in the state. That said, regulated sports betting is not yet available in the state, as legislators and regulators have not set a framework to set up the legal sports betting landscape in Nebraska.
Right now, the only option for Nebraska residents, is to place March Madness bets through offshore betting sites that are licensed and regulated outside of the United States, while still accepting US players. BetOnline.ag and Bovada.lv both fall into this category as a betting sites that are licensed and regulated offshore, while accepting American residents.
Missouri residents have the option to use the licensed sportsbooks in the state or the offshore sportsbooks outlined above.
March Madness Betting Options
Both individual game and futures are popular betting options during March Madness.
Single Game Betting
You can bet on each individual game throughout March Madness. Here’s an example of the odds for a college basketball game from BetOnline. I used the odds from Missouri’s first round tournament game vs Miami Florida for the example.
- Point Spread – In this example Miami Florida is a -2 point favorite. They must win by the game by 3 or more points for a spread bet on Miami to win. Missouri is the +2 underdog, so they must either win the game or lose by 1 point. If Miami wins by exactly 2 points then the spread bets would push (be returned).
- Money Line – This is a bet on which team will win the game outright. Miami is the -130 favorite, which means you would have to risk $130 to win $100 betting on Miami. Missouri is a +110 underdog, which means a $100 bet on Missouri would win $110.
- Total – The total is an over/under bet on the number of points to be scored in the game by both teams. In the above example, the oddsmaker set the total at 147.5 points and you can bet on whether the points scored in the game will be over or under this amount.
Check out our college basketball betting page for a more in depth explanation of these three bets.
March Madness Futures
Popular futures bets for March Madness include betting on the NCAA Tournament champion, the Region winners, etc.
Here are the odds for the NCAA Tournament (odds taken on March 17th):
| Team | Seed | Bovada | BetOnline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 1 | +325 | +375 |
| Michigan | 1 | +325 | +400 |
| Arizona | 1 | +375 | +360 |
| Florida | 1 | +700 | +700 |
| Houston | 2 | +950 | +1200 |
| Iowa State | 2 | +1800 | +1600 |
| Connecticut | 2 | +2000 | +2200 |
| Illinois | 3 | +2100 | +2200 |
| Purdue | 2 | +2500 | +2000 |
| Gonzaga | 3 | +4000 | +6600 |
| Michigan State | 3 | +5500 | +6000 |
| Arkansas | 4 | +6000 | +4000 |
| St. John’s | 5 | +6000 | +5000 |
| Kansas | 4 | +7000 | +6600 |
| Vanderbilt | 5 | +7500 | +7500 |
| Virginia | 3 | +7500 | +6600 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | +8000 | +10000 |
| Texas Tech | 5 | +10000 | +10000 |
| Louisville | 6 | +12500 | +12500 |
| Tennessee | 6 | +12500 | +12500 |
| Alabama | 4 | +15000 | +6600 |
| Nebraska | 4 | +15000 | +10000 |
Duke, Michigan, and Arizona are the three favorites, while Florida and Houston round out the top contenders. I included the 22 teams with odds of 150-1 or better at Bovada. The odds will change as we progress through the tournament so head to Bovada.lv or BetOnline.ag to see the current odds.
Bet On NCAA Tournament in Missouri or Nebraska
Complete this three step guide to place your March Madness wagers online. I’m using BetOnline as the featured sporsbook in this section, but the steps would be basically the same to place March Madness bets at Bovada.lv.
Step 1. Join BetOnline.ag
Click the above link, select ‘Join Now’ on the landing page and complete the sign up form to open your account.
Step 2. Deposit Funds
Log into your account and click on the ‘Deposit’ button. Select your preferred deposit method, enter the deposit amount, and follow the instructions to make your deposit.
BetOnline accepts Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more.
Step 3. Place Your March Madness Bets
It’s time to bet on March Madness!
- Click ‘Sports’ from the top navigation bar on the BetOnline website.
- Open the ‘Basketball’ drop down menu and select ‘NCAA’ -> ‘NCAA Basketball Game’ or ‘NCAAM Futures’ -> ‘Championship’.
- Select the odds of the bet you want to make to add it to your Bet Slip.
- Enter your risk amount on the Bet Slip.
- If you’re happy with the risk amount and potential win amount, click ‘Place Bets’ to make the bet.
Ready to bet? Click here to visit BetOnline.ag.