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For me, Elite 8 betting is one of the best parts of the whole March Madness month. Upsets have happened, the less-interesting games are done and the Conference champions are about to be crowned.
If we have learned anything from the past it’s that, just because there are only eight teams left doesn’t mean that betting gets any easier. There are plenty of examples where long-odds underdogs for the NCCAA Conference Championships at the start of March Madness have made the Elite 8. Keen to try and navigate the madness? Let’s get started…
I’ve chosen five of my favorite fantasy sports platforms and social sportsbooks that you can use for this year’s Elite Eight. Each of these sites have been selected because they give you a legal, safe and enjoyable way to play. Let’s have a closer look:
Fliff is my current social sportsbook of choice for all sports, and you can count on it giving you a great way to play on this year’s March Madness. This is especially true when it comes to those massive rounds like the Elite Eight because Fliff has a massive community of fans and it produces a vast range of quality odds for NCAA basketball. You can get started here with a welcome offer that gives you 600,000 Fliff Coins and 100 Fliff Cash and from here you can either play for fun or aim to redeem one of those cash prizes.
I also have really liked playing at Sportzino recently. It manages to give you a great range of moneyline, spread and totals bets for all major sporting events, and so it’s worth a look for this year’s Elite Eight. Sign up to Sportzino for the first time and you will get GC 150,000 and six SC. The Gold Coins can be used to play for pure entertainment, while you can redeem real money prizes with those Sweepstakes Coins.
If you are anything like me, you might find some of those massive DFS sites a little overwhelming and hard to win at too. You won’t have any of these problems at ParlayPlay because everything about this brand is fun and easy. The contests just require you to make some simple statistic-based predictions and you can do it for this year’s Elite Eight. What’s best is that you can take a share of some big prize pools and get your first qualifying deposit matched by 100% up to $100.
OwnersBox is one of the rising stars of the DFS seen and it can be counted on for the Elite Eight stage of March Madness. You can enjoy the Superflex DFS contests that give you a fun way to assemble your line-ups, while the Lightning Lineups option is also worth a look. OwnersBox has many low cost paid contests that are good for rookies, while those prize pools will make it worth your while. There’s also an impressive welcome offer that could match your deposit by 100% up to $500.
I think that Sleeper is another excellent choice when it comes to fantasy betting on the Elite Eight. Here you will find three main game modes that offer you plenty of flexibility in how you build your line-ups and there is a good range of tournaments with varying entry fees and prize pools. Once again, Sleeper has a good welcome offer to get you started as it’ll match your first deposit by 100% up to $100.
Before we get into the ins and outs of the fun that is Elite 8 betting, I’d like to first highlight a few of the best sites to place your wagers if you are based outside of the US. In the table below, I’ve also included details about the best March Madness betting promo offered by each sportsbook:
Betting site | Welcome bonus | Promo code |
---|---|---|
Stake.com | Exclusive: 200% up to $2,000 | GAMECHAMPIONS |
BC.Game | 180% up to $20,000 | N/A |
GG.Bet | 150% up to $150 | N/A |
Vulkan.bet | 100% up to $500 | N/A |
Bet365 | $100 bet credits | N/A |
If you’re looking for fast updates and competitive live Elite 8 odds, this is the best sportsbook online in my opinion. The first-class in-play betting interface includes a streaming screen, where you can watch all NCAA basketball games live, including the Elite 8.
Perhaps one of the best things about this betting site, is that there is an exclusive 200% up to $2,000 welcome offer available when you sign up with the promo code GAMECHAMPIONS. Your bonus credit and wagering time is 30 days, so you can make it last the whole of March Madness if you register on the day of the First Four.
Want to know a secret about betting odds? They don’t show the true probability for each outcome because they add juice to protect the bookies’ profits. As a crypto gambling site, BC.Game still adds the “juice”, but it adds much less. Therefore here you will find better odds than you will on most mainstream betting sites.
There are no limits on your Elite 8 bets on this site, and the high-limits theme extends to the welcome offer. On your first four deposits, you can get a combined 180% match up to $20,000.
What if I told you there’s an online betting site that provides tools to help your potential to win? You’d probably call me a liar, right? Well, that’s exactly what GG.Bet offers with its Datasheets and stats that you can use to research your Elite 8 wagers.
Most welcome deposit matches only run up to a maximum of 100%, but GG.Bet gives you 150%. Moreover, I’ve tested out this bonus and I can gladly inform you that the T&Cs are actually pretty reasonable too.
If you’re new to sports betting, you might find all of the stats and tools on GG.Bet a little bit confusing. Vulkan.bet, is a similar type of site. Only with a simplified interface that is a little bit more user-friendly. As a result, it is the number one recommendation for beginners.
When you make your first deposit between $10 and $500, you can get a 100% match in the form of bet credits to use on Elite 8 wagers. What I like about this is the minimum and maximum bonus deposit limits suit most budgets.
If you have even just a little bit of experience in the online gambling world, you’ve probably heard of Bet365. As the more mainstream option, this is one of the best basketball betting websites and you will find regular March Madness and Elite 8 odds boosts and specials throughout the tournaments.
Although not available in every country, the most prevalent Bet365 welcome offer gets you £/$/€100 in bet credits. My advice is to always double-check what the bonus T&Cs are in your jurisdiction before signing up.
The Elite 8 is the round where the East, South, West, and Midwest NCAA Conference champions are crowned. As there are four Conference brackets, the best teams are usually not up against each other at this stage.
This can make the Elite 8 odds to win a little bit clearer and more one-sided than they are at other stages of the tournament. That’s why I often look at the points spread, or totals markets instead.
Regardless, here are some of the main factors that I always consider when making my Elite 8 betting picks each year:
Do you want to know one of the biggest mistakes people make in sports betting? People often think that the betting odds for March Madness are more or less the same on all betting sites.
While it’s true that the Elite 8 odds for most betting lines all start at pretty much the same price, they can often end up very different. As bettors, we tend to focus on the court and sporting matters. After all, we’re basketball fans, so why wouldn’t we?
However, the bookies have another side of things to think about – the money. Say one bookie sees a lot of money coming in on Purdue, then they are likely to shorten the odds on the opposition.
Not all sportsbooks are always going to see the same money coming in on the same outcomes, which can result in differing March Madness bracket betting odds. Additionally, some betting sites are more on the ball than others when it comes to spotting injuries and adjusting their odds accordingly.
If you look through all of the pre-game and live betting options, there are literally hundreds of Elite 8 markets. Naturally, some are more popular than others – with these being the best in my eyes:
If you want to get your betting done well in advance of the Elite 8 stage of the March Madness bracket, you can look at the Conference championship futures markets. You will find the highest odds here, but earlier Elite 8 predictions are tougher to call correctly.
Sometimes, the simplest wagers are the best. Even as an expert, I’m not going to go in search of some niche hipster prop bet if there’s decent value to be found by picking a game winner on the moneyline.
If the moneyline is a bit too unbalanced, the points spread is a good place to look. As the underdog is given a points advantage and the favorite a handicap, the Elite 8 odds start at the same price here (-110). Not the most mouthwatering potential returns, but it’s a relatively safe way to maintain your bankroll.
Elite 8 games are notoriously unpredictable, which is reflected in how long the NCAA Championship game odds are at the start of March Madness. That’s why I often look at the over/under line, as the outcome of the game doesn’t matter – only the combined points total.
The over/under can be a bit simple, and the -110 odds on either side have little movement. Sometimes, there is a little nugget of a props bet with a bit more intrigue and slightly better value that’s worth a shot.
At the end of the day Elite 8 betting is exciting and not as unpredictable as some may have you believe. Sure the fact that no top seeds made it to the Elite 8 in 2023 always gets touted, but once you’re betting on the Elite 8 stage itself, such upsets don’t matter anymore.
Above all else, the most important thing is to register with a reputable sportsbook and to shop around for the best odds. Remember that you can always bookmark this page for updates, tips and predictions for March Madness 2024.
You can find current and up-to-date odds for all Elite 8 March Madness betting markets here at GameChampions.com. Additionally, I have provided you with my top betting tips for who will be the NCAA South, East West, and Midwest Conference champions.
In 2023, no No. 1 sides or favorites in the Vegas odds made it to the Elite 8 stage of the bracket in March Madness. Will there be a repeat this year? Check out the current odds here at GameChampions.com.
You can bet on the Elite 8 and other March Madness brackets on many online sportsbooks. In my experience, Stake.com and bet365 are among your best options.
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