When you are first starting out with college basketball betting, you may need some guidance. This is perfectly reasonable, because no one is perfect, especially in the beginning. Making college basketball picks can be quite hard. With that in mind, here are three important tips to remember.

Home teams are the best teams

As you make your picks, remember that home teams have to be your go-to. People who rely on road teams with their college basketball picks often fall flat. If you are going to have any sort of sustained success, then your strategy must be bolstered by more home team bets. College hoops crowds are notoriously difficult on opposing teams. This means that you need to have the home crowd on your side if you are going to come away with a good result.

Don’t count on free throws

Many people will make college basketball bets on favorites, fully expecting those favorites to cover the margin late with made free throws. Yes, it can happen. No, you should not expect it to happen every time. In many cases, a team will give up easy baskets, even as they make their free throws. You should not count on this to help you cover in a game. Instead, you should do everything in your power to make bets on teams that will have a legitimate lead going into the final couple of minutes. You might get some value out of the last few minutes, but you should not depend upon it.

When all else fails, defense wins

As you make college basketball bets, do your best not to pick teams that forget how to play defense. Sure, it is possible to win by just playing good offense. But you will do much better by taking those clubs that also play great D. Defense is something that will show up, even when shots are not falling. This will give you an insurance policy when betting. If you happened to just bet on a club that only played good offense, then you would be in trouble on those nights when the shots just weren’t finding the bottom of the net.