Can You Bet on March Madness in Your State?

2027 NCAA Tournament Schedule

March Madness Betting Rules in All 50 States + D.C.

Legal status, minimum age, whether you can bet on your own state's college teams during the tournament, and the college player prop rule.

What's new in 2027: a 76-team field

The NCAA approved expanding both the men's and women's tournaments from 68 to 76 teams in May 2026. A 12-game Opening Round in Dayton and Wichita replaces the First Four, so there are more games to bet on before the round of 64 tips off on March 18.

Can you bet on your own state's school?

Most betting states let you bet on your own state's schools in the tournament. The exceptions matter in March: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, Maine, Delaware, South Dakota and Wisconsin bar bets on their own colleges even in the NCAA tournament, though other games in the bracket are fine. Illinois' ban has covered tournament games since its in-person exception expired in July 2024, and South Dakota has fined Deadwood casinos for taking bets on South Dakota State's tournament games.

Three states open up for the tournament. Massachusetts and Rhode Island allow bets on in-state teams in tournaments of four or more teams (Rhode Island bars props on those games), and Vermont allows them when its team is in the field. Connecticut and New Hampshire allow only whole-tournament futures placed before the tournament starts. Oregon's state app takes no college bets at all, and Washington's tribal casinos may take bets on in-state teams under a law that took effect in June 2026.

College player props in the tournament

15 states with legal betting ban player props on college athletes or take no college bets at all, including Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia, which never allowed them. Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio and Vermont dropped them after the NCAA asked, and in January 2026 the NCAA asked every gaming commission to follow; Indiana and Missouri said no. Where props are allowed, many states bar them for in-state schools. New for 2026: Kentucky banned under props on athletes in games involving Kentucky teams, and Washington banned props on athletes at its own schools. See the full college prop rules by state.

Brackets and office pools

A free bracket contest, like the ones the big sports sites run, is legal everywhere. A paid office pool is a different matter: analyses citing the American Gaming Association describe it as illegal in 37 states, and no state allows a pool run for profit. Some states exempt small social bets: Connecticut and Colorado carve out bets made as part of a bona fide social relationship, and Texas law gives a defense for private games where no one takes a cut and every player has the same chance.

Brackets are a national habit: an AP-NORC poll found 28% of adults fill one out at least some years, and 56% consider a paid bracket pool a form of gambling.

How much is bet on March Madness

The American Gaming Association estimated $3.3 billion in legal sportsbook bets on the 2026 men's and women's tournaments, up from $3.1 billion a year earlier, not counting prediction markets. Kalshi reported a record $12.35 billion in total trading in March 2026, and all ten of its most-traded markets that month were college basketball. More numbers are on our sports betting statistics page.

No legal betting where you live?

Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah have no legal sports betting. Prediction markets such as Kalshi, Polymarket US and ProphetX list tournament contracts in most of them. These are federally regulated exchanges, not sportsbooks, and availability varies: Kalshi's sports contracts are not offered in Michigan, Nevada or Utah, Polymarket US is blocked in Nevada and has sports off in Arizona, Maryland, Michigan and Tennessee, and about 20 states are in court with these platforms. Fantasy pick'em apps operate in more than 30 states. See our prediction markets and daily fantasy guides.

Sources

• ESPN: NCAA tournaments expand to 76 teams
• NCAA: 2027 men's tournament schedule
• Wichita State: Opening Round hosts
• NCAA: women's Final Four future sites
• Covers: AGA's March Madness 2026 estimate
• DeFi Rate: Kalshi's March 2026 volume
• AP-NORC: brackets and gambling (Feb. 2025)
• CNBC: office pools and state law
• Connecticut General Statutes ch. 946
• Colorado Revised Statutes 18-10-102
• Texas Penal Code 47.02
• Covers: the most consequential gaming bills of 2026
• Unabated: college betting rules by state (July 2026)
• SportsbookReview: college player prop betting by state
• NCAA: letter urging commissions to end college props (Jan. 2026)
• Illinois Gaming Board rule on college events
• New York Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law 1367
• Massachusetts General Laws ch. 23N, sec. 3
• Vermont Statutes title 31, sec. 1301
• Rhode Island General Laws 42-61.2-1
• Connecticut DCP ruling on in-state teams
• New Hampshire RSA 287-I:1
• Maine Revised Statutes title 8, sec. 1202
• Code of Virginia 58.1-4039
• Nebraska Revised Statutes 9-1103
• Washington SB 6137 (2026)
• Kentucky HB 904 (2026)
• KSMU: Missouri rejects the NCAA's request (Jan. 2026)
• Covers: Indiana rejects a college prop ban (Sept. 2026)
• Casino.org: South Dakota fines Deadwood books
• InGame: college football player props and prediction markets (Oct. 2026)
• CBS Sports: where prediction markets are legal (Nov. 2026)
• OddsShopper: Kalshi legal status by state
• Sharp Football Analysis: Polymarket US products and availability
• Action Network: where daily fantasy is legal