College Baseball World Series Odds
Held every June in Omaha, Nebraska, the College World Series is the men’s college baseball championship finals. It features the top eight teams from the 64-team NCAA Division I Baseball Championship Tournament. The top two from a pair of four-team brackets then go head-to-head in a best-of-three championship series to decide the National Champion.
Kentucky has eight NCAA Division I baseball programs, but only one has ever been to a College World Series. The Louisville Cardinals have appeared in 13 NCAA tournaments and five College World Series. Ironically, the University of Kentucky is the only SEC team that has never appeared in a College World Series. Meanwhile, Morehead State has appeared in three NCAA tournaments but has never gone as far as a College World Series, and although Murray State got within one win of the College World Series in 1979, they’ve never been either. Kentucky’s other four Division I baseball teams have yet to make an NCAA championship tournament.
All that means Louisville is a bit of a Kentucky college baseball powerhouse, and Cardinals betting should prove relatively popular here when the first Kentucky online sportsbooks launch in late 2023.
There won’t be many college baseball betting options, but it’s a good bet that most Kentucky online sportsbooks will take all the Louisville Cardinals and College World Series action you’ve got.
Keep reading for more on the College World Series, Louisville Cardinals baseball, all the latest odds on both, and the best places to place all your CWS bets next season.
College World Series odds 2024
Best College World Series betting sites
- DraftKings Sportsbook: DraftKings is one of the only online sportsbooks in the country that consistently posts college baseball game lines throughout the regular season. Run lines, moneylines, and totals are available for every College World Series game. Plus, an NCAA baseball futures market allows you to bet on the College World Series all year long. As of April 2023, DraftKings had the best odds in the country on the Louisville Cardinals winning the National Championship. Louisville was at +3500, while LSU is a +450 favorite.
- Caesars Sportsbook: Caesars posts odds for a select number of regular season college baseball games along with run lines, moneylines and totals for every College World Series game. Plus, there are College World Series futures available all year long. In April 2023, the Louisville Cardinals odds were at +2500 at Caesars to win the College World Series this season, compared to +500 favorites LSU.
- FanDuel Sportsbook: FanDuel posts only a limited number of college baseball lines for regular season games, and normally just moneylines. However, it has the College World Series covered with a full slate of CWS game lines and futures available. In April 2023, the FanDuel CWS futures market had Louisville at +2200, while LSU was the prohibitive favorite at +500.
- BetMGM Sportsbook: In April 2023, the only college baseball odds available on BetMGM were in its “College Baseball 2023 – Futures” market. These are College World Series futures that had LSU as +550 favorites, while the Louisville Cardinals were +2600 longshots. Based on BetMGM’s stated commitment to being a leader in college baseball odds, one can assume that College World Series game lines will be available once the CWS gets going.
How to bet on the CWS online in Kentucky
When Kentucky’s first online sportsbooks launch in 2023, you’ll be able to bet on the College World Series online. That means College World Series futures throughout the year and College World Series game lines once the CWS gets going. Here’s how:
- Click one of the links to a licensed Kentucky online sportsbook found on this page.
- Click the button that says “Join” or “Sign Up.”
- Fill out the pop-up forms with all the information required, starting with your name, email, and last four digits of your Social Security number and continuing with any KY sportsbook promo or bonus code you find listed on this page.
- Accept all terms and conditions.
- Once your account information and location are verified, deposit funds using anything from your debit card to your PayPal account.
- Browse the College Baseball World Series game lines or futures.
- Click on a bet you like.
- Fill out the instantly created bet slip to place your CWS bet.
College World Series odds boosts and promos
Kentucky online sportsbooks may run different College World Series-specific odds boosts and other valuable promotions next June. You can also use whatever new player bonuses they offer you to bet on the College World Series. Here are the kinds of new player bonuses the top online sportsbooks in the country will bring to Kentucky this year:
- DraftKings Sportsbook: $50 bonus bet with a $5 minimum deposit, plus up to $1,000 deposit match bonus.
- Caesars Sportsbook: Up to $1,000 in bet credits if you lose your first bet.
- BetMGM Sportsbook: Up to $1,500 in bonus bets on deposit.
- FanDuel Sportsbook: No Sweat First Bet up to $150.
Live CWS betting
Kentucky online sportsbooks should let you bet on College World Series games in the middle of the action. The odds will change with almost every pitch, but KY sportsbook apps will allow you to keep up with all the live run line, moneyline and totals odds and place various bets. Additional live props may also be available, letting you place bets on every at-bat.
CWS betting markets
Here’s a look at all the primary College World Series game lines and futures odds Kentucky online sportsbooks will have available:
CWS moneylines
Pick CWS game winners. Lock in the posted odds when you place your bet. You win if your team wins.
Let’s say the Louisville Cardinals are at -115 vs. the Kentucky Wildcats at +110. A $115 moneyline bet on Louisville would pay $100 plus your bet back if they win. A $100 bet on the Wildcats would pay $110 plus your bet back if they win.
Run lines
Run lines are baseball’s point spreads. The run line must be factored into the final score to determine which bets win. Standard run lines are 1.5 runs. You bet that a standard 1.5-run line favorite will win by two or more or that the underdog will lose by only one run or win outright.
Let’s say the Louisville Cardinals are at -1.5 (+110) vs. the Kentucky Wildcats at +1.5 (-105). Above, the Cardinals were the moneyline favorite, but the run line makes Kentucky the favorite. Louisville must win by two or more for run-line bets on the Cardinals to pay $110 for every $100 bet. You’ll win $100 for every $105 you bet on Kentucky if they win outright or lose by just one.
Totals
Totals are bets that the final combined score in a particular CWS game will land over or under a line set by sportsbooks. The odds are generally even on both the over and under.
Futures
This is where you bet teams to win the College World Series. Lock in the posted CWS odds when you place your bet. You win if your team wins the National Championship. College World Series betting odds are available all year long and change throughout the season. However, the best odds on the true favorites are generally available long before the CWS field is set, in the preseason or early part of the season.
College World Series National Champions
Here’s a look at how the College World Series has finished up since the best-of-three championship series format was adopted in 2003:
- 2003: Rice over Stanford 4-3, 3-8, 14-2
- 2004: Cal State Fullerton over Texas 6-4, 3-2
- 2005: Texas over Florida 4-2, 6-2
- 2006: Oregon State over North Carolina 3-4, 11-7, 3-2
- 2007: Oregon State over North Carolina 11-4, 9-3
- 2008: Fresno State over Georgia 6-7, 19-10, 6-1
- 2009: LSU over Texas 7-6, 1-5, 11-4
- 2010: South Carolina over UCLA 7-1, 2-1
- 2011: South Carolina over Florida 2-1, 5-2
- 2012: Arizona over South Carolina 5-1, 4-1
- 2013: UCLA over Mississippi State 3-1, 8-0
- 2014: Vanderbilt over Virginia 9-8, 2-7, 3-2
- 2015: Virginia over Vanderbilt 1-5, 3-0, 4-2
- 2016: Coastal Carolina over Arizona 0-3, 5-4, 4-3
- 2017: Florida Beat LSU 4-3, 6-1
- 2018: Oregon State over Arkansas 1-4, 5-3, 5-0
- 2019: Vanderbilt over Michigan 4-7, 4-1, 8-2
- 2021: Mississippi State over Vanderbilt 2-8, 13-2, 9-0
- 2022: Ole Miss over Oklahoma 10-3, 4-2