How to Bet On Sports > How to Bet on College Football

1. Place Bets On Nfl Games
2. Where To Place A Bet On College Football
3. How To Place A Bet On College Football

The success in that market proves just how much bettors love to bet on the game of football regardless of the league, and with the XFL coming back for 2021, and the league's initiative to welcome sports betting talk and referencing with open arms, there is likely tremendous growth in store for XFL betting markets in the future. College football player prop bets are a unique way to place wagers on college football games in which the final point total plays no factor in the out come of the bet.

• College Football Moneyline Betting The moneyline is the original way to bet on football, and it remains in use to this day. This is where you bet on one team or the other to win straight-up; in the very rare event of a tie, your wager is graded as a push. Here’s what the moneyline for.
• The most popular college football bet is betting against the spread (ATS). Against the spread betting isn’t about picking a winner of the game, it’s about picking the.
• Moneyline betting isn’t the most popular way to wager on college football, or football more generally, but it’s a good starting point for new bettors as the least complicated bet type to understand. In moneyline betting, you’re asked to predict the winner of a game, plain.

“Show me a good and gracious loser, and I’ll show you a failure.” – Knute Rockne, Notre Dame

Introduction

Welcome to SportsInsights.com’s Sports Betting Academy, designed to provide even the most novice sports bettor a look into the different aspects of sports betting. The focus of this article is how to bet on College Football. The college game is a completely different animal from its NFL counterpart, providing bettors with a greater slate of games throughout the week, including 30+ matchups on Saturday alone. We will prepare by starting with the basic college football betting types, including: spread bets, moneyline, totals, parlays/teasers and halftimes.

Spread Bets

Place Bets On Nfl Games

Just like the NFL, college football’s most popular wager is the spread bet. The spread is a type of bet that equalizes the chance of winning a wager (see example below). The spread, or line, for college football is generally released days in advance of the game (these release dates will vary due to college football’s games taking place Tuesday-Saturday). An underdog team’s spread will be accompanied with a “+”, while a “-” indicates a team that is favored. The example below demonstrates an example of a spread bet:

The juice for this game is -115 for the underdog. The juice can be thought of as a fee the bookmaker charges for you to place the bet. Typically, the juice for any side wager is -110, but several sportsbooks offer reduced juice. In this example, a winning bet of $115 would yield $100 profit, for a total of $215 ($115 bet + $100 profit = $215 total). Despite losing the game, Michigan covered the spread by losing by less than 3 points.

Moneyline

A Moneyline (ML) takes the spread out of the equation as bettors simply pick who they think will win the game. Different odds placed next to each team will quantify the payout of betting on either team. The example below from the SI Archive should clarify things:

As you can see, a bet of $375 on Alabama would yield a profit of $100. Generally, the Moneyline is a direct reflection of the spread. For example, the spread for this game closed at 7.5, which helps to explain the drastic ML odds. With the amount of games available on any given Saturday, a bettor may choose to parlay (see below) several big favorites, which will increase the risk AND the payout of the wager.

The Spread and Moneyline are contributing factors for SportsInsights’ Steam Moves and Smart Money plays.

1st Quarter/Half Lines

Every major U.S. sport is broken down into division, whether it is quarters, halftimes, periods, or innings. Naturally, the bookmakers have made available wagers for these partitions, and for NCAA football, they are known as the 1st quarter and Halftime lines. As one might expect, the 1st quarter line is generally a quarter of the entire game’s line, while the first half line is usually about half of the entire spread. These lines are available at all reputable sportsbooks.

Halftime Lines

Halftime wagers are only available during halftime of the contest. Our Sportsbook Insider software helps bettors track how the halftime lines and halftime betting percentages fluctuate during the small window that is halftime.

Halftime lines use the events of the 1st half to help determine how the rest of the game will play out. In this example, the bookmakers expect the Tar Heels to continue to dominate their rivals, however, the Blue Devils endure the 1st half deficit to help cover the halftime spread, despite losing the overall game. Halftime action can be a good way to capitalize on middle plays.

Totals

Another popular side bet for NCAA Football is the Total or Over/Under (O/U). The sportsbooks determine what they believe will be the total points scored by EACH TEAM and the bettor places a wager on the over or under of that total. The example below shows the final total for the 2011 Texas Bowl:

Like many bowl games, the majority of bets in this contest were placed on the over, to the tune of 77%. In this instance, public money pushed the total line up three full points, while the final total landed under at 52. A wager of $115 on the opening under would earn a profit of $100 due to the increased juice originally placed on the under.

Parlay/Teasers

A parlay is spread, moneyline, or total bet in combination to increase the payout. In order for a parlay to payout, or hit, EACH one of the wagers must win. A teaser involves the same stipulations as a parlay, only you select a number of points to put down to decrease the risk (and reward) of a parlay. For example, if a proposed line is -7 (a popular number for football lines) and you have a 3-point teaser bet, your new line is -4. This 3-point advantage applies to each part of the teaser play. Below is a chart of the typical parlay payout structure:

There is nothing like waking up on a Saturday morning, turning on ESPN Gameday, and watching college football games until you’re blue in the face. The only thing that makes this even more exciting is when you add sports betting to the mix.

Not only does your favorite team winning get your fan-side happy, but now it can also get your wallet a little fatter as well. You can also make games that you normally wouldn’t care too much about all that more exciting.

What we’d like to talk about today are the different college football betting sites available to you, which are the best, and how to select the sportsbook that is right for you. If you’ve already got a hot tip or pick and you’re just making a quick stop here to find somewhere to bet, we’ve got you covered. Below you’ll find our list of the highest rated and most trusted college football betting sites available on the net.

Choosing the Best College Football Betting Site for You

If you’re looking for a little more direction in where to bet college football games, we totally get it. For people that are planning on betting a lot of games, this can be a pretty big decision. The college football betting site you choose can have a big impact on your bottom line, how many bets you win, and your overall fun and enjoyment of the process (which is still important even if your goal is making money).

Below you’ll find a collection of several tips and things you need to know to help you select the best college football betting site specifically for you and your needs. While none of these are hard and fast rules, we highly recommend you take them all to heart. These tips are from our team of experts who have been professionally betting college football for many years, and they know what is important.

Pay Attention to What Conferences You Bet

College football is broken up into several different divisions and then broken down even further into several different conferences. Basically, there are A LOT of different games going on every single week. Most online sportsbooks that cover college football betting are going to cover the major conferences and games within Division I. However, different online sportsbooks are going to cover way different amounts of the smaller Division I games and way different amounts of the smaller division games.

If you’re someone that only likes to bet the higher profile games, this isn’t going to be a big deal for you. Anywhere you go to bet is most likely going to cover what it is that you are looking for (at least in terms of “to-win” bets). However, if you like betting the smaller conference games or your favorite team that isn’t a huge national powerhouse, you’re going to need to look around for a site that caters to the hardcore college football bettor.

Figuring out this information is pretty easy during the football season. First, the list we’ve provided of recommended sites do a great job of covering a lot of games including the smaller conference schedules. To find out if your team or conference is covered, you’re going to need to go to the site and open up their betting lobby. If you see the games that you’re looking to bet, awesome. If you don’t, most likely they aren’t covering that conference or that particular game. Do keep in mind that if it’s not during football season, every site is probably not going to show many games to bet at all. Most likely all you are going to see are the futures bets about who is going to win the next National Championship.

The bottom line here is to find the site that caters to what you need. Need a lot of variety…find a site that offers it. We’ve done our best to recommend sites above that go above and beyond when it comes to variety.

Line Shopping is Huge

Sometimes it feels like we’re beating a dead horse when we talk about line shopping, but it really is that important of a factor when it comes to betting on any sport including college football. So, what is line shopping and what does it have to do with selecting a college football betting site?

In short, line shopping is checking multiple sportsbooks for a better payout on a bet or more points in your favor on a spread bet. Sportsbooks don’t change their odds based on the entire industry; they only change them based on the bets that they have received in their individual book. This means that you’re going to see varying payout odds and spread lines frequently. Furthermore, this means that you can make the exact bet at two different sportsbooks and get paid out better at one or you can get more points in your favor on a spread bet.

Imagine if you were betting the Florida Gators against the Tennessee Volunteers. If one sportsbook is offering you the Gators at -7.5 and the other is offering them at -7, you would be a fool not to bet at the book offering you -7. If the Gators end up winning the game by 7 points, you will push on your bet (tie) at the second sportsbook, but more importantly, you would LOSE your bet at the first sportsbook. It’s the exact same bet on the exact same game with the exact same payout except because you took the time to see if there was a better line you broke even instead of losing your bet.

So, what does this have to do with selecting a college football betting site? The takeaway here is that you really should be looking for 2-3 sites to join if you’re serious about making money. You don’t have to go crazy and join 10 sportsbook sites, but joining a couple is plenty to be able to shop lines. Often, you won’t find much difference in lines or payouts, but when you do, it can have a big effect on your bottom line and win/loss record.

College Football Betting Promotions

It’s no secret that the online sportsbook industry is a heavily competitive market. Sites are constantly fighting and trying to find ways to entice you to bet with them instead of with someone else. This means that you can always expect to see a lot of promotions aimed at acquiring new bettors and promotions aimed at retaining existing bettors.

While college football almost always qualifies for the general online sportsbook promotions, there are often specific promotions aimed at college football bettors. A lot of times these promotions are shorter lived but much more lucrative and enticing than the regular promos offered. Especially around the beginning of the season and bowl time, you should be on the lookout for these promotions.

Remember, these promos are aimed at new users, but they are also aimed at existing bettors. If the site you are betting with has a great promo they are offering new customers that you are interested in, it doesn’t hurt to contact customer support and see if they are able to offer it to you as well. The worst they can say is no. For the other promotions that are already aimed at existing customers, make sure you see if you have to opt into these or not. It’s usually free to join the promotion, but you can’t take advantage of it unless you let the site know that you want to. Not all sites do this, but it is a bit of a common practice. If you are unsure, just ask customer support BEFORE you place your bets or make your deposit. They should be able to clarify things as each promo is going to be different.

Prop Bets and Bet Variety

When it comes time for college football bowl season, you can expect most sites that are offering action to offer prop bets on most of the games. During the regular season, though, not every online sportsbook is going to offer more than standard “to-win” bets on games. If you’re someone that likes to bet more than just who is going to win the game, you are going to need to be selective about where you bet.

Again, the sites we have recommended are at the top regarding prop bet options throughout the season, but you still need to make sure they are offering the types of bets you like to make. Remember, not all prop bets are wild and wacky and only for fun. A lot of them are statistically based and are a way that a lot of serious bettors make a lot of money.

One additional thing we would like to mention with prop bets is that the payout odds seem to vary much more from site to site than they do with your standard “to-win” bets. This means that if you are betting a lot of prop bets you really should make sure that you are lien shopping these bets. Remember, you don’t have to make all of your bets on a particular game at the same site. You can have some bets at one site and the rest somewhere else depending on who is going to pay you out the best odds.

Where To Place A Bet On College Football

This is a lot like grocery shopping at multiple stores to save money except in this scenario you don’t have to drive a bunch of different places. You just have to click over to one of your other accounts and see what they are offering. The only reason not to do this is laziness, and you’ll never survive as a sports bettor if you’re not willing to put in a little bit of work.

The Wrap-Up

By now you should have a solid idea of which college football betting sites are the best out there and how to select the one that is the best for you. Remember, this decision might seem small, but it can be the difference on whether you make a profit or lose money. For recreational bettors, it’s equally as important because no one wants to waste their time betting with a site that is hard to navigate, doesn’t take care of its customers, and can’t be trusted.

How To Place A Bet On College Football

Because there are some bad apples in the industry, we highly recommend you utilize one of the college football betting sites we’ve recommended at the top of this page. Our experts know what to look for and how to test a site to make sure that it can be trusted and offers the best possible betting experience for its customers.