College Football Betting Sites
Opening Lines in college football are typically set on Sunday afternoons in the current week and you usually see immediate action cause line movement. The Spread is based on a rough projection of a score for every matchup, although oddsmakers have a good idea of what side the betting public will want to bet and usually saddles that team with an. The majority of college football betting sites accept credit cards like American Express, MasterCard and Visa. You can also use e-wallets (PayPal, Neteller, Skrill) and debit. A more recent development in online betting is cryptocurrency. If you can use Bitcoin (BTC) to make a deposit, you’re looking at a fast and easy funding experience.
Nothing screams Americana quite like the smell of cut grass on a hot fall Saturday afternoon, cold beers, and NCAA College Football. The best way to up the stakes and enhance Saturday afternoons is to place some action on your favorite NCAAF game, and our guide to USA College Football betting can keep bettors inside the legal field of play by avoiding penalties.
Our guide will provide you with the best college football betting options, from domestic sportsbooks to online betting sites that can be accessed nearly anywhere in the United States. Our guide to college football betting has insight into the Power 5 conferences, as well as College Football Playoff and bowl game odds for which teams are favored to qualify for the NCAAF postseason.
Before you place at a USA football betting site in 2020-21, take a few moments to read through our guide for the best in NCAAF wagering that the web has to offer, as well as strategies that can inform new bettors on what steps to take prior to risking any money.
Best USA Online Sportsbook
To Bet On NCAAF Football Games
College football has a loyal following that includes avid USA sports bettors. Bovada caters to these die hard fans through offering a strong selection of NCAAF betting lines, odds and paylines. They cover teams from across the country and include a variety of prop bets, futures, over/under lines, parlays, live betting, in play betting, mobile betting and a host of additional wagering options.
Bovada is accessible from your computer or mobile device and accepts the most popular cryptocurrency in the market, Bitcoin. Bovada's welcome bonus for their sportsbook offers new players a 50% match bonus up to $250 on your first deposit. Bovada's online gambling platform also includes a casino, poker room and racebook. They are owned and operated by the popular Bodog brand and live up to this brand's reputation quite well. Bovada accepts players from all states except for DE, MD, NJ and NV.
Top USA Online Sportsbooks
Offering College Football lines
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Why Are These The Best College Football Betting Sites?
There are several factors that go into an elite-caliber college football betting site, but here are our top 5 reasons for picking the online sportsbooks found above.
1. Trusted - When we get down to brass tacks, the most important factor is whether you get paid for a winning bet and because each of the sportsbooks listed above have been around longer than most sites in the industry, we can confidently say that they're the safest bet you can make on NCAA football anywhere in the USA.
2. Freedom - Anyone who is at least 18 years old can sign up and bet on any of the hundreds of betting lines and prop bets that are posted ahead of each week's slate of games during the college football season. With essentially no restrictions on what can and can't be wagered on, just about anything during a contest is fair game!
3. Value - When it comes to line shopping and getting competitive odds, the college football betting sites we recommend easily take the cake. Several sportsbooks out there fill their lines with juice, but these sites prefer to squeeze out the vigorish and provide you with the best bang for your buck.
4. Bonuses - And speaking of value: Why not double your money this college football season by selecting a bonus or promotion? All the sites above cater to the rookies and veterans of the betting world by adding more money to your account, so you have more opportunities to score big during the season. Many bonuses are based on deposit matching, but there are several opportunities to stuff your bankroll with promo cash.
5. Experience - Because our recommended college football betting sites are industry leaders, they each have built an infrastructure that is made to give bettors the best user experience that you'll find anywhere. Whether your betting on college football from a computer or mobile device, before or during the game (via live/in-play wagering), the services provided by these online sportsbooks are unmatched by anyone on the Internet.
2020-21 NCAAF National Championship Odds
Each College Football postseason, the NCAA rolls out its final four teams to compete for the College Football Playoffs National Championship. Although the 2020-21 season is going to be very different due to the national Coronavirus situation, there will still be a CFP series and a National Championship game. The latest College Football National Title Odds can be found below.
Next season's NCAAF Conference odds TBA. The following 2020-21 odds are posted below for reference.
ACC Winner
- Clemson (#1) -700
- Notre Dame (#7) +600
- Miami Florida (#12) +900
- North Carolina (#11) +1100
- Virginia Tech (#20) +1600
- Pittsburgh (#21) +2000
- Virginia +4000
- Florida State +7500
- Louisville (#24) +7500
- Boston College +9000
- Wake Forest +10000
- Georgia Tech +12500
- NC State +12500
- Duke +15000
- Syracuse +15000
Big 12 Winner
- Oklahoma (#3) +105
- Texas (#9) +110
- Oklahoma State (#15) +550
- Iowa State +1000
- Baylor +1200
- TCU +2000
- West Virginia +2500
- Kansas State +6600
- Texas Tech +8000
- Kansas +25000
SEC Champion
- Alabama (#2) -145
- Florida (#5) +255
- Georgia (#4) +500
- Mississippi State +1000
- Texas A&M (#10) +1800
- Tennessee (#16) +2800
- Auburn (#8) +3300
- LSU (#6) +4000
- Kentucky (#23) +10000
- Mississippi +15000
- South Carolina +15000
- Missouri +20000
- Arkansas +25000
- Vanderbilt +30000
Big Ten Champion
- Ohio State -400
- Penn State +475
- Wisconsin +500
- Michigan +2000
- Iowa +2500
- Minnesota +2800
- Nebraska +6600
- Purdue +10000
- Indiana +15000
- Michigan State +25000
- Northwestern +35000
- Maryland +40000
- Illinois +50000
Big Ten East Division Winner
- Ohio State -450
- Michigan +400
- Penn State +700
- Michigan State +3000
- Indiana +4500
- Maryland +8500
Big Ten West Division Winner
- Illinois +3000
- Iowa +225
- Minnesota +550
- Nebraska +300
- Northwestern +4000
- Purdue +2000
- Wisconsin +150
PAC 12 Champion
- Oregon +220
- USC +250
- Washington U +280
- Utah +500
- Washington State +1400
- Arizona State +1800
- UCLA +2000
- Arizona +2500
- California +3000
- Stanford +5000
- Oregon State +8000
- Colorado +10000
Is It Legal To Bet On NCAAF Games In The US?
Yes, it is absolutely legal to place bets on college football games as long as you are selective about where you place those bets and base your choices on complying with USA sports betting laws. Some states in the USA feature regulated domestic sportsbooks for in-person and/or online NCAAF betting. For bettors not located near a region that allows for domestic sports betting, online betting sites operating outside of the jurisdiction of the United States are legal to use and are open 24 hours a day.
The reason betting with an offshore sportsbook will not get USA bettors into any trouble is that gambling laws do not mention wagering over the net with an international website. CT and WA have laws that forbid all online betting, but our preferred betting sites accept members from those states. Considering all of these factors, being aware of all the information regarding sports betting in your region is the best practice.
Mobile College Football Betting
American society has been moving away from stationary devices at such a fast rate that laptops no longer seem portable. Tablets and smartphones are always nearby and offer the perfect outlet to allow for mobile sports betting. The entire sportsbook site can be accessed via an iPad, iPhone, or Android-powered device just by clicking on one of the links we've provided using a current mobile browser.
Smartphones and tablets are quickly converted into hand-held college football betting portals, with active response control that behaves like a downloadable app that doesn't require going to the Google Play or App Store. These betting applications are web-based and can be accessed quickly, all while offering premium security and data encryption. A functioning device, some money to risk, and a connection to the web are all that is needed to wager on NCAAF while on the move.
Bitcoin NCAAF Betting
Online sportsbooks are always looking to entice new members to join up and take advantage of their services, and most of the sites we recommend for college football betting prefer the use of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as a form of deposit and withdrawal. Sportsbook welcome bonus cash offers increase in value up to 3X when using Bitcoin to add funds to member's bankrolls. BTC is also the only method of withdrawal that can be completed within 24 hours of its request, while all other currencies will take a minimum of one day or more to process.
Differences Between Betting on College Football and the NFL
While similar in many ways at first glance, there are some notable differences between NFL and college football. NCAA Division I Football has 130 teams split into various conferences but the major groups (ACC, BIG TEN, BIG 12, PAC-12, SEC) are known as the Power 5 Conferences.
The NCAA recently changed Division I to allow a 4-team semifinal playoff to decide the national champion known as the College Football Playoff. The NFL is made of 32 franchises who play a 16-game season over 17 weeks.
The playoffs consist of 14 teams, 7 from the AFC and 7 from the NFC, in a single-elimination double bracket with the winner of the AFC and NFC playing for the NFL championship.
The CFP National Championship Game is similar to betting on the Super Bowl, in that both games feature extremely high ratings, high bet volumes, and feature the final two remaining teams competing for a title.
The key difference with betting on the two is college football has disparity due to the number of teams in Division I with only a handful of contenders each year.
The NFL, on the other hand, has more parity in play each week due to a salary cap and the worst teams being able to draft the best players the following season, keeping a balance and a level playing field in the process.
Why You Should Bet On College Football
In short: Betting on college football is an American tradition. This year marks the 151st anniversary of football with the first-ever game being played between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869. Rutgers beat Princeton 6-4, and you can bet that this was the first football game that had money riding on it.
Since then, many sports betting innovations - such as the invention of the point spread by Charles Kline McNeil - began with wagering on NCAA football games.
With dozens of games available each Saturday, there's a smorgasbord of choices you can make before heading out to the pregame tailgating parties. Millions of fans from around the country bleed their favorite schools' colors, but how many can turn that passion into profit?
If you think you know the in's and out's of the collegiate game, then there's no question you should dive right into betting on college football.
How Are NCAAF Conferences Structured?
In NCAA Division I football, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC make up the Power 5 Conferences and are the most competitive at the collegiate level.
Outside of these 5 conferences exist a second-tier group, which consists of the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, MWC, and SBC.
Currently, there are seven teams (Notre Dame*, Army, BYU, UConn, Liberty, UMass, New Mexico State) who are FBS Independents and do not compete in any conference.
Here is a breakdown of how each Power 5 Conference is structured:
*Notre Dame has elected to participate in the ACC for the 2020-21 College Football season.
ACC – Atlantic Coast Conference
The ACC was established in 1953 and currently has 14 members who field college football teams. Notre Dame is a member of the conference in all sports except football due to football broadcast rights with NBC. The 14 teams are split into two divisions. For the 2020-21 season, there will be no divisions within the ACC, and there will be 15 teams competing due to the addition of Notre Dame for the year.
Atlantic Division
- Boston College Eagles
- Clemson Tigers
- Florida State Seminoles
- Louisville Cardinals
- C. State Wolfpack
- Syracuse Orange
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Coastal Division
- Duke Blue Devils
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Miami Hurricanes
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Virginia Tech Hokies
The team with the best divisional record at the end of the season wins the division, and the winner of the Atlantic and Coastal divisions play at the end of the regular season in the ACC Championship to decide the winner of the conference. *This year, because of COVID-19 restrictions, Notre Dame has joined the ACC for the duration of the 2020-21 season. There will be no divisions, with the top two overall teams advancing to the ACC championship game.
Big Ten – Big 10 Conference
The Big Ten was established in 1896 and is the oldest Division I athletic conference in the United States. Currently, the conference has 14 members who field college football teams with the teams being split into two divisions:
East Division
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Maryland Terrapins
- Michigan Wolverines
- Michigan State Spartans
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights
West Division
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Northwestern Wildcats
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Wisconsin Badgers
The team with the best divisional record at the end of the season wins the division, and the winner of the East and West divisions play at the end of the regular season in the Big Ten Championship to decide the Big Ten Champion. The Big 12 has decided to participate in the 2020-2021 NCAAF season and will operate using an abbreviated schedule because of the Coronavirus and its effect on their college campuses.
Big 12 – Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference was established in 1994 and currently has 10 members who field college football teams. The 10 teams all play each other and are not split into divisions:
Big 12 Members
Baylor Bears
Iowa State Hawkeyes
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas State Wildcats
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma State Cowboys
TCU Horned Frogs
Texas Longhorns
Texas Tech Red Raiders
West Virginia Mountaineers
Each team plays one another during the regular season, competing in a round-robin structure with the two teams with the best conference record playing at the end of the season in the Big 12 Championship to decide the Big 12 Champion.
Pac-12 – Pacific-12 Conference
The Pac-12 Conference was founded in 1959 and currently has 12 members who field college football teams. The Pac-12 has decided to shorten the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 concerns and play a six-game schedule with a conference championship game.
North Division
- California Golden Bears
- Oregon Ducks
- Oregon State Beavers
- Stanford Cardinals
- Washington Huskies
- Washington State Cougars
South Division:
- Arizona Wildcats
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- Colorado Buffaloes
- UCLA Bruins
- USC Trojans
- Utah Utes
Every team plays nine conference games, five in the division and four outside the division, and the team with the best overall conference record in both the North and South division play in the Pac-12 Championship at the end of the regular season to decide the Pac-12 Champion.
SEC – Southeastern Conference
The SEC was founded in 1932 and currently has 14 members who field college football teams, which are split into two divisions:
East Division
- Florida Gators
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Missouri Tigers
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Vanderbilt Commodores
West Division:
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Auburn Tigers
- LSU Tigers
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Texas A&M Aggies
The team with the best divisional record at the end of the season wins the division, and the winner of the East and West divisions play at the end of the regular season in the SEC Championship to decide the winner of the conference.
Past Power 5 Conference Football Champions
Below you'll find a list of the football champions for each of the Power 5 Conferences dating back to 2014 when the College Football Playoff was established for determining a National Champion at the NCAA Division I FBS level.
ACC: Clemson (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), Florida State (2014)
Big Ten: Michigan State (2015), Ohio State (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), Penn State (2016)
Big 12: Oklahoma (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
Pac-12: Oregon (2014, 2019, 2020), Stanford (2015), USC (2017), Washington (2016, 2018)
SEC: LSU (2019), Alabama (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020), Georgia (2017)
Notre Dame was selected to the CFP during the 2018-19 season after going 12-0 without a conference championship due to its status as an Independent in NCAA Division I FBS. They were also selected in 2020 to go to the CFP as a member of the ACC, although they lost the Conference Championship Game to Clemson.
College Football Playoff Selection Process
Since 2014, the CFP Selection Committee determines the four teams to put into the College Football Playoff on the Sunday following the results from Conference Championship Weekend. The committee reviews the win-loss record, head-to-head results, and general strength of schedule of every team and seeds them with No.1 playing No.4 and No.2 playing No.3. The winner of No.1 vs. No.4 and No.2 vs. No.3 play then play in the CFP National Championship to decide the National Champion for the season. Several college football conferences have canceled their 2020-21 seasons, but the CFP selection committee is planning on awarding a National Champion in 2020-21
2020-21 College Football Playoffs
- Semi: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
- Semi: No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State
- NC: TBD
Past College Football Playoff Results
Below you can find all of the results from the CFP Semifinals and National Championship games since the four-team knockout tournament was established in 2014.
2014-15 Champion: Ohio State Buckeyes
- Semi: No.2 Oregon 59, No.3 Florida State 20
- Semi: No.4 Ohio State 42, No.1 Alabama 35
- NC: No.4 Ohio State 42, No.2 Oregon 20
Top College Football Betting Sites
2015-16 Champion: Alabama Crimson Tide
- Semi: No.1 Clemson 37, No.4 Oklahoma 17
- Semi: No.2 Alabama 38, No.3 Michigan State 0
- NC: No.2 Alabama 45, No.1 Clemson 40
2016-17 Champion: Clemson Tigers
- Semi: No.2 Clemson 31, No.3 Ohio State 0
- Semi: No.1 Alabama 24, No.4 Washington 7
- NC: No.2 Clemson 35, No.1 Alabama 31
2017-18 Champion: Alabama Crimson Tide
- Semi: No.3 Georgia 54, No.2 Oklahoma 48 - OT
- Semi: No.4 Alabama 24, No.1 Clemson 6
- NC: No.4 Alabama 26, No.3 Georgia 23 - OT
2018-19 Champion: Clemson Tigers
- Semi: No.1 Alabama 45, No.4 Oklahoma 34
- Semi: No.2 Clemson 30, No.3 Notre Dame 3
- NC: No.2 Clemson 44, No.1 Alabama 16
2019-20 Champion: LSU Tigers
- Semi: No. 1 LSU 63, No. 4 Oklahoma 28
- Semi: No. 3 Clemson 29, No. 2 Ohio State 23
- NC: No. 1 LSU 42, No. 3 Clemson 25
Best College Football Online Betting Sites
Additional Football Resources
- USA Sportsbooks Sites was developed by die-hard college football fans, so we tried to present a section here that really speaks to the college football fan. We urge you to bet according to odds and performance rather than betting on your alma mater for sentimental reasons or betting simply for the sake of supporting your favorite team. The objective of betting is to win money - so you need to bet with your head and not your heart.
- NFL Football Betting Guide - This page of our guide is designed to provide fans with a comprehensive resource for all things NFL. You will find information about the league's structure, season predictions, odds, and which NFL betting sites are legally sanctioned options for USA players.
- 2019 NFL Season Preview- Get a sneak peek at the upcoming NFL season and what this year's teams have in store for us. Naturally, this preview is based on pre-season information, so the season can always surprise us.
- Thanksgiving Day Football Betting For USA Players - If Thanksgiving Day football is a part of your holiday weekend, then you'll enjoy this page that focuses on these specific games offering information about the participating teams, odds and where to legally bet on the games.
- XFL Betting Guide - The XFL will begin to play shortly after the 2020 NFL Super Bowl. The league is gambling-friendly and will offer bettors access to data and more as the season unfolds.
NCAAF Resources
College football is one of the great American sporting traditions. With rich traditions, heated rivalries, and powerhouse squads across the nation, the beginning of the season marks both the beginning of fall and one of the best times of the year to gamble. With over 128 Division I programs, nearly everyone has a school to which they’re loyal, either geographically or as alumni.
What makes the collegiate game so exciting to bet is the massive slate of matchups available for wagering. This means that if you find an edge, there are tons of opportunities to exploit it. Plus, the young players are more susceptible to letting emotion fuel their performances, meaning many opportunities for upset picks for the smart handicappers.
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If you’re as enthusiastic about betting on college football as we are, you’re going to want a legitimate online sportsbook to take your wagers. The recommendations listed above are our experts’ top college football betting sites. They earned this distinction for a variety of reasons, including the factors we’ll highlight in the next section.
Once you’ve signed up with one of the best betting sites for college football, it’s time to break down the matchups and get your picks in! In this guide, we’ll summarize the many types of wagers, the differences between the NCAA and NFL games, and some betting tips and strategies.
For more in-depth discussions about any of the concepts written about on this college football hub page, click the corresponding links that will be shared throughout this article.
They’re Safe and Secure
To gamble on the games online, you must first open an account on one of the college football betting sites and deposit money into an account. You’ll have a variety of banking methods available, but no matter which you choose, you’ll need to be able to fully trust the website with your cash and information. With so many rogue online casinos and sportsbooks out there, that can be a risky proposition for novice bettors.Luckily, if you stick with our recommended sites, you’ll never have to worry about being scammed. Our team of experts puts safety and security at the very top of our list of priorities. In fact, preventing gamblers from being ripped off is the reason this website was created. Don’t risk losing your cash on some site you found from a search engine; our team is continuously vetting online betting operations to ensure that our readers can enjoy the fun of gambling without having to worry about the legitimacy of the website they’re using.
Best Betting Odds
A good handicapper knows that even the slimmest of margins can be the difference between profit and losses at the end of the season when it comes to betting odds. So many games come down to the wire from a betting perspective, as the bookmakers are incredibly accurate when setting their college football betting lines.We only recommend the locations that offer fair, competitive odds. Also, because these sportsbooks are the top college football betting sites, they tend to attract lots of action, meaning the lines will be on the move each week. This offers lots of opportunities to fade the public and get a reasonable price if you know when and where to bet! With our many betting and strategy guides, that shouldn’t be a problem for our readers.
Wide Range of Betting Opportunities
Another quality that we look for in a college football betting site is a wide variety of games and wager types. Not only do we want access to all of the matchups on any given Saturday, but there needs to be a full range of options such as live betting, totals, futures wagers, moneylines, point spreads, and even prop bets. The more variation you have to work with, the better the chances of finding a specific niche that you’re good at predicting.Maybe you know the conference your alma mater plays in like the back of your hand. You need a college football betting site that offers those games, even for a smaller school, so that you may exploit that knowledge. The same goes for any specific wager, from first-half bets to which team will score the first field goal. The more options, the better!
Bonuses and Loyalty Awards
As if having a legitimate, reliable site with a ton of betting opportunities wasn’t enough, the online sportsbooks further incentivize gaming online with valuable bonuses and rewards programs. You may have noticed on our list of recommendations that betting websites compete for your attention using sign-up and deposit bonuses. Most sites will match the cash you initially deposit, allowing you to double your bankroll before you even make a pick!If you’re consistently wagering on games throughout the year, the loyalty rewards programs sweeten the deal even more. Depending on how often you gamble and the amount you typically bet at a time, these prizes can be precious. The average bettor can expect gifts like merchandise, cash back for losses, and entry into larger raffles and contests. High rollers have been known to receive anything from vacation packages to vehicles!
Stick with What You Know
There are so many Division I college football teams that nobody could be completely up-to-date and knowledgeable about them all. Your best bet is to focus on programs with which you’re most familiar. If there’s a local school or a favorite program that you’ve been watching for years, stick to their contests or the teams within their division.
Trying to bet outside of your knowledge base is too tricky, especially in a sport like football where statistics can often only help you so much. You need to understand the systems they run, their key players, the depth of their bench, and multiple other variables.
College athletes are prone to the emotional highs and lows of the football season. A useful college football betting tip is to bet against teams coming off of a big unexpected win and squads with a smaller opponent right before playing a huge rivalry. Unlike the pros, players at the NCAA level are prone to let-down games and are often caught off guard by active underdogs.
They’re also intimidated by massive crowds on the road at times. It happens every year when two top-five teams are set to meet up, and the away squad completely folds shortly after the kickoff. There aren’t too many sporting arenas where athletes have to deal with 100,000 rabid fans, especially in their late teens and early twenties.
Smaller Programs/Games Offer More Value
Wagering on the marquee matchups each week can be tough because the oddsmakers focus more of their attention on those games, as does the betting public. But smaller schools and conferences are often overlooked. Sure, they still set lines and accept bets, but those lines are more exploitable.
If your area of expertise happens to be one of these lesser programs, you’re in luck. That’s where you’ll find the most value in any given week. Focus on those matchups and study the schools nobody else is researching, and you should clean up this season!
Besides a few powerhouse programs like Alabama and maybe Ohio State, most college football teams have apparent weaknesses. The kids are too young, and the turnover is too high for most programs to stay consistently loaded in all facets of the game. The trick is to understand which side’s weaknesses will play the more prominent role in a given matchup.
In most cases, you’ll want to bet against the team with weaknesses at the most vital positions. A program won’t get very far with poor offensive line play or quarterbacking, for example. With so many teams running spread offenses these days, a strong secondary is also crucial to defensive performance.
Before making a wager, lay out both teams’ biggest issues and try to anticipate how they will influence each other during the contest. An All-American defensive tackle going up against an injured and depleted offense? You’ll take bets like that any day of the week!
These are just a few basic examples of college football betting tips. For a more thorough article detailing what to look for and how to approach betting on NCAA football, check out the following link.
Types of College Football Wagers
The top college football betting sites will offer many different approaches to taking action on the games. Not only are there tons of individual matchups each week, but there are numerous ways to bet on each one as well. Here are some of the common forms of sports wagering.
Moneyline betting is probably the most straightforward, in that you’re merely picking the winner of the contest. It doesn’t matter how many points they win by or what kind of game it is; you just choose the winning side. The way the odds are expressed, however, does tend to confuse novice bettors.
When betting the moneyline, you’ll see the line expressed as a three-digit number, led by either a “+” or “-”. The underdog will have a positive number such as +200, for example. This means that a $100 bet on that side would earn $200 in profit if won. The favored team will be negative, like -175. This means that you must stake $175 in order to win $100.
Point Spread Betting
Point spreads are the most frequently used form of betting on football. Rather than offering different odds as with moneyline bets, this form of wagering applies a handicap to bring both sides close to even-money. So, if a team is heavily favored, they will give up points. For example, the line will say “Alabama -31.5.”
This means that the Crimson Tide must win their game by at least 32 points to win the bet. Meanwhile, their opponent will be given those 31.5 points and only has to lose by fewer than 32 points to win the wager. This way, you can bet either team in a contest at roughly -110 odds.
Totals betting is a way to take action on a game without picking a winner at all. Instead, you’re gambling on the number of points scored in the matchup. The sportsbooks will set college football totals betting lines at a number like 72.5, for example, and bettors wager on whether the combined final score will fall “over” or “under” that number. In fact, these bets are often referred to as “over-unders.”
Proposition Betting
Prop betting is a type of sports wagering that can cover just about any aspect of the contest that’s not already included in these other methods. You may see college football betting lines on things like “which team will score first?” or “which QB will throw the first interception?” They can be on anything!
Typically, the more mainstream matchups attract the most proposition wagers. The NFL Super Bowl is the most significant prop betting event of the year, but college playoff games have their fair share as well. When gambling online at one of our college football betting sites, you’ll find that most books will accept at least a few variations of prop bets per contest. Land-based locations often only offer them for larger events.
Parlay betting is a way of combining two or more wagers into one bigger one with a much heftier payout. A widespread use of parlays is betting on a team to both win and go over or under the totals line. This way, you’re making a full prediction on the outcome of the contest with a more substantial payout than you’d get by taking each bet individually.
The more wagers you add to a parlay card, the larger the earnings grow. However, if only a single aspect of the card loses, the entire parlay bet is lost. Many sportsbooks will allow bettors to add up to ten picks on a single parlay, but winning those is almost as unlikely as winning the lottery. Your best bet is to stay between two and three lines per parlay.
Futures Betting
All of the best college football betting sites also offer futures betting. As the name suggests, these are odds that can be purchased on an outcome that won’t be decided until the end of the season. Before the first kickoff of the fall, you can find betting odds on which team will win the NCAA championship, for instance.
In college football, you’ll also find futures lines on the Heisman Trophy winner. Another option is to wager on conference championships. The odds for these college football betting lines will shift and change from week to week in response to whatever takes place on the field.
Consistently winning at college football betting takes more than some luck and picking winners each week. The best handicappers create systems and strategies to identify which matchups to choose and what side to take. For example, some bettors look for games with point spreads greater than 30 points and bet on the underdog every time.
Others base their strategy on the weather forecast. They’ll look for games with 13 MPH winds or higher and hammer the under. This way, rather than searching through a vast slate of games and trying to deduce which side to take, they’re seeking specific scenarios and betting those based on historical numbers and data.
Our experts are always writing gambling guides that cover betting systems and strategies for our readers to use when betting on college football. If you’re interested in learning more about how these systematic approaches to wagering work, click on either of the following links.
Betting the College Playoffs and Bowl Games
Bowl games occur at the end of the college football season. The major bowl games still host some of the top teams in the country, while the majority of them are merely one-off contests scheduled to bring in tourism and money to a local stadium.
The biggest bowl games are the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Peach Bowl. Each year, two of these locations will host bowl games that count for the college football playoff and thus have championship implications. The others invite schools from the major conferences. For example, whenever the Rose Bowl isn’t a playoff event, it’s contested by the Pac-12 and the Big 10 champions.
Betting on these matchups can be a bit different than regular-season showdowns. They’re frequently played between squads without much experience against each other and thus may require additional research to handicap. To read more about the differences of betting on bowl games, follow this link.
The Playoffs
The top four programs in the country at the end of the season are invited to compete in the college football playoffs. Of the six major bowl games, two become the host of a single-elimination semi-finals showdown to determine which schools advance to the championship game.
These contests involve the very best squads in the nation, which makes handicapping the games a bit closer to betting an NFL game. For the top college football betting sites to gamble on the playoffs, check out the link below.
The final game of the year is for all the marbles. The college football championship game is played by the two squads who survive the playoffs. It’s a massive event for sports bettors and attracts a ton of betting action. This includes a broader variety of prop bets than usual. For the best betting sites for the college football title game, follow this link.
Sports Betting Basics
If you’re new to sports betting, you still have a bit to learn before diving into the college football scene. First, you should take some time to learn the basic concepts that will be essential to your long-term success. If you learn the fundamentals now, you’ll be much better off in the long run.
Before the college football season begins, you should have a general idea of how much you want to wager and how often. Put aside an amount of money that you can afford to lose without causing any significant disruption to your life or finances. Then decide how frequently you wish to gamble and divide the bankroll so that it will cover all of those contests.
Once you’ve created your bankroll, stick to it and avoid dipping back into your personal funds before you intended. For more in-depth explanations regarding bankroll management and how to create a staking plan, check out our articles on the topic.
Shop for the Best Lines
While all of the top college football betting sites that we recommend will be offering fair, industry-standard betting odds, you shouldn’t stop there. It’s worth signing up with more than one online sportsbook so that you may shop for the best lines for each individual game. While they’ll always be relatively similar, even getting a half point here and a few percentage points there will add up quickly to make a drastic difference in your bottom line.
One of the most significant lessons you can learn about sports betting is to learn about finding value. Many people approach betting on sporting events under the impression that it’s all about picking winners. This is false. Victorious bettors convert the odds to a percentage, which is called “implied probability.”
They then long-term the game and set a probability that each team has of winning. If the likelihood of a side earning a victory is higher than the implied probability suggests, that wager holds value. If you’d like to dig deeper into the concept of value as it applies to sports betting, check out our detailed guide on the subject.