Reading College Football Odds
If you love college football as much as we do, and you’re a fan of putting your money where your NCAAF odds knowledge is at, then you my friend are at the right place. We get it, reading and understanding how college football odds work can be quite a daunting task, especially with the amount of games going down every weekend.
But don’t stress out or anything of the matter, here at BetUS we are all about having your back and showing you the ropes to understand all the action better, teaching you how to read college football odds, and making sure you can find your way to the college football betting promised land.
Let’s get to it!
College Football Moneyline Betting
Moneyline (ML) wagering is the easiest style to understand. Also called outright or straight-up (SU) betting, the only thing you need to do here is pick the game’s winner. For a new bettor just starting out, this is the best bet type to focus on early on. The Moneyline odds for a college football game will look like this:
Alabama Crimson Tide +125
Auburn Tigers -150
In this example, the Auburn Tigers (-150) are favorites against the visiting Crimson Tide (+125). We know the Tigers are favored because they have a minus (-) sign in front of their name.
We also know that Auburn is the home team because they are listed second. As favorites, you would need to risk $150 on the Tigers at -150 to win $100. But, at $100 bet on the underdog Crimson Tide would return $120.
College Football Point Spread Betting
Moneyline betting may be the easiest style of college football betting to understand, but it’s not the most popular. Betting against the spread (ATS) takes the top spot as the preferred bet to make on college football. This is because ATS betting is set up to handicap the favorite and give underdogs a chance to cash tickets.
This is important in college football because there are times when ML favorites can be -3000 or more. With odds in that range, there is no value in betting the favorite when a bet of $3,000 would return a measly $100. The spread makes it worth betting on even the biggest underdog.
Spread odds function by assigning a set number of points to each game known as the spread. You can look at the spread as a head start for the underdog of (X) number of points. Spread odds at BetUS will look something like this:
Clemson Tigers +3.5 (-105)
Wisconsin Badgers -3.5 (-115)
The spread, in this case, is 3.5 and is always the same for both teams. Now is the time we need to talk about half-points. Half points are used to avoid a tie or “push” from occurring and guaranteeing that one side wins.
In the above example game, the Badgers are 3.5-point underdogs with odds set at (-105). This means that to win a bet on Clemson on the spread, the Tigers can win or lose. But, if they lose, they must lose by three points or fewer in order to cover the spread. At -105, a $100 winning bet on the Tigers would pay out $95.
Similarly, to win a bet on the Badgers, Wisconsin would need to win the game by four or more points If they win the game, but by three points or less, they would fail to cover and lose the bet/ At -115 odds, a bet on Wisconsin would win you $86.95 plus our original bet.
College Football Totals Betting
Betting on totals in college football differs from ML and ATS betting because it doesn’t matter who wins the game. The only thing totals bettors care about is how many points are scored in the game. This form of betting is also known as the Over/Under (O/U) and is a fun way to switch up your daily bets with something different.
Here is an example of what the O/U odds for a college football game look like.
LSU Tigers vs. Ole Miss Rebels O/U 47.5 (o-105)/-115u)
In this example, the total for this game has been set at 47.5. This means that in order to cash a bet on the Over, the score must eclipse 48 points. Anything less than 48 points would be a win for the Under. In this example, the Over has odds of -105 while the under is favored at -115.
BetUS also offers team totals for most major college football games. The difference here is you are betting on one team’s total points and not the combined game score.
College Football Prop Betting
BetUS Sportsbook offers not only standard betting options but also numerous propositional (prop) bets for most major matchups. The bigger the event, the more props that will be available to bet on. Prop bets give you a chance to bet on all types of outcomes that don’t always have anything to do with the game itself.
For example, a popular prop bet for Bowl Games is what color Gatorade is poured on the winning coach. Props like this are often called exotic bets.
The most common type of prop bet for regular season games is player props.
These give you the chance to wager on the performance of one specific player. A popular player prop is the total number of yards a starting QB will throw for in a game.
There are also team props that allow you to wager on the combined stats of the entire team during the course of a game. An example of this would look something like this:
Rutgers Scarlet Knights O/U 99.5 Rushing Yards (o-110/u-110)
In this example, we are betting on the total number of rushing yards that Rutgers has in this particular game. If the team scampers for 100 or more yards, the Over cashes. But, if Rutgers fails to total 100 yards on the ground, the Under cashes.
In this case, the prop is set up as a betting total. In other cases, it will be what is referred to as a Yes/No prop. An example of this type of prop bet would look something like this:
Will Caleb Williams Throw for (3) or more passing touchdowns? Yes -150 No +125
In this example of a Yes/No players prop, we are betting on whether Caleb Williams will pass for three or more touchdowns. The Yes option is favored at -150 and the No, at +125, would be considered the “underdog”.
College Football Futures Betting
Futures are often considered a type of prop bet that spans an entire season and not just a single game. Unlike other bet types, futures allow you to wager on outcomes months in advance. While it’s difficult to predict things so far in the future, the payouts on futures are high.
A few examples of future betting on college football would be the winner of the Heisman Trophy, the winner of the Rose Bowl, and the Coach of the Year winner. Among all future bets, the winner of the College Football National Championship is the most popular.
Betting on Bowl Season
While betting on the regular season is full of excitement, the action really picks up for college football bettors during Bowl Season. It’s the time of year when the best college football teams are awarded an extra game and pitted against each other.
It has been announced that there will be 43 bowl games scheduled for the 2023-24 season. The first will be the Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl on Dec. 16. Other notable bowl games include the Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl.
Championship games
In college football, the equivalent of the NFL’s AFC and NFC title games are the two CFP semifinal games, to be held this season on January 1st, 2024. Two of the most important bowl games of the season, the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl respectively will see the top 4 college football teams duke it out to fight over a spot in the college football title game, to be held on January 8th, 2024.
We know what you might be thinking, why are we already talking about championship games if the season hasn’t even started? Well because that’s the beauty of college football. And of course, make sure you keep up with all the latest betting trends and news to have an edge when picking your preferred college football picks.
Make sure you check out our college football playoff odds page to stay up to date with the best picks as the season progresses, you can thank us later.
Conference championships
Before all the CFP action unfolds, there’s an incredibly important step beforehand, deciding each conference’s respective champions. While in some conferences, winning the championship acts as a mere factor for bragging rights, in others, deciding the conference champion holds a very important factor, especially when it comes to matters of national rankings and college football playoff implications.
College Football Rivalries
If we had to pinpoint one specific factor that shows why college football holds a special place in the heart of all sports betting fans, it definitely goes to those good, old college football rivalries and their respective games each season.
In the world of NCAAF action, bad blood runs thick and it runs strongly. Be it because of sporting rivalries, geographical proximity between schools, or just flat-out hatred, when rivalry week comes along each season, there’s nothing quite like it.
With names like the “Iron Bowl” played between Auburn and Alabama, the “Bedlam Bowl” that pits Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the “Civil War” between Oregon and Oregon State, “Clean, Old Fashioned Hate” Game between Georgia and Georgia Tech, and the “Red River Shootout” between Oklahoma and Texas, tell us college football rivalries don’t sound like the most exciting games each season.
Postseason
Once all the conference championship games are over, and the season winds down to a finish, the last part of each college football season, and for some the most exciting rolls around, it being the college football playoffs or postseason.
With only four teams entering the fray to fight it out for the NCAAF national championship, room for mistakes if nowhere to be found, and each downplayed earns a whole new meaning and value.
For betting fans all around, making it to the postseason with a strong wagering season record and an equally strong strategy when it comes to selecting the top college football picks is non-negotiable.
At BetUS sportsbook, the game is already being played, with our college football odds page already dishing out some of the best lines for which squads look like the best picks to make it to the NCAAF postseason. All you need to do is click, pick, and start preparing to win.
CFP odds
At BetUS, we know how important it is for NCAAF betting fans to have the absolute best info, wagering tips, and odds, especially when the time for the college football playoffs rolls around. After a grueling season full of action, upsets, surprises, and whatnot, making it to the finish line, the CFP games, with the best chances to win some money are pivotal.
But why wait until so long into the season to get to betting on the best CFP odds? Here at BetUS, we offer our fans the chance to get to betting on which teams they feel have the best chances to make it to the CFPs right now. Be it that you have a hankering for wagering a few bucks on your favorite school to win the CFP title, or any other team in the NCAAF universe, we’re ready for you and all the action you want to play.
