How to Bet On Sports | College Football Betting

Betting on American football is by far the biggest source of action that today’s online sports betting outlets take in over the course of the entire sports betting calendar. While the NFL is the most popular professional sports league when it comes to wagering on the games, college football also makes up a huge piece of the pie when it comes to the total handle in the multi-billion dollar online sports betting industry.

One of the biggest reasons why college football betting is so popular is the sheer number of games to choose from. An average week in the NFL offers up 16 games if there are no designated byes and the betting lines released are among the sharpest in the sportsbook industry.

Need a little refresher on how to bet on the NFL? Click here.

When it comes to the betting lines that are released for college football games, the total betting opportunities could be as much as four times the NFL when you consider that 119 different teams make up Division IA or the Football Bowl Subdivision across five major conferences and five Mid Majors.

Just like the NFL, the most common bet placed in college football is a straight bet on the sides with the use of a pointspread. Total lines on the final combined score are released for most of each week’s college football games and you can also find moneyline odds posted for the majority of the high-profile games in the major conferences each week of the season.

While the pointspread in an NFL game rarely goes higher than two touchdowns (or 14 points), the sky is the limit in college football given the huge range of talent between the top teams in the nation and some of the weaker football programs in the Mid Majors. For example, if the SEC’s Alabama Crimson Tide is playing the Sun Belt’s South Alabama Jaguars, the actual pointspread could be as high as five or six touchdowns.

Variety is the spice of life and familiarity leads to better predictability. These two concepts add quite a bit of value when it comes to betting on college football. With 10 difference conferences, the Oddsmakers are under an enormous amount of pressure keep the pointspread as sharp as possible in all of those games. If Clemson is playing Florida State in the ACC, you can pretty much rest assured that the pointspread for that matchup will be on point. If South Florida is playing East Carolina in the AAC, that betting pointspread may not be as sharp.

Conference play in college football features some of the best all-around rivalries in sports these days. The same teams face off against one another each season with the sole purpose of claiming those all-important bragging rights for the straight-up victory. The revenge factor in college football can sometimes neutralize the actual spread in that game to create an excellent opportunity to bet on the underdog getting points. You still need to breakdown every college football matchup on its own real time merits, but be careful not to discount the value that revenge can bring to the table.

Scoring in college football can be all over the board when it comes to betting on the total line. While the highest total line in the NFL might approach 60 points once or twice a season, total lines in the high 60’s and low 70’s can be found every week on the college football betting board. There are teams that simply do not put all that much emphasis on playing tough defense in the hope of winning games by outscoring the competition. Getting to know college football head coaches and their style of play can go a long way towards finding weekly betting opportunities on the total line.