Betting on American College Football is nearly identical to betting on the NFL. There are many rules differences between the two games but it is essentially the same. In our College Football Betting Tutorial we will go over that as well as the basics of NCAA football betting.
Keep in mind that even though NFL and College are both football, they are two different animals in term of betting. This is because NCAA Football has games throughout the week and usually over games over the weekend.
In addition, the biggest difference between betting on each game is probably the overtime setup. In our College Football Betting Tutorial, we will also focus on providing an in-depth explanation for different type of wagers.
Point Spread Betting – The most Popular Bet
The most common type of method to betting on college football with a bookie is betting on the point spread. Betting on the point spread is to pick a team to cover the pointspread. The favorite, or the team that is supposed to win, needs to not only win the game. However, he has to win by a certain number of points (the pointspread) in order to win the bet.
Favorites are denoted by a minus sign in front of the pointspread, while underdogs are denoted by a plus sign. If, for example, Alabama was a seven-point favorite against Florida State, then the Crimson Tide would need to win the game by more than seven points in order to cover the spread.
In that same scenario, Florida State would either need to win the game outright, or lose by six points or fewer to cover the pointspread. If Alabama won the game by exactly seven points, then the game would be considered a “push”, and all wagers made on both sides of the game would be returned.
Betting on the Over/Under in College Football
The other popular method to betting on college football is to bet on the over/under. In this type of wager, the bettor decides on the combined score of the football game. Thus, he decides if the combined score of the game is going be higher or lower than the posted total.
Keep in mind that in college football, the overtime period could potentially see a ton of points scored. Both teams start with the ball at the 25-yard line going in. If both teams match each other’s scores then another overtime period begins. According to sportsbook pay per head services, this could lead to potentially high scores. All points scored in overtime count towards both the over/under wager as well as the pointspread wager.
College Football doesn’t have a playoff system like the NFL. Starting last year, only the top four teams make it to a playoff, with the winner being crowned the National Champion. Furthermore, other teams that become bowl eligible (having at least six victories in a season) almost always play in a bowl game.
Because of the nature of college football, it’s rivalries, amateur status, bowl and ranking system, and the large disparity between traditional powers and mid-major conferences, there are different strategies used to bet on college football that are different from betting on the NFL. We’ll dive into some of those differences in our next football betting article.
