Ncaa Football Betting Line

The Point Spread is a bet that’s popular not just with NCAA college football, but with all of sports betting. Essentially, point spreads are betting lines that give the underdog team an advantage. Instead of betting on the likely winner, sportsbooks will list a margin of points called the spread. Also known as college football OVER/UNDER betting, these are wagers on the total points scored by both teams combined. If the total is 60.5, you need 60 points or less to win an UNDER bet (example 40-17 final = 57 points which is UNDER 60.5) and 61 points or more to win OVER (example a 40-27 final = 67 points which is OVER 60.5).

How College Football Odds Work: Lines, Point Spreads and Over/Unders

If you’re going to bet on college football odds, it’s essential to understand each aspect of odds listing, including the rotation number, point spread, moneyline and over/under. You’ll often find different terms used to describe these with the rotation number called the number, point spread shortened to spread, moneyline to line and over/under simply called the total. These are all lumped together under the term odds.

Odds are basically a way of leveling the playing field and in college football due to the fact that there are hundreds of mismatches per year the field really does need to be leveled. By utilizing odds in various ways bookmakers are attempting to get an equal number of wagers on each team. In doing so, they are able to ensure that they make cash no matter who wins.

When reading college football odds, the first thing you will see on the left is the time and date of the game. Next, you’ll see two numbers and the team names. Each team is assigned a rotation number. These numbers are standard on all sportsbooks and do a few things. First, it creates a certain order for the games as each matchup is listed in numerical order. The other thing the number does is it allows bettors to refer to the game and team without having to mention the team name or anything else.

Let’s say on a matchup between Ohio State and Wisconsin. If Wisconsin is the home team, the Buckeyes are listed first and given the number 109, then the Badgers would be listed second and would be 110. When placing a bet over the phone or at a land-based sportsbook you simply need to mention the team’s number.

After the teams, the various odds are listed. First will be the point spread. There may or may not be a moneyline, as sometimes a book will list these separately and finally the over/under is given.

The point spread will list one team in the negative and the other in the positive. (Unless neither team is favored, then they will be listed as EVEN or PICK). The club posted in the negative with a minus sign is favored and so the bookies take points away from them, which means that team must win by at least a certain number of points to cover the spread. The underdog will have a plus sign and will cover if they win outright or lose by less than the posted number.

This game may have Ohio State at -7.5 and Wisconsin at +7.5. If you bet on Ohio State at -7.5, which makes them the favorite, they must win by 8 or more for you to collect your winnings. On the other hand when wagering on Wisconsin, the dog in this point spread, the Badgers will pay off if they lose by less than 8 or win outright.

Sometimes you’ll find a spread listed as a whole number. Decimals or fractions are often used and do prevent ties but if in our example the spread was set at 7 with the Buckeyes being the favorite and they win by 7, then the game is a tie. That’s called a push. The result of a push is all bets are off and all money wagered is returned.

Although the odds on a spread bet are often listed as being even at 1:1, the fact is they are 0.90:1, which is a bit less than even. How does this work? Often in the point spread you’ll see next to each spread number -110. This tells you how much you have to wager to make $100. Thus, with the point spread -100 will always be listed, which means if someone wagers $110, they will make a $100 profit if they win. (If betting $11.00, the payout would be $10.00)

The moneyline works differently. With this type of wager whichever team wins outright pays off. There is no spread. How does the line work? The favorite is listed with a minus sign and a number. That number is the amount of cash that must be bet in order to win $100. The underdog is posted with a plus sign in front of a number. The number is how much a sports bettor wins on a $100 wager.

Taking the same matchup and odds, Ohio State would be listed at -360 and Wisconsin at +280. To take the Buckeyes, who are favored, a bettor would wager $360 to win $100. On the other hand when taking the dog, which in this case is Wisconsin, $100 is bet to win $280.

Ncaa Football Betting Lines

If Ohio State won and you bet to win $100 on the Buckeyes you would receive $100 plus your original stake of $360 returned back to you. Conversely if you laid $100 on Wisconsin and the Badgers pulled the upset you would receive $280 plus the $100 back that you used to place the bet.

There is a correlation between the point spread and the moneyline. You’ll find that these vary a bit from book to book and will move depending on the amount of action a book receives on the spread or moneyline, but they basically work like this:

The final type of bet you’ll find listed when looking at standard college football odds is the over/under. This is a projection of the total number of points that may be scored. It is usually listed as a fraction with the stake listed as it is in the spread (-110).

With the over/under or total, bets are being made on what the total score may be. In our example which features two solid defenses and good offenses, the total might be around 41. If OSU scores 24 and Wisconsin 20, the total would be 44 or over the 41. If the Buckeyes scored 21 and the Badgers 14, then the total would be 35 so the under would win. Once again sometimes, if the total is a whole number, the result may be a push. That results in all bets simply being returned.

Once you understand how odds in college football are expressed, you can use them to start to determine where your money should go. Be sure to see our college football odds page that connects you with the top sportsbooks on the Internet. The odds makers are trying to even out all bets. Your job is to determine on which side of the point spread, line or over/under it goes.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL POINT SPREADS EXPLAINED:

While the NFL is the most wagered upon sport in North America, college football is the most exciting brand of football you can watch on TV. The passion these kids play with is second to none and the century old rivalries amongst some of college's elite programs makes that one game a season sometime mean so much more than a national title. Since Michigan is generally out of the CFP discussion by November, there game against Ohio State is the be all and end all of their season. Michigan wants to beat Ohio State so badly, that some of the fan base would be considered there season a success if that's the only marquee win on the schedule.

If you don't know some of the history of college football, I suggest looking into it. If you are like everyone else who reads this piece and want to understand how to bet on the basic college football options, you can keep reading. If you are a little more seasoned, you can skip down to the advanced wagering options by clicking here. If you want to know how to lay a few bets down on the futures market, I suggest you click here.

Betting on the Money Line in College Football

As a concept, this is the simplest wager you can make on any game in any sport. The money line betting option allows you to place a bet on the team you think is simply going to win the game. In college, this bet includes overtime. Unlike the NFL, college football games cannot end in a tie due to their overtime format.

Example:

Alabama Crimson Tide: -450 ML
Kentucky: Wildcats +300 ML

The money line betting odds correlate to the listed point spread. In this example, Alabama are the favorites and you must wager $450 dollars to turn a profit of $100. If you are a homer or love betting on the underdog, the Wildcats will return you $300 for every $100 you wager on them if they pull off the upset.

Betting on the Point Spread

Regardless of if I am talking about the NFL, CFL, NCAA, Arena League or upcoming XFL, the point spread is the most popular wagering option for bettors who love to test football betting skills. The point spread is an indication of which team is the favorite and underdog heading into their matchup.

A negative betting line such as -7.5 indicates that the favorite team is expected to not only win the game outright, but win by eight or more points. On the flip side, positive betting lines such as +7.5 indicate a team's underdog status. Not only is the underdog expected to lose, but they are expected to lose by at least eight points.

When looking over betting options for the college football, you will come across lines that look like the following:

Alabama Crimson Tide -7.5 (-110)
Kentucky Wildcats: +7.5 (-110)

Depending on which side you select, your team must 'cover the spread' in order for your wager to be graded a winner.

If you choose to take Kentucky +7.5, you will be a winner if either of these two scenarios play out. The first being Kentucky wins the game outright by any score. The second being Kentucky loses by seven or fewer points, thus 'covering' the +7.5-spread.

If you decided to wager on Alabama as -7.5-point favorites, they must win by eight or more points in order for wager to be graded as a winner.

One thing to keep in mind when betting on the point spread is that the point spread moves up or down depending on how much action a certain side is receiving. If you are able to lock in your bet at -7.5 and the line goes down to -5.5, your ticket would only be a winner if your team won by eight or more points. If they won six or seven, they would have beat the closing spread of -5.5, but your odds are locked in from the time your ticket is printed or you click place bet.

Betting Game Totals

Despite being classified as the same sport, NFL and college football totals are apples and oranges. In college, it's easy to spot the teams that play absolutely zero defense. The scores from their games are typically in the 70's/80's on a consistent basis. In the NFL, there were only a handful of games that games that reached those totals. College football is more receptive to the spread offense, which is why sportsbooks have no choice but to inflate totals to try and cover their own butts.

Let's look at an example of a game total:

Texas Tech Red Raiders/Oklahoma Sooners – 'Over' 78.5 -110, 'Under' 78.5 -110

If you bet the 'over' 78.5, there must be a total of 79 points or more scored in the game in order for you to be a winner. If there are 78 or fewer points scored, then those who bet on the 'under' will cash their tickets.

If totals are whole numbers such as 78 or 80 and the total happens to land exactly on the number, your bet, regardless whether it's an 'over' or 'under' bet, will be graded as a push and your money will be returned to you.

Advanced College Football Wagering Options

Advanced wagering options in college football are nearly identical to those of the NFL. The only thing you will not find in a sportsbook in relation to college football is the 'First Touchdown Scorer or Anytime Touchdown Scorer' market. Below are some of the more popular wagering options.

Team totals

This works almost exactly like the game total, but revolves around one team instead of both. With the 'team total' wagering option, you are essentially betting on whether you think Team X will score more or less than the line given out by the sportsbooks.

Example:

Texas Tech Team Total: 'Over' 35.5 -110, 'Under' 35.5 -110.

In this case you have two options. You can bet them to score 36 or more points or 35 or fewer. The decision is ultimately up to you. This bet also includes overtime, unless otherwise stated in the betting rules provided by your sportsbook of choice.

First Half Spread

The 'first half spread' betting option is a trickier form of betting the full-game point spread. This option takes into account the score at half time in order to determine a winner. The first half spread is usually half of what the full game spread is.

Example:

Alabama -3.5 1H
Kentucky +3.5 1H

Depending on what side you are on, the score going into half time is what is used to determine a winner. If the score is 31-21 in favor of Alabama, bettors holding an Alabama -3.5 1H ticket are winners since they were able to cover the -3.5- first-half spread.

As I mentioned above, the first half point spread is typically half of what the full game line is.

Player Props

There are only a handful of sportsbooks that offer up player props in college football, but they are nowhere near as extensive as the NFL player props. Typically, there will be props offered on one or two superstars per team and the lines will typically be inflated depending on who is playing.

Examples:

Jalen Hurts: 'Over' 18.5 completions -110, 'Under' 18.5 completions -110
Nick Chubb: 'Over' 74.5 rushing yards -110, 'Under' 74.5 rushing yards -110
Calvin Ridley: 'Over' 4.5 receptions -110, 'Under' 4.5 receptions -110

For each of these three player prop options, each player must go 'over' or 'under' the posted line. If you think Hurts will complete at least 19 passes, you would take the 'over'. If you think Ridley will be held to four or fewer catches, you would bet the 'under'.

Ncaa Football Betting Lines College

A futures bet is a wager placed in the time leading up to the start of the event on a team or player that you believe is going to win their respective competition. Heading into the 2018/19 College Football season, the CFP futures odds look like this:

2019 College Football Champions: Alabama +200, Clemson +700, Georgia +700, Ohio State +700, Michigan +1400, Penn State +1600, Oklahoma +2500, Wisconsin +2500, Florida State +2800, etc.

In order for you to successfully cash your ticket, you must correctly choose the team that will hoist the CFP trophy at the conclusion of next year's College Football Playoffs.

Team Win Totals

This is another popular type of futures bet amongst pro handicappers. The concept is straight forward. Every sportsbook will put out a 'win total' for every team long before the season begins. Handicappers must simply decide whether they believe that team will exceed the posted win total or fall short of it.

Example:

Alabama Crimson Tide Win Total: 'Over' 11.5 wins -110, 'Under' 11.5 wins -110

If Alabama wins at least 12 games, the 'over' would cash. If they win 11 or fewer, the 'under' would cash.

Here is a list of our other betting lines and odds pages.
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