COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING 101

College football betting isn't as easy as you may think. Picking winners is easy, beating the college football point spread is not! Let's take a look at the basics of college football betting and some do's and dont's when considering what game or teams to bet on.

College football betting is done with a point spread. If the Ohio State Buckeyes are playing the Miami Hurricanes the line may look like this:

Ohio State +13.5
Miami -13.5


For those that dont understand a college football point spread, it works like this...If you were to bet on the Ohio State Buckeyes, you are essentially starting the game out 13.5 points ahead. If you are betting on the Miami Hurricanes, you are starting out the game down by 13.5 points. So if you bet on the Ohio State Buckeyes, your betting ticket is a winner if they win the game straight up and they can even lose the game by 13 points which would give you the "cover". Cover, is a term used by football bettors noting your the final score fell within the point spread you bet. If you bet on the Miami Hurricanes, they would have to win the game by 14 points in order for you to cover your spread.

You can also bet games straight up without a point spread which is called betting on the money line. Money line betting wipes out the spread making it easier to win, but you pay the price for it. If you were to bet on Miami at zero, instead of -13.5, you may have to lay/risk/bet $750 to win $100. While this may look like a solid winning bet, the risk is not worth it. If you lost a bet like this you'd have to win 8 in a row just to break even. The football bounces in weird ways so this is NOT recommended!

Another great way to bet on college football games is by betting on totals. This means you are betting on whether the total points scored will be over or under the number the odds makers have put out. Let's take a look at an example of college football totals betting:

Miami Hurricanes
Ohio State Buckeyes 51


The listed total here is 51. If you select over 51, the total points scored in the game will have to be 52 or more for you to win your wager. If you select under 51, the total points scored by both teams has to be under 50 in order for you to cover your bet. If the game lands directly on 51, it is a tie and your wagered amount is refunded.

Another way to bet on college football which is quite a bit riskier, is PARLAYING. Parlaying games means you select anywhere from 2-10 games and all of them need to win in order for you to cash out your bet. The odds are tasty but the likelihood of winning makes this type of wager not really worth messing with. Here's an example of some parlay odds:

2 Teams: 2.6-1
3 Teams: 6-1
4 Teams: 10-1
5 Teams: 20-1
6 Teams: 40-1
7 Teams: 75-1
8 Teams: 100-1
9 Teams: 150-1
10 Teams: 300-1

Sure, you may be able to bet a 10 team college football parlay, bet $10 and win $3000, but what are the chances? You can bet that every single college football weekend and never hit it. It's not worth the risk in our opinion. Stick to better odds by betting on sides or totals. You'll be glad you did in the long term!

Are you a novice bettor that wants to get in on the action but isn't familiar with all the teams or don't have time to handicap? Are you an experienced bettor but have a hard time making winning football selections? If you are either, you may want to consider purchasing a college football picks pack from one of our winning college football handicappers. These college football picks are affordably priced and if you stick to them week after week it is VERY likely you'll show a tidy profit at season's end. Check out our top notch hand selected college football handicapping team by CLICKING HERE.

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