College football betting lines explained meaning

Both sides of a college football wager made when using a point-spread pay the same, whether you bet the underdog or favorite. The point-spread makes it so both sides of the bet have a theoretically-even chance of winning. When the better team has to win by a certain number of points and the inferior team can lose by a certain number of points, the bet is a heads-or-tails type proposition.

There are things you can do to get an edge, but that comes later. Money Line: Also seen in college football betting is the money line. One of the major ways is on money line wagering, where you pick the winner of a college football game without a point-spread.

The money line is simply a way to express odds. Without a point-spread, odds are used instead. And they are expressed on the money line. Whether dealing with point-spreads or money lines in college football betting, always remember that the minus-sign indicates a favorite, with a plus-sign indicating an underdog. Even when making a point-spread bet, we are betting on a money line. The difference may seem small, but it adds up to huge amounts over the course of an entire season of wagering.

Totals: When you look at a game on a betting sheet, you will see a number next to the listed game. Ole Miss Rebels, Total: Like anything that is foreign, it just takes a little time and exposure to learn it. Share this article with friends: Leave a comment:. However, long-term betting trends can hint at possible patterns worth following, particularly in college, where there may be plenty of roster turnover, but coaching philosophies remain intact.

For example, maybe a coach has a history of getting his team ready to play as a road underdog. Head over to our college football trends page for updated betting trends throughout the season. Injuries Due to the physical nature of the sport, injuries have a large influence on college football betting odds.

When it comes to the odds, quarterback injuries have the biggest impact, while select skill players, like star running backs and receivers, can also move a spread up or down. However, because college football rosters are much bigger than NFL ones, make sure you identify which schools are deep at certain positions and are set up to weather a storm of injuries.

Make sure you check our college football injuries page before making your bets. Differences between college football and the NFL We already spoke about how there are so many more college football teams compared to the NFL , but that is also going to create a bigger talent disparity, and in turn, bigger point spreads.

Teams like Alabama and Clemson can thrash opponents, so know how to handle big spreads. Another big difference between the NFL and college football is overtime. In the NFL, they play a pseudo-sudden-death overtime where each team must possess, or can possess, the ball. The exception: if the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown on the opening possession. So, in a worst-case scenario, there is an extra nine points scored in OT.

This goes on until one of the teams has the lead after an overtime period. But theoretically, teams could go back and forth forever, which has been known to crush the dreams of Under bettors everywhere. Make real college football bets for free without having to deposit at a sportsbook.

The best college football betting sites Football is the most bet-on sport in North America and bettors love wagering on the pros and college football games every week during the fall and winter. College football betting forum Want to learn more about college football betting and meet a large, knowledgeable community?

How to bet on college football FAQs How do you place a bet on a college football game?

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Learn when and how to use both of them. Fractional Odds — UK Fractional odds can be easier to read for first time gamblers, as they resemble familiar ratio odd presentations. In fractional odds, the higher the number on the left numerator , the riskier the bet is and the higher the payout. The flipside of this includes any number less than one, as represented by a fraction. The closer or lower the fraction to zero, the lower the payout is, while the higher above one, the higher the payout is.

Decimal Odds — Europe Decimal odds are perhaps the most complicated money line format. The easiest starting point for decimal odds is to compare them to fractional odds. Decimal odds are the fractional odd, represented in a whole number, plus one. Even money in fractional odds is 2. Thus, the higher above two a fractional odd is, the higher the payout becomes. Odds with lower payouts than what is risked fall between 2. In the example above, Ohio State is playing at home and is predicted to win by a touchdown and an extra point over Michigan, which is indicated by the The name of the game with the spread is to correctly predict which team will "cover" - not necessarily which team will win.

For a winning bet on Ohio State, the Buckeyes must win by 8 or more point while a winning wager on Michigan has two conditions: The Wolverines can either lose by 6 points or less or win the game by any margin.

If the margin of victory is exactly 7 points, then this is what's known as a "push" which means the entire handle is refunded to all parties. The concept of the money line is simple: Which team do you think will win? That's basically it except when it comes time to put up the money since that's where folks might get a little confused at first glance. Just like the spread, the minus-number indicates the favorite, and the plus-number indicates the underdog.

However, unlike the spread, a different amount of money must be wagers on both teams, and the payout is vastly different as well. Because the line is only for "which team will win," you aren't betting on a margin but instead the odds themselves, which indicates the amount needed to wager and how much you'll win if you're correct. The key to betting on the money line is knowing that favorites require more money to be "at-risk" and offer less of a payout since the perceived better team is more likely to win the game, i.

The opposite is true for underdogs because less money is required to be "at-risk" and the payout is more than what was initially wagered. The odds are relative to whatever unit size you're working with. The "total" refers to the total number of points, from both teams, that will be scored in any given matchup.

The oddsmaker predicts how many points will be scored by both college football teams and then allows the public to bet on whether the combined points scored by both sides will go "over" or "under" the number set by the sportsbook. If the total points scored by both teams fall exactly on the number set by the oddsmaker, then - like the point spread - it's considered a push and all bets are refunded.

Using the Michigan-Ohio State betting line example above, we can see that the oddsmaker has set the total at 49 points. Since a wager must be placed on whether the total points scored will be over or under to set number, a bet on the over means you believe both teams will combine to score 50 or more points while a bet on the under means you think both teams will combine to score 48 or fewer points.

The total is a bit like the point spread since it's another way the sportsbook attempts to get an even amount of action on both sides of the bet, and as a result, the payout is typically even as well - regardless of what the combined total points scored winds up being when the game ends. Here's a brief explanation of the other types of bets you can place during the college football season. Prop Bets Also known as "proposition" or "side" bets, essentially, these types of wagers are based on something occurring that doesn't directly relate to the outcome of a game like the standard betting line does.