College Football Betting Strategies & Betting Guide

Roughly two to three times as much money is bet on the NFL when compared to college football. For college bettors, this means a smaller betting pool along with larger point spreads. In pro football, a 10-point spread is expected to be a blowout. In college, CFB betting lines can be 30 or 40 points—lines never found in NFL games.

In order to win, the fundamentals are the same: put in the time to properly analyze matchups, situations, and odds, and approach the betting counter armed with information and confidence in your selections. There are many college football betting strategies you can use to help you do just that, some similar to the NFL, but some very different. Here are a few strategies to consider before placing bets this college football season.

Styles of Play

The kinds of pro-style offenses NFL teams use are similar, from a balanced attack to a slightly more pass-heavy one. College football offensive approaches vary significantly.

Some college teams are all about running the football with the read-option or the Pistol, a ground-and-pound smashmouth style. These center around a mobile, run-first quarterback.

Other coaches prefer a balanced approach, such as the West Coast offense or a pro-style attack. And some build their offenses around quarterbacks with strong throwing arms and a deep receiving corps, often called the Run-and-Shoot, the Air Raid offense, or a spread formation attack.

Coaches are the ones who determine and implement the approach. Sometimes the decision is based on their preferred style, while other times they've evaluated their personnel properly and altered the offense to best fit their talent. One season at Oklahoma, Barry Switzer put in a pro-style attack for his prized recruit, QB Troy Aikman. When Aikman got injured, Switzer switched to a run-heavy option that best fit the skills of his backup QB.

When handicapping games in NCAA football, be aware of coaching styles, especially when head coaches or new offensive coordinators have come onboard. If an effective pass-happy team is facing an opponent that has a slow secondary or gives up big plays, those are matchup advantages.

Conversely, if a great passing team is facing a Top 10 defense with a terrific secondary, it's likely they'll perform far below their offensive seasonal stats. Oddsmakers base their numbers partly on overall stats, so they might not make enough of a correction. Savvy handicappers are able to spot this long before the game starts and use it to their advantage.

Coaches Who Cover

Speaking of coaches, not all coaches are created equal. Elite coaching requires a combination of skills. Teaching ability, motivation, film breakdown, identifying the right personnel on the field, and effective game-plan implementation all come into play.

College football coaches can be good, mediocre, or just plain bad. A competent college football coach can be worth anywhere from 3-to-6 points per game with factors such as clock management, in-game adjustments, and penalties. If a coach consistently has more spread covers than not over several seasons, they're probably better than average, squeezing a few extra points out of their teams each Saturday. And those few extra points add up—both straight-up and against the spread.

Conference Power Rankings

Power rankings are designed to be an indicator of team strength and so they serve as an important tool to consider during the college football campaign. The Power Four conferences are the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, and the SEC. These conferences get the largest share of high school football recruiting talent. A CFB Independent like Notre Dame also gets elite talent, but other independents typically do not.

Early-season matchups and end-of-season bowl games pit teams from different conferences. If UConn and Georgia Tech both went 8-3, they might meet in a college football bowl game. The records may be identical, but the talent level wouldn't be. It makes it more challenging for oddsmakers to set the right betting odds. That's where in-depth knowledge of teams and power rankings come into play for handicappers to outsmart oddsmakers.

Lesser-Known Teams Betting Strategies

A good college football handicapper pays as much attention to little-known conferences and teams as the big-name programs. That's because betting lines are posted on all College Football Betting games.

Big-name schools and marquee college football showdowns are going to attract the most betting action, but a lot of that will be from unsophisticated bettors who simply want action on a TV game. The weakest odds and the best bet picks are often on teams few pay attention to—including the oddsmakers.

If a self-proclaimed expert tout has a top-level play or a 'TV Game of the Year' release on Alabama, proceed with caution. It may be just marketing hype. Some of the weakest odds and best winning picks are often on smaller programs such as Arkansas State, South Florida, or Middle Tennessee State.

Matchup Madness

Analyzing matchups is a fundamental technique handicappers use to decipher what team has the edges in the trenches and at the skill positions. Oddsmakers put a huge emphasis on quarterbacks. When a college QB is injured and a backup has to play, it can move the number around 4-to-7 points.

But successful college football betting handicappers look at more matchups than just quarterback play.

One team's offensive line can have a significant advantage at opening holes, rushing for 5 yards on first down regularly, or protecting the QB —especially against teams that have weak defensive lines or struggle to contain the run.

And a team with a terrific pass rush can negate the skills of even the best college quarterback. Putting pressure helps get sacks or forces a QB to rush his throws, disrupting the rhythm of a good passing team. A team with speedy wideouts against a slow secondary is also a significant matchup edge.

Evaluating team strengths and weaknesses is a great way to hone handicapping skills to help set your own betting lines before the real odds are posted.

College Football Over/Under Betting Systems

Don't overlook totals. Every college football game has a side and total posted. If your handicapping analysis concludes that the point spread side is about right, examine the total before you move on to the next game.

Coaching philosophy is one betting system for college football totals. Coaches dictate whether an offense is going to be aggressive right from the start. Uptempo teams spread the field, pass the football often, and aren't worried about embarrassing the opponent by running up the score. Some coaches take the opposite approach. They're conservative, looking to establish the run and play the field position game as taking too many chances can result in turnovers. They prefer to play it safe waiting for the other team to make a mistake. Those coaches are content to try and win 23-20 defensive games.

Understand what style a coach prefers, then examine whether that team has a tendency to go UNDER the total. Betting trends, such as a 10-2 run UNDER the total, can be relevant if there are concrete reasons supporting them. But be careful when looking at trends with small numbers as they may just be due to normal randomness.

Home Dogs

Newcomers to betting prefer favorites as it can be challenging to come up with reasons why an underdog has a chance to cover or even pull off an upset. However, experienced bettors recognize the value in getting points.

Since emotion is such a huge part of college football, far less so than in the NFL, a good rule to try and identify potential underdogs is when they're at home. College football teams have around six home games, one of which is going to be Homecoming Weekend. The latter is a special occasion the schools put on where past graduates return for ceremonies. It's a big campus event with emotions running high andt will likely be the biggest crowd of the season for a home team. Marquee college football TV games on Thursday or Friday nights can also give the home team an adrenaline rush with the whole country watching.

Look back at the history of 14 and 20-point CFB underdogs pulling the upset and you'll find many of them were at home during unique, emotional campus events.

Halftime Sports Betting

Lines are posted at halftime in college football for the second half. At times, bettors can find excellent wagering value offered here.

For instance, a 7-point favorite can have a bad first half with turnovers, missed field goals, and missed opportunities. If they're trailing 17-7, mathematically that means in order to cover, they need to outscore the underdog by 18 points in the second half to cover the opening number. However, they're not going to be an 18-point favorite with the halftime number. It will be closer to 7.

This is where watching games can pay dividends.

The halftime score might not reflect the play on the field. The favorite might have rushed the football well and played very good defense, but they're down by 10 because of ill-timed penalties, dropped passes on third down, or turnovers and botched special teams play that are the main reasons the underdog is winning at the half. Your eyes tell you that the favorite is likely to come back strong, so covering 7 second-half points is a sound bet for a winning wager.

Shopping Around

Serious winning bettors and expert college football gamblers shop CFB betting lines and have accounts at multiple betting sites or sportsbooks. It's extra effort, and extra bankroll money, but it's worth it because it allows you flexibility on betting college football into the best lines, even if they vary by just one point or a half-a-point. That might not seem like much for one game, but over the course of a season, it will add up.

If you get a favorite at -2 instead of -3 or -4, it can mean a lot in a close game or one that goes to overtime. If you get an underdog at +7 instead of +6 and they lose 34-27, you get your money back on a push while the people who got +6 have losing tickets.

Money not lost is money gained. And over the entire college football campaign, those half-a-point differences will help maximize your season-winning profits.

Use these strategies throughout the CFB season to help you increase your win percentage. And don't forget to grab my free CFB picks.