NCAAF Odds & Betting Lines

How to Read College Football Odds

If you're new to college football betting or the gambling market in general, here's some information on how to read this page and what each market means.

Reading College Football Point Spreads

A "point spread" might be a foreign term to new bettors, but they're the most popular way to bet in the U.S. and especially for college football. They're just bets on the margin of victory, which makes betting more interesting in a sport that often features plenty of blowouts early in the season.

For example, say Michigan plays Northern Illinois. If all you could bet on was which team wins the game, that's not very fun, and the bets would require too much money for most bettors since Michigan would be such a heavy favorite.

But with spread betting, it's not just about whether Michigan wins -- but by how much. Here's an example of a potential spread for this game:

• Northern Illinois +27.5
• Michigan -27.5

You can tell Northern Illinois is the underdog because it has a plus sign next to its name and number. Michigan, by contrast, has a plus sign, which means it is favored to win the game by 27.5 points.

Bettors can take either team on the spread, and it all comes down to the final score and how much a team wins by. If you bet on Michigan at -27.5, you would win your bet only if the Wolverines won by 28 or more points. If the Huskies won the game outright or simply just lost by 27 or fewer, those bets would win. Again, point spread betting in college football makes every game interesting and potentially worth wagering on.

Reading College Football Moneylines

Of course, you can just bet on which team will win a game outright. Those bets are called moneyline wagers. Since the margin of victory is not relevant with these, sportsbooks adjust by manipulating the payout structure.

In the Michigan vs. Northern Illinois example, the Wolverines might be outrageous favorites to the tune of -10000 odds. That means if you bet $100 on them, you'd profit just a single dollar if they won. The Huskies in this example, though, would be big favorites, such as +1700 odds. That means if they upset Michigan, $100 moneyline bettors would make $1,700 in profit.

That's a bit of an extreme example, but it highlights the exact reason point spread betting was invented decades ago. Still, the moneyline is a very common type of bet and can actually provide more value at times -- especially on underdogs given the boosted payout.

If you don't feel like calculating the odds yourself, hop on over to our free betting calculator, where you can get payouts in an instant.

Reading College Football Totals

One of the other most common types of bets in college football is a total, also referred to as an over/under. With these, it doesn't matter which team wins or by how much: The bets are solely about how many points the teams will combine to score.

Let's say LSU vs. Florida has a total of 58 points, as listed by a sportsbook. Bettors can take either side of that number, and then it's a matter of points. Over bettors would win if the Tigers and Gators combined for 59 or more points, while under bettors would win at 57 or fewer. These bets can tie, which is called a "push," and the bets get refunded.

Totals don't have to just be the combined output of both teams, however. Sportsbook will list team totals, which are bets on just the point performance of a single team. Further, spread, moneyline, and total bets are broken into smaller segments, like just the first half or just the fourth quarter.

How to Use the College Football Odds Page

The difference between betting a spread at -6.5 vs. -7 might not seem like a huge deal, but that difference does really matter over time. Line shopping is quite important, and this page will help you find the best odds. We display the lines from a variety of sportsbooks, and then we highlight in green which sportsbook is giving you the best value on a bet. No more pulling up different apps or toggling between sportsbook tabs: See everything here.

Here are a few more things to note.

1) This page is customizable, so click "My Action" at the top and adjust your profile. For example, if you have just a few books in Pennsylvania, select those and we'll highlight the best odds at your sportsbooks.

2) We display just the spread to start, but you can click the check boxes next to total and moneyline to see odds for those markets. You can also select multiple at the same time.

3) If you want to see spreads, totals, and moneylines for a different time period than the full game, use the dropdown box to see odds for the first half, second quarter, second half, and much more.

4) We don't just list odds for FBS games. If you're interested in following or betting on FCS matchups, click on the far right dropdown box.

5) If you're in a legal betting state, we'll highlight the best books and odds for you.

Take advantage of welcome offers as well--we recommend the BetMGM Bonus for new sports bettors.

More College Football Betting Options

Point spreads, moneylines, and totals aren't the only ways you can bet on college football. Here are some other markets to check out.

Futures

Futures bets refer to wagers that settle at a later date than just the upcoming college football slate, often at the end of the season. Some examples include odds for any team to win the national title, odds for conference winners, regular season win totals, Heisman Trophy odds, and more.

Use our NCAAF futures page to look at any market and find the best price.

College Football Props

Betting on individual players isn't new to the U.S. sports world, as that's essentially what all of us do during the NFL season with fantasy football. In betting, these are called player props, and they're bets on the statistical outcome of a specific player.

They're less common in college football than the pro sports, but you can still find them at a few sportsbooks. Some examples include betting a QB to throw for over/under a certain number of yards, betting a running back to score, and more.

DFS

If you live in a state without legal online sports betting, check out daily fantasy college football contests. These are just like regular fantasy leagues, except you select players under a salary cap, and it takes place just on a single Saturday.

At FantasyLabs, we have expert content and slate breakdowns, as well as fully customizable tools and pro projections.

Other College Football Betting Tips

Once you're familiar with the college football betting lingo, it's still tough at times to figure out exactly what to bet. Here are a few things to eye when looking at a Saturday NCAAF slate.

Public Betting Percentages

We host a ton of betting data for not only every college football slate, but every single game. You can easily eye which bets are the most popular across the industry and where sharps are getting down action.

PRO Projections

Our college football experts, including Collin Wilson and Stuckey, create NCAAF power ratings for each team that they then adjust after every week. These are used to create our PRO projections for college football, which highlight edges to bet.

PRO Report

If you're a data-driven bettor, you'll love our PRO Report, which shows five key signals for every game: sharp action, big money, pro systems, model projections, and top expert picks.

College Football Picks

With Saturday college football slates so loaded with games, it can get overwhelming. That's where our NCAAF experts come in: They break down everything and track their favorite bets, which you can see for free on The Action Network's website and app.