College Football Betting Tips for 2024

If you are looking to make a profit betting on college football in 2024, preparation is the key. Nowadays, there is a ton of information available for bettors to use as they handicap a game. It can be overwhelming at times looking at things like success rates, havoc rates, and all of your traditional trends like ATS numbers, O/U results, and more. 

How does one make sense of it all and succeed betting on college football in 2024? That is the focus of this article. Here are your college football betting tips for this season.

Research Teams

If you haven’t already, you need to dig in deep not on all 133 FBS teams, but on a select group of college football programs. You can’t begin to bet on teams that you know nothing about. One of the easiest things to do is go online and start searching for team previews and predictions. There are a number of college football magazines that provide a wealth of information about each team. They’ll even include some information about FCS teams, Division II, and Division III.

Go to X (formerly Twitter) and start following college football experts. Find handicappers that specialize in college football and follow them as well. You might even find some good college football podcasts that can help you throughout the season.

Now, you can’t become an expert on all 133 teams. That’s why it pays to dial in your focus.

Gain an Advantage

You should understand where sportsbooks make their money during the college football season. See a game with Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, or some other big-time program? Sportsbooks know that the betting public loves these teams. The public also loves to bet on these teams. There will be higher numbers of wagers on games featuring SEC and Big Ten teams than most any other in a given week.

Sportsbooks will spend more time making sure they get it right on those games. Air Force vs. Wyoming? Not so much. The point is that you may want to focus on a lesser-known conference where you can gain an advantage over the books.

Oddsmakers are not putting in the same amount of effort on the MAC. Sun Belt or SEC? Which one do you think gets more attention on a weekly (even daily) basis? Even in the SEC, a team like Vanderbilt or South Carolina isn’t as popular as Georgia or Alabama. Lines on Georgia, Alabama, LSU, etc. are going to be the sharpest each and every week.

Betting experts know this and look elsewhere to find an advantage. You should too. Focus some of your research on the Group of 5 conferences. It’ll pay off in the long run.

Understand Bet Types

Bettors have to have some understanding of the various bet types. The traditional bets are moneyline, point spread, and total. Moneyline bets are the easiest to understand. You are simply placing a bet on one team to win over the other. The only difficulty comes in working with odds. Take the following example.

• Miami -180
• Florida +150

The odds on Miami to win are -180. The “-” sign indicates that the Hurricanes are the favorite. The odds also reveal the payout should Miami win. These American odds are expressed in units of 100 and are based on $100 bets. In the case of Miami, a bettor must wager $180 to win $100.

Of course, a bettor doesn’t have to wager $100. You could bet $10 on Miami to win and if they did, you would win $5.56 for a total payout of $15.56. On the other end of the bet, the “+” sign indicates that Florida is the underdog. It’s a little riskier to bet on an underdog and in this case, a $100 bet would result in a $150 win.

Again, one doesn’t have to bet $100. A $10 bet on Florida to win would pay out $25 if the Gators win – the original $10 bet plus the $15 in winnings. Once you have a basic understanding of how moneylines work, you can begin to place bets.

Betting Against the Spread

The most popular college football bets are against the point spread. The spread, which is derived by the oddsmakers, is effectively a way to even the playing field. We all know that Ohio State is going to beat Akron, but can they win by 49 points? 

• Akron +48.5 (-110)
• Ohio State -48.5 (-110)

In this example, Akron is the underdog at +48.5. Ohio State, of course, is the favorite. In order to cover the spread, Ohio State must win this game by 49 points. If Ohio State wins 49-0, anyone who bet on the Buckeyes is a winner.

On the other side of the bet, Akron doesn’t have to win the game. They only have to lose by 48 or fewer points. If the final score is Ohio State 49, Akron 7, the Zips have covered the spread. The odds numbers in parentheses work exactly as they did in the above example. A bettor must wager $110 to win $100 (or $1.10 to win $1.00).

Betting CFB Totals

College football bettors can also bet on the final score of a game. Instead of picking a winner, bettors choose whether or not the final score will go Over or Under a certain number chosen by oddsmakers. For example, in the Ohio State-Akron game above, the total is listed at 58.5.

• Akron O 58.5 (-110)
• Ohio State U 58.5 (-110)

A bettor that thinks this game will have 59 or more points would bet on the Over. If the final score was Ohio State 49, Akron 7, the final total is 56. That is less than 58.5 and would result in a loss. The odds (-110) again reflect the payout should a bettor win. 

More often than not, bettors will see game totals expressed in increments of 0.5. This way, a bet cannot result in a tie or a push as it is called in the industry. If the game total is set at 56 and the final score is 49-7, no one wins and no one loses. Sportsbooks will refund all bets in that case.

Understanding Key Numbers

If you want to find the best bets in a given week, you have to learn how to spot certain key numbers. These key numbers can help you determine a good point spread or totals bet. 

Football scoring is pretty simple. A touchdown is worth six points. A kicked conversion after a touchdown is always worth one point. Field goals are worth three points and there are two-point conversions and safeties that are worth two points.

Because of how football is scored, there are some common final scores. In college football, the most common final score is 31-24. More games end with a scoring margin of three points than any other number. In fact, 9.24 percent of all CFB games since 2005 ended with a scoring margin of three points. Next was seven points. CFB games since 2005 ended with a margin of seven points 7.73 percent of the time.

The most common final scores in college football add up to 55. That makes 55 a key number when it comes to betting on college football totals. If you understand these numbers, you can use them to make (or pass) better bets.

Identifying CFB Bets

If you want to win more bets, you have to find ones that offer you a greater opportunity for success. You can always do what many professionals do – search for certain key numbers. If you know that more college games end with a scoring margin of three points, teams favored at -2.5 have some value. Dig into those favorites to see if a bet makes sense.

The same for an underdog. A 3.5-point underdog becomes a winner if they only lose by a field goal. In the totals market, more games end up at 51 and 55 points than any other numbers. Again, you can dig into both teams and determine whether you like an Over or Under depending on the oddsmakers’ numbers.

Final Note

You can have great success this season betting on college football. Do your homework. Research teams, conferences, and more. Make sure you understand the various bet types. You will also want to keep track of the latest news, including injury updates each and every week. Check out weather reports as well as the conditions that can affect a game.

Learn how to choose sound bets. Don’t haphazardly make wagers just for the sake of placing a bet. At the same time, don’t be afraid to take a risk. There are always plenty of upsets during the college football season. This one won’t be any different.