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LOG IN | SIGN UPIt’s no surprise that college football is one of the most popular sports in America, and nothing compares to the history, rivalries, and loyalty the game carries. Combine this with the beauty of amateur sport, from the broad range of talent to the opportunity for glory, and it’s easy to see why NCAA football betting is one of the biggest and most exciting opportunities for sports fans.
You’re ready to get in on the action and bet on college football. But first, you need to decide what type of bet you’ll make. Maybe you’re confident it’ll be a quarterback shootout, or you think a team will win by more than the spread. At DraftKings, you can learn how to bet within minutes - There are plenty of options for winning big.
A point spread is an amount a team is favored to win by. If a team is projected to win by 10 points, you get to decide if they’ll hit that mark or not. Think they’ll shatter the opponent? Or will the other team keep it close? College football spreads are popular among betters.
An NCAAF line is a bet that has odds. If you want to pick the winner, no matter the score, college football betting lines are for you—if the player or team you bet on wins, you’ll get paid out. Payouts for moneylines depend on how well your betting team is favored.
Also known as Totals, Over / Unders are a bet on a specific statistic of the game. The most common Over / Under is the total points. Will it be a high-scoring affair? Or a low-point defensive matchup?
Short for proposition bets, a prop bet isn’t usually tied to the final score or outcome. The most common prop bets are player props, where wagers are made on a single player’s performance, like how many throwing yards the quarterback will have.
There’s a wide range of other prop bets you can play on. Everything is up for grabs, from who scores the first touchdown to how many rushing yards a team will have. You can even bet on what color Gatorade will be poured on the winning coach. If picking the winning team seems too simple, prop bets may be right for you.
If you want to actively bet during the game, check out live odds. Know who’s going to score next? Got a good feeling about this drive? Live NCAAF odds update with the action, so stay engaged. There’s always another bet to be made.
Parlays are for folks who feel lucky or like routing for several outcomes. You can combine multiple bets to raise the stakes and extend the fun, and if all your picks win, you get a major payout.
Futures are bets on the entire season rather than a single game. Futures betting pays well because of the difficulty of making selections so far in advance.
The most popular futures bet is what team will win the College Football National Championship, but there are many futures to choose from, such as the winner of the Heisman Trophy.
Understanding NCAA football odds is key in picking that winning bet. Don’t be overwhelmed by the numbers! Here’s a simple breakdown to make your next bet easy.
In the U.S., NCAA football lines are odds based on a bet of $100.
First, you need to look for the ( + ) or ( – ) symbols. The ( + ) represents the underdog and means a winning bet of $100 will return that amount. For example, a $100 bet on a +150 underdog will pay out $250 ($150 in winnings plus original $100 wager). On the other hand, the ( – ) means you must bet that amount to win $100 since that team is favored. In other words, a –150 favorite means you must bet $150 to win $100.
So let’s say Michigan and Ohio State have an upcoming game, and the moneyline looks like this:
| Michigan | +120 |
| Ohio State | -140 |
Michigan is the underdog, so if you bet $100 on Michigan and they win, it’ll pay $220 ($120 in winnings plus original $100 wager).
Ohio State is the favorite, so the payout will be lower. In this example, you’ll have to bet $140 to win $100.
It’s important to note that the home team is always listed second. So in this example, Michigan is playing at Ohio State.
It’s important to note that even if you think one team will win, if the odds do not reflect what you consider favorable to the chances of that team winning, you may decide that the wager isn’t worth placing.
The opening line is the initial odds put out for a game. Many see this as the truest and fairest representation of oddsmaker predictions before they alter things based on the betting. However, further in advance means more betting factors, like injury updates, can change before game time.
The closing line is the final odds before the game. These can be different from the opening lines based on factors like injuries, suspensions, or lopsided betting.
The spread will have the same ( + ) or ( – ) odds. However, you’ll also see the spread number.
| Michigan | +3 | –115 |
| Ohio State | –3 | –105 |
This means that Ohio State has to give three points since they’re the favorites. If they win by more than three, this bet will pay out $205 ($100 in winnings plus original $105 wager) if you wager $105.
The most common total bet is the final combined score. You can bet if the total will be over (O) or under (U) the amount projected.
So our previous example may look like this:
| O | 63 | –110 |
| U | 63 | –110 |
The total score, both teams combined, is projected to be 63 points. It’s up to you to decide if the actual outcome will be over or under 63. Either bet will pay $100 for a $110 wager.
College football presents exciting betting opportunities throughout the course of the season, but the games with the highest stakes generally take place from the first weekend in December through the National Championship in January.
The premier event of the NCAA Football season is the College Football Playoff. The 12 top teams in the nation reach the CFP, with the top-four seeds earning a bye. The five highest ranked conference champions will automatically reach the CFP field, while the other seven teams are determined as at-large bids by the CFP committee.
The opening round will consist of four games, with the four higher seeds hosting those games on-campus. The winners of those four games will advance to the CFP Quarterfinals against the four teams that received a bye. Those four games, as well as the rest of the CFP games, will be played at neutral sites. The Quarterfinals generally take place on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, taking over some of the rotating New Year’s Six Bowls. The four winners of the Quarterfinals will face off in the CFP Semifinals, with the two winners advancing to the National Championship.
The National Championship Game concludes the season in mid to late January.
In NCAA Division I football, FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) are two subdivisions, with FBS representing the higher level that plays for the National Championship, as well as featured Bowl Games. FCS teams participate in their own playoff tournament to determine their champion.
The top two teams in each of the nine FBS conferences advance to their respective conference championship game. These games take place on Friday and Saturday during the first weekend in December. Outside of being named conference champs, many of these contests carry CFP implications.
Here are the nine conferences that hold a FBS conference championship game:
American Athletic Conference (AAC)
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
Big 12 Conference
Big Ten Conference
Conference USA (C-USA)
Mid-American Conference (MAC)
Mountain West Conference
South Eastern Conference (SEC)
Sun Belt Conference
Rivalry games always provide a good spark as a college football fan or bettor. Throw the records out the window, generally you are going to get each team’s best shot in a rivalry game. These games often take place later on in the season to intensify the action on the field and the impact of the game.
Some of the major rivalries include:
Army vs. Navy
Michigan vs. Ohio State
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Alabama vs. Auburn
Florida vs. Georgia
Notre Dame vs. USC
Teams that don’t make the College Football Playoff, but win six or more games, are eligible for a single postseason bowl game. There are rare occasions that a team with five wins will be invited to a bowl game if more room is available. These matchups are usually held in the same location every year and are big events after the regular season.
The biggest bowl games, reserved for the most elite teams, are known as the New Year’s Six. Four of these games are now a part of the CFP, while the other two remain a primetime matchup between teams that missed that season’s CFP.
These include:
The Rose Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl
The Sugar Bowl
The Orange Bowl
The Cotton Bowl
The Peach Bowl