For folks who are avid sports bettors, there's nothing like the college football season to get the betting juices flowing. The college pigskin scene provides a wealth of weekly opportunities, three to four times as many as the NFL. But because of the number of conferences, six majors and five others, the disparate talent levels and cross-conference play, college football games can be tough to pick.
Add to this, the fact that point spreads and over/unders can be astronomical, and the dilemma of consistently making money by betting the college game comes into focus. The basic problem is that with over 100 teams in 11 conferences and each club playing 12 games, there's so much to know, keep current on and analyze that it all seems daunting.
There's one final problem-you won't find moneyline bets for the college game. That means that you have to play the point spread, which can be anywhere from 1.5 to 45 points! It's not easy to pick a game where the favorite team is at minus-45.
With these challenges in mind, here are five tips that you can use to make your
college football betting experience positive and profitable.
Bet Low to Middle Point Spreads
There's no doubt about it that the Pac-10's USC Trojans will beat the WAC's San Jose State Spartans but will they do it by 35 points? And there's very little chance that the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks will upset the Texas Longhorns but will Texas win by the posted spread of 40 points? Try to stick to games with point spreads that are 12 and under. Smaller spreads are more easily overcome by the favored club and make better bets. Should you always bet the favorite? No. You still need to do your research and analysis before placing any wager.
Consider the Over/Under on Mismatches
On games that are huge mismatches, such as USC versus San Jose State and the University of Louisiana at Monroe against Texas try betting the over/under, which are at 50 and 62.5 points respectively. It makes sense that a wealth of points will be racked up in both games, mostly by the teams that are expected to win.
Become an Expert on Two Conferences
Learn as much as you can about two of the major conferences and focus on those two during league play. You'll have plenty of games to wager on and you'll be able to make decisions based on a wealth of knowledge. But don't be a stranger to the other conferences. Each week check the schedule of college games, researching a select number in other conferences. If you find a few games with promising spreads then bet them.
Stay in the Game
In order to be successful, you need to wager every week. One week you may go 2- 8, while the next you might be 6- 4 and the next 9- 1. You're trying to achieve an average success rate of 60 to 65%. That rate is for the entire season. Be realistic, even the experts hit a bump or two in the road. The way to recover from those bumps is to continue driving ahead.
Read Daily
Set aside some time every day to read about the upcoming games, including any breaking news that may affect outcomes. Avail yourself of stats and reports related to recent and seasonal performance and read expert analysis from commentators that you trust. Also, keep your eyes open for anything that involves around
college football betting, such as an injury or suspension of a player, that might result in a line being changed or affect how you bet a game.
changed or affect how you bet a game.
