COLLEGE FOOTBALL POINT SPREADS EXPLAINED:

Football Game Odds Las Vegas

In that example, the Cowboys are a 7-point favorite and must win by more than 7 to win the bet. If the game ends with a 7-point Cowboys win, the bet is a push and you get your money back. Moneyline is the simplest type of bet for you to make. These bets are nothing more than the NFL odds on who will win the game. The margin of victory is not included in these types of bets.

While the NFL is the most wagered upon sport in North America, college football is the most exciting brand of football you can watch on TV. The passion these kids play with is second to none and the century old rivalries amongst some of college's elite programs makes that one game a season sometime mean so much more than a national title. Since Michigan is generally out of the CFP discussion by November, there game against Ohio State is the be all and end all of their season. Michigan wants to beat Ohio State so badly, that some of the fan base would be considered there season a success if that's the only marquee win on the schedule.

If you don't know some of the history of college football, I suggest looking into it. If you are like everyone else who reads this piece and want to understand how to bet on the basic college football options, you can keep reading. If you are a little more seasoned, you can skip down to the advanced wagering options by clicking here. If you want to know how to lay a few bets down on the futures market, I suggest you click here.

College Football Game Odds 2019

Betting on the Money Line in College Football

As a concept, this is the simplest wager you can make on any game in any sport. The money line betting option allows you to place a bet on the team you think is simply going to win the game. In college, this bet includes overtime. Unlike the NFL, college football games cannot end in a tie due to their overtime format.

Example:

Alabama Crimson Tide: -450 ML
Kentucky: Wildcats +300 ML

The money line betting odds correlate to the listed point spread. In this example, Alabama are the favorites and you must wager $450 dollars to turn a profit of $100. If you are a homer or love betting on the underdog, the Wildcats will return you $300 for every $100 you wager on them if they pull off the upset.

Betting on the Point Spread

Regardless of if I am talking about the NFL, CFL, NCAA, Arena League or upcoming XFL, the point spread is the most popular wagering option for bettors who love to test football betting skills. The point spread is an indication of which team is the favorite and underdog heading into their matchup.

A negative betting line such as -7.5 indicates that the favorite team is expected to not only win the game outright, but win by eight or more points. On the flip side, positive betting lines such as +7.5 indicate a team's underdog status. Not only is the underdog expected to lose, but they are expected to lose by at least eight points.

When looking over betting options for the college football, you will come across lines that look like the following:

Alabama Crimson Tide -7.5 (-110)
Kentucky Wildcats: +7.5 (-110)

Depending on which side you select, your team must 'cover the spread' in order for your wager to be graded a winner.

If you choose to take Kentucky +7.5, you will be a winner if either of these two scenarios play out. The first being Kentucky wins the game outright by any score. The second being Kentucky loses by seven or fewer points, thus 'covering' the +7.5-spread.

If you decided to wager on Alabama as -7.5-point favorites, they must win by eight or more points in order for wager to be graded as a winner.

One thing to keep in mind when betting on the point spread is that the point spread moves up or down depending on how much action a certain side is receiving. If you are able to lock in your bet at -7.5 and the line goes down to -5.5, your ticket would only be a winner if your team won by eight or more points. If they won six or seven, they would have beat the closing spread of -5.5, but your odds are locked in from the time your ticket is printed or you click place bet.

Betting Game Totals

Despite being classified as the same sport, NFL and college football totals are apples and oranges. In college, it's easy to spot the teams that play absolutely zero defense. The scores from their games are typically in the 70's/80's on a consistent basis. In the NFL, there were only a handful of games that games that reached those totals. College football is more receptive to the spread offense, which is why sportsbooks have no choice but to inflate totals to try and cover their own butts.

Let's look at an example of a game total:

Texas Tech Red Raiders/Oklahoma Sooners – 'Over' 78.5 -110, 'Under' 78.5 -110

If you bet the 'over' 78.5, there must be a total of 79 points or more scored in the game in order for you to be a winner. If there are 78 or fewer points scored, then those who bet on the 'under' will cash their tickets.

If totals are whole numbers such as 78 or 80 and the total happens to land exactly on the number, your bet, regardless whether it's an 'over' or 'under' bet, will be graded as a push and your money will be returned to you.

Advanced College Football Wagering Options

Advanced wagering options in college football are nearly identical to those of the NFL. The only thing you will not find in a sportsbook in relation to college football is the 'First Touchdown Scorer or Anytime Touchdown Scorer' market. Below are some of the more popular wagering options.

Team totals

This works almost exactly like the game total, but revolves around one team instead of both. With the 'team total' wagering option, you are essentially betting on whether you think Team X will score more or less than the line given out by the sportsbooks.

Example:

Texas Tech Team Total: 'Over' 35.5 -110, 'Under' 35.5 -110.

In this case you have two options. You can bet them to score 36 or more points or 35 or fewer. The decision is ultimately up to you. This bet also includes overtime, unless otherwise stated in the betting rules provided by your sportsbook of choice.

First Half Spread

The 'first half spread' betting option is a trickier form of betting the full-game point spread. This option takes into account the score at half time in order to determine a winner. The first half spread is usually half of what the full game spread is.

Example:

Alabama -3.5 1H
Kentucky +3.5 1H

Depending on what side you are on, the score going into half time is what is used to determine a winner. If the score is 31-21 in favor of Alabama, bettors holding an Alabama -3.5 1H ticket are winners since they were able to cover the -3.5- first-half spread.

As I mentioned above, the first half point spread is typically half of what the full game line is.

Player Props

There are only a handful of sportsbooks that offer up player props in college football, but they are nowhere near as extensive as the NFL player props. Typically, there will be props offered on one or two superstars per team and the lines will typically be inflated depending on who is playing.

Examples:

Jalen Hurts: 'Over' 18.5 completions -110, 'Under' 18.5 completions -110
Nick Chubb: 'Over' 74.5 rushing yards -110, 'Under' 74.5 rushing yards -110
Calvin Ridley: 'Over' 4.5 receptions -110, 'Under' 4.5 receptions -110

For each of these three player prop options, each player must go 'over' or 'under' the posted line. If you think Hurts will complete at least 19 passes, you would take the 'over'. If you think Ridley will be held to four or fewer catches, you would bet the 'under'.

A futures bet is a wager placed in the time leading up to the start of the event on a team or player that you believe is going to win their respective competition. Heading into the 2018/19 College Football season, the CFP futures odds look like this:

2019 College Football Champions: Alabama +200, Clemson +700, Georgia +700, Ohio State +700, Michigan +1400, Penn State +1600, Oklahoma +2500, Wisconsin +2500, Florida State +2800, etc.

In order for you to successfully cash your ticket, you must correctly choose the team that will hoist the CFP trophy at the conclusion of next year's College Football Playoffs.

Team Win Totals

This is another popular type of futures bet amongst pro handicappers. The concept is straight forward. Every sportsbook will put out a 'win total' for every team long before the season begins. Handicappers must simply decide whether they believe that team will exceed the posted win total or fall short of it.

Example:

Alabama Crimson Tide Win Total: 'Over' 11.5 wins -110, 'Under' 11.5 wins -110

If Alabama wins at least 12 games, the 'over' would cash. If they win 11 or fewer, the 'under' would cash.

Here is a list of our other betting lines and odds pages.
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How to read Super Bowl 56 Odds

The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55. However, the Chiefs remain the favorites to win Super Bowl 56 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

The Chiefs are listed at 6/1 odds (Bet $100 to win $600), while the defending champion Buccaneers are the third-betting choice at 10/1.

In between Kansas City and Tampa Bay are the Green Bay Packers, who are currently at 9/1 odds.

Here is a quick reference on Super Bowl odds for the upcoming 2021 NFL season.

How to read NFL Las Vegas Odds

The point-spread was developed to provide a balance for both teams involved in a contest to entice bettors to potentially back the weaker team and receive points. The two squads in a game are listed with a title, either a favorite or an underdog. The favorite is usually the perceived better team in the game, as backing them means giving up several points.

The favorite is always listed with a minus (-) sign before the point-spread while the underdog is labeled with a plus (+) label.

Ex. Favorite -10, Underdog +10

On the VegasInsider.com odds page, there is another number associated with the favorite and its listed as -10. This number is simply defined as “vig” or what many in the sports betting industry call vigorish. Another common term is called “juice” and it’s technically the price the bettor has to pay on a straight wager.

Ex. Bet $110 to win $100 (10% juice)
Ex. Bet $100 to win $90.91 (10% juice)

It's not uncommon to see other values posted other than -10. Examples seen on the NFL Vegas Odds pages could include -08, -12, -15 and -20. The -10 price is the most common value in the industry while many books offer reduced 'juice odds' and that would fall into the -08 category.

The lower-juice sportsbooks are normally found outside of the state Nevada. If you are in a state where sports betting is legal, please check out our online sportsbook directory to find the best and most secure places to make NFL bets.

Another number that’s posted on the NFL Las Vegas is the total or ‘over/under’ for the specific matchup. If the favorite is designated as the home team, then the total will be listed above and vice versa if the visitors are favorites.

All of the above numbers are listed next to the teams, and before each matchup is a Rotation number. The NFL Las Vegas Odds are listed in order of rotation and those numbers are generated and produced by the sportsbooks. Above each matchup and rotation is the Time of the game, which is subject to change. All game times are Eastern Standard Time.

NFL Open Line

One of the best features on the NFL Vegas Odds is the Open Line. This numbers consists of the first betting line received from one of our Las Vegas or Global Sportsbooks. The opening line varies depending on the sportsbook but it provides a clear-cut rating that the oddsmakers use. If you’re betting on the NFL or any other sport, it’s a great idea to view the open line first.

VI Consensus NFL Line

The VegasInsider.com Consensus NFL Line is just as important as the Open Line and also a key resource on odds platform. The Consensus column could be called a “Median Line” since it shows the most consistent number provided by the sportsbooks on VegasInsider.com. The consensus line will be the same as the open line but once the wagers start coming in, this number is often different than the openers.

How do I bet on the Super Bowl?

We know that you can bet on the Super Bowl and all of NFL Futures or bet on the NFL Draft at any time of the year, but what’s the process? The future wager or the “Odds to Win” bet on the Super Bowl is correctly selecting a team to win an event that takes place at a later time. A bettor will have his wagered money tied up until there is an outcome and bettors will receive fixed odds when they place the wager. In the case of the Super Bowl, you’re not a winner or loser until you see zeros on the clock in the final game.

Most sportsbooks offer different ways to read to Super Bowl Odds. In the fractional NFL Futures Odds format below, you simply take the odds and multiply by the amount wagered.

Ex. Green Bay (8/1) to win the Super Bowl

The Packers are listed as an 8/1 betting choice to win the Super Bowl. If you wager $100 on Green Bay to win the NFC and they capture the championship, then you would win $800 (8 ÷ 1 x 100). Your online betting account would then credit your account $900, which includes your win and stake ($100).

The American Format would see Green Bay listed at +800 and for the Decimal Format, the Packers would be 9.00.

If you are in a state where online betting is legal, we encourage you to check out our sportsbook directory to find the most trustworthy and reputable sites and mobile apps to place your Super Bowl bets.