How To Read College Football Odds

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When betting on NCAAF or any football games, the first thing you should learn to do is to read football odds. Odds are figures set by bookies that represent the ratio of the winnings and the stake for an outcome of a game you want to wager on.

The odds usually come in fractions or decimals. As a bettor, you can choose which one you prefer. Football odds can be spreads, Moneyline, total bets, etc. If you’re confused with these terms, don’t fret. We’ll discuss it to help you read college football odds properly.

What is Moneyline in Football Betting?

A Moneyline bet is a straightforward type of NCAAF betting where you will wager on one team defeating the other in a single match. Once the game concludes, the sportsbook will grade the bets in one of the three ways:

Win: Your chosen team is victorious, and the sportsbook will return the stake and the winning to you.
Loss: Your chosen team lost the game and in the sportsbook keeps the money you wager
Draw: Both teams won, and the game ended as a tie. The sportsbook will return the stake only as if the wager never happened in the first place.

You will see Moneyline on the sportsbook in the following formats:

Northwestern -190 vs. Nebraska +160

A Moneyline is a type of bet that only includes “Odds to win.”

Given the example above, a Moneyline of Nebraska +160 is simply +150 odds which translates to: Your $100 will win $150 for Nebraska.

Meanwhile, a Moneyline of Northwestern -190 is simply -190 odds which translates to Your $190 will win $100 for Northwestern. Underdogs are popular with bettors since they are usually “plus” money. Since chances are slim for the underdogs, they are favorite bets because they pay a lot when they do win. Remember, a plus sign (+) is for the underdogs, while the minus sign (-) is for the favorites.

What is Spread in Football Betting?

A point spread is a wager on a sporting event’s margin of victory. It is the most famous type of football bet.

To profit from point-spread betting, the presumed strongest team, also known as the favorite, must be victorious by a certain point. Meanwhile, the presumed weakest team or the underdogs could lose by less than the same amount of points or win the game.

We will still use the two teams of the NCAAF as an example for point-spread betting. Let’s say Nebraska is a -6.5 favorite over Northwestern in the second round.

In an instance where Nebraska wins by 7+ points, the spread bettors who bet on Nebraska win.
Meanwhile, if Nebraska wins 1-6 points only, the spread bettors who bet on Northwestern will win. It is because Nebraska won but fell short with points.
On the other hand, if Northwestern wins the game, bettors who bet on Northwestern will win.

Sportsbooks use the spread concept for far more than the final score of a football game. They use the spread concept for far more than the final score of a football game. Spreads include Duke -2.5 corner kicks vs. MSU and the Temple total touchdowns -1.5 vs. Lafayette.

Like Moneyline, the favorite in the point spread betting is represented with a minus sign, and the underdog is represented with a minus sign on sportsbooks.

What is Total in Football Betting?

Total betting on football is more popularly known as over/under bet. It is betting where you wager on the total points of a single game. For example, you can bet whether the combined points/runs/goals of both teams playing will go over or under a specific number.

You will not be attempting to guess the exact amount of the total points. Instead, you will be able to guess whether it is lower or higher. For example, the total points of Northwestern-Nebraska are set to 54.5.

If Northwestern wins the game by 24-20 points, then the under bettors win. It is because the total points (24 and 20) are only 44, which falls below the set points of 54.5.
But if Northwestern wins the game by 34-24 points, the over bettor wins. It is because the total points accumulated by both teams (34 and 24) are equal to 58, which is over the set point of 54.5.

In a sportsbook, you will see a total odds formatted as:

54.5 OVER -110
54.5 UNDER +105

Today the over/under bet is used not only for the final score of a game. It is also used to wager on a quarterback over or under 250 passing yards and also for teams to have over or under 3.5 touchdowns.

Start Learning How to Read Odds

With the explanation and examples given above, you can easily read college football odds or any other sports odds. So use this straightforward guide and start learning and mastering reading odds to increase your winning chance.