Current College Football Odds and Lines

With gambling on sports becoming legal in more and more states, college football isn’t far behind its popular professional counterpart. Review the latest college football odds below before you bet.

College football affords bettors more games than the NFL. On any given Saturday in the fall, there could be more than 60 college football games. That’s not including prime-time matchups on Tuesdays through Fridays.

There are parts of the U.S. – predominantly in the Southeast and also in the central states – where college football is the most popular sport. That increased attention drives NCAAFB betting action as well.

The most popular form of betting on college football is the point spread. But there are other bets that can be placed as well. We’ll go over all of those in this guide along with some helpful winning strategies.

College Football

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Current College Football Betting Odds
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College Football Futures Odds

2024-25 NCAA College Football Championship Odds

Team
BetRivers Sports Betting BetRivers BetMGM Sports Betting BetMGM
Georgia
+325
Bet
+350
Bet
Ohio State
+450
Bet
+425
Bet
Texas
+700
Bet
+750
Bet
Oregon
+850
Bet
+1000
Bet
Alabama
+1100
Bet
+800
Bet
Ole Miss
+1100
Bet
+1100
Bet
LSU
+1400
Bet
+1600
Bet
Notre Dame
+1400
Bet
+2500
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Michigan
+1600
Bet
+1600
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Clemson
+2000
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+2000
Bet
Penn State
+2000
Bet
+2500
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Florida State
+2500
Bet
+2000
Bet
USC
+3000
Bet
+3500
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Texas A&M
+3000
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+4000
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Tennessee
+3000
Bet
+5000
Bet
Missouri
+4000
Bet
+3500
Bet
Oklahoma
+4500
Bet
+3500
Bet
Washington
+5000
Bet
+8000
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Auburn
+5000
Bet
+10000
Bet
Miami (FL)
+6000
Bet
+3500
Bet
Kansas State
+6000
Bet
+10000
Bet
Utah
+8000
Bet
+6600
Bet
Louisville
+10000
Bet
+10000
Bet
Wisconsin
+12000
Bet
+10000
Bet
Arizona
+12000
Bet
+12500
Bet
Florida
+12000
Bet
+15000
Bet
Texas Tech
+12000
Bet
+20000
Bet
North Carolina
+15000
Bet
+15000
Bet
Nebraska
+15000
Bet
+20000
Bet
Arkansas
+15000
Bet
+30000
Bet

How to Read Sports Betting Odds Video

Table of Contents

  1. College Football Bets
  2. College Football Betting Events
  3. How to Bet College Football Events
  4. Popular Teams
  5. College Football Betting Strategies
  6. College Football Conference Standings
  7. Multiple Overtime Games and Team Records

College Football Bets

Bet on college football with the following common straight bets.

Point Spread

The point spread is even more of a factor in college football betting than in the NFL. This is because there can be some extremely lopsided matchups. Oddsmakers have to come up with some big numbers to try and keep the betting even on each side.

Point Spread Example

Vanderbilt Commodores +30.5 -110
Alabama Crimson Tide -30.5 -110

If it wasn’t for the point spread, betting on this game would be anti-climatic. Alabama is a traditional college football powerhouse team. They’re hosting Vanderbilt, another SEC team, not typically noted for its strength.

Oddsmakers have set the spread at 30.5 points. They don’t believe Alabama will win by more than 30 points. Instead, they think that number is high enough to entice around half of the game’s bettors to take Vanderbilt. Remember, sportsbooks want to balance their action.

A bet for Alabama means that you think they will win by more than 30 points. If you bet on Vanderbilt, you not only win if the Commodores somehow win the game, but also if they lose by 30 or fewer points.

A spread with a half-point ensures that there will be no ties (pushes). Suppose the spread was a half-point less. You could bet on Alabama at -30 and would get your initial bet back if the final score was 44-14.

If both teams are listed at -110, that means you have to bet $110 to win $100 on each side. If the bets are split 50-50, the sportsbook uses the losing bets to pay the winners. You’ll notice that leaves $10 leftover from each bet. That’s called the vig or the juice. This is the cut that the sportsbooks take to A) make money and B) guarantee that your bet can be paid out. Think of it as a service fee.

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Totals (Over-Under)

Another popular college football bet is a totals bet, commonly called the over-under. First, oddsmakers analyze the matchup. Next, they come up with a combined total score they think will equally split the betting public on each side of the line. They want half the bettors on the over and the other half on the under.

In the NFL, the total normally ranges from 40 to 53. There’s more variance in college football totals. Different factors, including unequal offenses and defenses, can produce total lines under 40 or as high as 70 to 80.

College football typically has higher-scoring games. There are rule differences that also favor the offense. Don’t be fooled by the higher numbers in the collegiate game versus what you see in the NFL.

Totals Example

Clemson Tigers u54 -110
Texas Longhorns o54 -110

Here, the total is set at 54. Remember, it’s the combined score of both teams. If the final is 31-20 (31+20 = 51), a bet on the under wins. If it’s 28-27 (28+27 = 55), the over wins.

In this example, the total is a whole number, so a push is in play. But like the point spread, a total could be set with a half-point, which eliminates the potential of a push.

Moneyline

The moneyline is simply picking which team will win the game. Instead of using a point spread to balance bets on each side, sportsbooks assign odds to the favorite and underdog. You have to risk more to win less on a favorite. The opposite is true for the underdog: you will risk less to win more.

Moneyline Example

Michigan Wolverines +140
Ohio State Buckeyes -155

There is no exact formula, but Ohio State being at -155 on the moneyline equates to a point spread of 3 or 4. Since the Buckeyes are the favorite, you will have to take on the added risk yourself. The minus sign before the number indicates the favorite. It means you have to wager $155 in order to win $100.

If you’re backing the underdog, their chances of winning are less. However, you’re rewarded by making more money than your initial investment if they win. The plus sign indicates the underdog. The number is the amount of money you can win wagering $100. So if the Wolverines win, it’s a $140 profit for you.

Unlike the NFL, some college football games will not have a moneyline available. Consider our point spread example of Vanderbilt vs. Alabama. Since it’s an almost certainty that the Crimson Tide would win that game, the game wouldn’t have a moneyline bet available.

Futures

A futures bet is placed at any point during the season to predict the winner of a championship, conference, or individual achievement. The most popular college football future is picking the team to win the College Football Playoff National Championship. You can also bet on teams to make the playoff itself or win a conference title. Betting on the player to win the Heisman Trophy is another fun futures bet.

Odds can be set for futures bets as soon as the end of the previous season, giving bettors the opportunity to have some action during the offseason.

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Futures Example

There are several ways a team’s odds to win a national or conference title can be influenced. Players deciding to turn pro or transfer in and out of a certain school are the biggest factors during the offseason. Another is the team’s schedule. Player injuries can also affect a team’s futures odds.

Surprise national champions are rare in college football. If you’re betting on the champion of the upcoming season, there may not be much value at the top. The following were the odds to win the 2023 College Football championship as of the spring of 2022:

TeamOdds
Alabama+200
Georgia+325
Ohio State+450
Clemson+1400
Texas A&M+2200

The top four teams have won seven out of the eight College Football Playoffs. Therefore, it’s no surprise to see them atop the futures odds heading into the 2022-23 season. We’ll go into more about college football futures betting below. This example should give you an idea of a real bet you could place.

College Football Betting Events


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Conference Championships

There’s no shortage of major college football betting events. After a 12-game regular season, each of the 10 conferences hold a championship game in late November or early December. For the “Power 5” conferences (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Pac-12, and Big 12), these games hold huge ramifications, as the winners could have a shot to reach the College Football Playoff.

College Football Playoffs

The playoff consists of four teams voted on by a panel. The top seed plays the fourth seed while seeds 2 and 3 meet in semifinal matchups on our around New Year’s Eve. The winners of those games meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship in early January to crown a winner.

Bowl Games

Nearly every other team in the Football Bowl Subdivision with at least six wins will play in bowl games. These games are held in venues across the country. They’re a great way to reward players for a good season and recognize outstanding seniors.

Bowl games take place throughout December. Larger bowls, like the Rose Bowl, are held on New Year’s Day. There’s no shortage of betting action in the college football postseason.

How to Bet on College Football Events

Futures Bets

We mentioned the futures bet earlier. Betting on a perennial powerhouse team may not offer much value. Heavy favorites do not pay well and upsets are rare in the CFP.

Where you can get some value, however, is betting on conference champions.

In 2021, Oklahoma State was behind Oklahoma, Iowa State, and Texas in the preseason futures odds for the Big 12 championship. The Cowboys, initially at +1100, ended up winning the conference championship.

In the Pac-12, USC is always going to be favored based on their popularity. But in 2021, Oregon, Washington, Arizona State, and UCLA were all ahead of eventual champion Utah, who went into the season at +1400.

When to Bet

Championship and conference title contenders tend to emerge rather quickly in college football. If you’re looking for value in conference futures – like with Oklahoma State and Utah in 2021 – place your bets prior to the start of the season.

In regard to betting on individual bowl games, it’s best to wait until a day or two before the game to place a bet. It’s common for key players to skip bowl games to avoid risking injury that could affect their NFL draft status. In other cases, players may decide to transfer out of a school before the bowl game is played. These decisions can be made up until a few days before the game. Don’t place a bowl game bet without knowing what’s happening with a team’s roster.

Single-Game Alternatives

Some prop bets – alternative bets that do not factor into the outcome of the game – are available in postseason college football games.

Prop bets can be anything from an over-under on the number of yards a quarterback throws to how many times a certain team turns the ball over.

In addition, many sportsbooks offer quarter and half lines. Instead of betting on the outcome of the entire game, you can make a total or point spread bet on each quarter or half.

Note about College Sports Betting

Many states, like New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, currently prohibit betting on games with in-state schools. For example, Illinois residents cannot bet on Illinois football games. Similarly, New York residents can’t bet on Syracuse or Fordham. Some states also expressly forbid college prop bets. See our sportsbook review and state betting pages for more information.

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Popular College Football Teams

Alabama Crimson Tide

The Crimson Tide is the most successful team of the 2000s and more specifically, over the last decade-plus. Alabama has won six national championships from 2009-20 and has a total of 18 titles in its history. Head coach Nick Saban is tied with Paul “Bear” Bryant with six titles each, but Saban is the all-time leader due to a title he won at LSU prior to coming to Alabama.

Alabama has also had four Heisman Trophy winners in this recent span of success, including running backs Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry, wide receiver DeVonta Smith, and quarterback Bryce Young. Quarterbacks A.J. McCarron and Tua Tagovailoa were both Heisman runner-ups.

Clemson Tigers

The Tigers, out of the ACC, are enjoying their most successful period in school history, making the College Football Playoff six times in a row from 2015-20 and winning it all twice. After winning a national championship in 1981, the team was largely quiet until Dabo Swinney took over as head coach.

The Tigers recorded seasons of at least 10 wins in 2012, ‘13, and ‘14 before breaking through in 2015 with quarterback Deshaun Watson. Clemson lost to Alabama 45-40 in the 2016 championship game but avenged the defeat the following season by beating the Tide 35-31 for the title.

Two years later, quarterback Trevor Lawrence led Clemson to its first undefeated season since 1981, going 15-0, beating both Notre Dame and Alabama easily in that year’s playoffs. Both Watson and Lawrence were Heisman Trophy runner-ups during their time at Clemson.

Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia has consistently been one of the best teams in both the SEC and in the nation this century. In 2021, the Bulldogs broke through to win their first national title since 1980. Since 2001, current head coach Kirby Smart and predecessor Mark Richt have led the Bulldogs to a combined 211-66 record. They have won the SEC East 10 times since 2002 and three overall SEC conference titles to show for it.

After winning the SEC over Auburn in 2017, Georgia blew an 18-point lead over Alabama and lost the national title game in overtime. The 2021 Bulldogs breezed through the regular season with a record-setting defense that allowed fewer than a touchdown per game. In the SEC title game, however, they were handed their only loss by rival Alabama. Finally, the Bulldogs beat the Tide when it counted, winning January 2022’s national title game 33-18.

While no players have won the Heisman during this 20-year run at Georgia, quarterback Matthew Stafford (2009) and linebacker Travon Walker (2022) were both top-overall NFL draft picks.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff national championship in 2014 under head coach Urban Meyer, quarterback J.T. Barrett, and running back Ezekiel Elliott. Since then, the Buckeyes haven’t won another title but have been mainstays in the playoffs, making it a total of four times and reaching the title game again in 2020.

The Buckeyes have won the Big Ten 39 times and did so four-straight times from 2017-20 – twice under Meyer and two times under current head coach Ryan Day. The team holds eight national championships, five of which were won under head coach Woody Hayes from 1954-70. Quarterback Troy Smith (2006) was the last Buckeye to win the Heisman Trophy. Prior to that, it was running back Eddie George in 1995. Running back Archie Griffin remains the only player to win the Heisman twice in 1974 and 1975.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

While Notre Dame hasn’t won a national championship since 1988, the Irish remain one of college football’s most popular teams and perhaps the most well-known worldwide. The Irish operate independently of any college football conference. They set their own schedule, playing major teams like Michigan and USC every year. They occasionally schedule games against other top-tier programs like Clemson, Texas, and Ohio State.

Lou Holtz was the coach for the team’s last of its 11 national titles in 1988. After he left in 1996, the team went through several coaches before succeeding with Brian Kelly, who was hired in 2010. Kelly led the Irish to a championship game appearance in 2012 and posted six-straight 10-win seasons from 2015-21 before leaving the program for LSU.

The list of famous players and coaches at Notre Dame is lengthy. It includes quarterbacks Paul Hornung, Joe Theismann, and Joe Montana. Also, wide receiver Tim Brown (1987 Heisman Trophy winner), and head coaches Knute Rockne and Ara Parseghian. The movie “Rudy,” one of the most popular sports films of all time, also put Notre Dame into pop culture’s spotlight.

College Football Betting Strategies


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Become an Expert on the Smaller Conferences

Going into the 2022 season, there are 131 teams in college football’s top tier: Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). That’s more than four times the number of teams in the four major sports in North America. Due to the sheer number of teams, it’s more difficult for oddsmakers to stay on top of every team’s trends.

Popular teams and power conferences get a lot of public betting action. It’s only natural that oddsmakers focus on these games the most.

Going into a season, commit to watching games in smaller conferences like the MAC, Conference USA, and the SunBelt. Familiarize yourself with the teams and study the statistics. Soon, trends will emerge. You’ll have more institutional knowledge on these games than the oddsmakers. This will be a big advantage going in.

A good strategy here is to set your own line on each game. Then, see how it compares to the official line. Bet on the ones with the largest discrepancy in your favor.

Use Weather Patterns in Totals Bets

Because college athletes are not as skilled as their professional counterparts, certain weather conditions seem to affect them more. Take advantage of this when handicapping a college football matchup.

Take the Over in hot-weather Games

From 2005-18, the over has gone 304-251 for a 6.2% return on investment (ROI) on games with a kickoff temperature of 85. In 90-degree games, that jumps to 81-57 for a 13.8% ROI.

The thinking here is that the athletes on defense are tiring quicker in the warm weather, allowing the offenses to score easier.

Take the Under in Windy Games

In that same timespan of 2005-18, the under is 991-829 (6.1% ROI) in games where the wind is blowing at more than 10 mph. With a wind speed of at least 15 mph, that number is 270-197 (12.8% ROI).

Here, the quarterbacks’ arms and kickers’ legs are not as strong to compensate for the more difficult conditions, so scoring tends to decrease. More field goals are missed, and teams may run the ball more, which eats up more time off the clock.

Home-Field Advantage is Overvalued

At first glance, home-field advantage is a big deal in college football. The home team wins 59% of the time. When a top-ranked team gets upset, it’s typically on the road. That image of the fans rushing onto the field after a huge upset also weighs heavily on bettors’ minds.

If you bet on every home favorite from 2005-18, you would’ve gone 4630-4865 (49%) for a ROI of -5%. Being a home favorite isn’t enough. Know what else to look for.

Consider the point spread as a metric. The road underdog is worth betting on when they are getting four or fewer points. In that situation, the road dog has gone 600-508 against the spread (5.7% ROI) in the 14-season span listed above.

When should you bet a home favorite? After a bye week. Home teams coming off a bye from 2005-18 were 289-235 ATS (7.2 ROI). For ranked teams, it’s an even bigger no-brainer, as the sample size shows a record of 90-61 ATS (15.7% ROI).

Standings



2023-2024 College Football Regular Season ACC Conference Standings
Team Conf Conf% W L PF PA Home Away Strk
#6 Florida State8-01.0001314842706-05-0L1
#19 Louisville7-10.8751044302986-12-1L3
#21 NC State6-20.750943412705-24-1L1
Georgia Tech5-30.625764043833-33-2W1
Virginia Tech5-30.625763843114-22-4W2
#20 Clemson4-40.500943882746-12-3W5
Duke4-40.500853502476-11-4W2
North Carolina4-40.500854493556-11-3L3
Boston College3-50.375763233683-43-2W1
Miami (FL)3-50.375764092965-22-3L1
Pittsburgh2-60.250392423283-30-5L1
Syracuse2-60.250673063304-21-4L1
Virginia2-60.250392794052-41-4L1
Wake Forest1-70.125482433263-31-5L5
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College Football Odds FAQs

Can I bet correlated parlays in college football?

No, most sportsbooks will prohibit college football correlated parlay bets. If you place one or more of these bets and win, the sportsbook manager will limit your action.

How does overtime factor into college football betting?

Since its easier to score points in college football overtime, a game is more likely to go over the total. Overtime rules limit the winning margin to eight points for either team.

What makes the point spread so important in college football?

Due to there being over 125 teams in college football’s top division, the talent level is unbalanced. However, a spread can be set above 30 or even 40 points to balance a game’s betting action.

Which are popular futures bets to make in college football?

The most popular bet is on the national champion, but competitive bets can be made on the winning team of each major conference along with individual honors like the Heisman Trophy winnner.

How does college football determine the national champion?

NCAA Division 1 football adopted a playoff system in 2014. A committee ranks the teams at the end of the regular season, and the top-four teams advance to the playoff. Two existing bowl games are used for the semifinal games, and the national championship is played at a neutral site.

What is the best strategy to betting bowl games?

Unless it’s in the College Football Playoff, several top players elect to skip bowl games so they do not get injured prior to entering the NFL draft. Because of this, you’ll want to wait until close to a bowl game to bet. Sidelined star players can severely alter game lines and odds.

College Football Betting Resources