Betting on college football has exploded along with the rise of legal online sports betting. The NCAA football season offers many games to wager on week to week. But should you bet on college games versus sticking to the pros? It’s intriguing from a betting perspective because of the talent gap. Unlike the NFL where teams’ skill levels are compressed, in the NCAA there are hundreds of teams across divisions and conferences with massive gaps. A common mismatch and blowout result from this variance. It allows you to identify big-spread teams. Of course, the risk is also picking the wrong end of a lopsided game if you don’t do your homework. However, the wider range of outcomes and probabilities is a potential edge.
More teams and games to bet
You have significantly more college football betting options than the NFL provides. With 130 FBS teams playing 12+ game seasons, there are multiple marquee matchups and betting opportunities every Saturday. Fun88 football betting strategies, research, and analysis apply to more games. At the same time, having too many games to wager on each week is overwhelming. Trying to handicap every single game across conferences and divisions is unrealistic. Sticking to a select group of teams and conferences you understand deeply is key. But the sheer betting volume is a factor favoring NCAA football wagering.
Betting on the NFL is influenced by injuries every week. But their impact is lessened at the college level. Losing a star quarterback or other player certainly impacts teams. But programs with 85 scholarship athletes have much greater depth and usually still perform despite injuries. You won’t see elite teams completely derailed for a season due to injuries like NFL squads. It makes college results and health situations slightly more predictable week to week. Once again, this is an angle to exploit.
More data and analytics available
Websites like Pro Football Focus provide extremely detailed advanced data on college teams and players that were unavailable until recently. Teams compare yards after catch, QB pressure rate, route running, and tackling grades. No area has as much pure data as the NFL. However, the NCAA analytics space has narrowed the gap significantly. Taking advantage of college game betting data and models can give you an edge. Coaching schemes, playcalling, and game philosophies vary wildly in the NCAA. Some coaches are extraordinarily risk-averse and conservative, looking to eke out close wins with defense. Other teams use fourth-down attempts, analytics, and tempo as well. Understanding coaching tendencies, styles and matchups provides a potential betting advantage. Finding analytical progressive coaches going against more old-school conservative ones offers probability edges to target.
Less efficient lines and markets
The sheer number of teams and massive game volume lead to more inefficient NCAA football odds and lines. There are more chances to gain advantages by betting against inaccurate point spreads or identifying over/under values. With fewer professional bettors and syndicates focused on college sports, the market is slower to react to new information. Sportsbooks often have discrepancies in line moves, so you can take advantage of that. There is still much to be done.
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