College Football Betting Sites

Bovada Sportsbook - Live Betting Odds For College Football Games

One of the best NCAA football betting sites for in-game action is Bovada, which offers a robust selection of live bets and a superior mobile interface that lets you place them from anywhere. Unlike traditional betting, live betting allows users to make wagers on in-game events (props and futures), the odds for which are constantly changing to reflect the current tenor of the game. Live betting requires a lot of focus and attention, because if you look away even for a few seconds, you could miss your windfall wager. Due to their website’s thoughtful design and all-around ease of use, in-game pioneer Bovada should be your go-to college football betting site for live gambling.

USA Deposit Methods: VISA, Wire Transfers, Bitcoin, Prepaid Cards

USA Payout/Withdrawal Methods: Check Thru Mail/Courier, Wire Transfer, Bitcoin

SportsBetting Sportsbook - Deposit Bonus Of 75% Up-to $1,000

SportsBetting is one of the premier college football betting sites on the Internet, and it offers new and returning members a generous 75% deposit bonus (up to $1000). This means that, whenever you join or deposit funds into your SportsBetting account, the company will give you bonus cash with which to gamble. There are caveats (discussed below), but the upshot is that you’ll get more resources to grow your seed money if you properly plan your bonuses against your betting schedule.

USA Deposit Methods: VISA, AmEx, Wire Transfers, Prepaid Cards, Mastercard, Book to Book, Bitcoin

USA Payout / Withdrawal Methods: Check Thru Mail/Courier, Wire Transfer, Bitcoin

BetOnline Sportsbook - Accepts Bets From All 50 States

If you play Daily Fantasy Sports, you’re probably aware that the biggest brands don’t offer service everywhere in the country. Luckily, because college football betting sites are based overseas, they don’t have that problem. BetOnline, for example, takes bets from all 50 states, and members nationwide know that their deposits and withdrawals are safe and secure in the service’s hands. No matter where you’re from in America, BetOnline will accept a payment type that works for you (including Visa, Mastercard, Bitcoin, money order, personal check, wire transfer, etc.) and pay you out promptly via your choice of method.

USA Deposit Methods: VISA, AmEx, Prepaid Options, Wire Transfers, Bank Wires, Bitcoin

USA Payout / Withdrawal Methods: Bank Wires, Checks/Money Orders, Wire Transfer, Bitcoin

Beginners Guide To Betting On College Football

The following few sections constitute something of a beginner’s guide to betting on college football. They’re pretty in-depth, but the TL;DR is plain enough: If you want to bet on college football, you need to use the right college football betting sites. Between Bovada, SportsBetting, and BetOnline, that shouldn’t be a problem. Pick one or several, sign up for free, deposit some funds, and get betting. That’s really all there is to it. If you want to make sure you cross all your Is and dot all your Ts, though, you’ll need to dive a little deeper into the minutiae and strategy involved. And that starts at the very top:

Picking The Right Sportsbooks

All three of the above college football betting sites sound pretty good, right? Well, that’s because they are. So how can you be sure you’re picking the right sportsbook for you? Trust us. We’ve used pretty much every online sportsbooks that accept US residents on the planet over the years, and Bovada, SportsBetting, and BetOnline are our favorites by far. These companies check all the right boxes, make all the right moves, and have the very best customer service anywhere. Coupled with their fast payouts and competitive odds, there’s really not much reason to risk betting anywhere else.

That said, you’ll probably want to know which one of these industry leaders to join. And the answer is simple: Join all three! In fact, signing up at multiple online sportsbooks makes a lot of strategic sense, and it’s something that almost all semi-pro and professional gamblers do. In addition to getting different bonuses and perks, Bovada, SportsBetting, and BetOnline usually have different odds for the same matchups, so you can shop the lines and give yourself an automatic extra edge. Sometimes, you’ll even have the opportunity to play both sides of a bet with winnable odds.

Bear in mind that, while joining several sportsbooks at once is a legitimate and recommended tactic, having multiple accounts at a single sportsbook is something you definitely don’t want to do. It’s a violation of the sportsbooks’ terms of service, and if you’re caught, you can expect to have your accounts closed, your winnings forfeited, and any future memberships banned.

Making Your First Deposit

Once you’ve signed up at Bovada, SportsBetting, or BetOnline (which is about as easy as signing up for a Netflix or Amazon account), you’ll need to actually make your account usable. In other words, you’ll need to deposit some funds in there to gamble with. Naturally, you should never put more money on the line than you can afford to lose; no matter your ambitions, a good way to start is to start small. Seed your account and try to build up your bankroll over time.

If you know you’re going to be in it for the long haul, the college football betting sites all offer some enticements for you to stick around and keep a balance. These are called deposit bonuses, and they can really help your account snowball into an impressive mountain of winnings if you go about it the right way. Bonuses can be a little complicated, but we’re here to explain:

The Basics Of How Deposit Bonuses Work

Unlike the sports betting scene in Las Vegas where you’re lucky to get a free drink for an evening of your efforts, online sports betting has some truly compelling benefits for its practitioners. These come in the form of deposit bonuses, and each online gambling service will offer several to choose from, both for new members and repeat customers. The exact benefits depend on the college football betting sites in question, but the basics of how deposit bonuses work are the same across the board.

Basically, deposit bonuses are simply account perks that get added to your digital wallet at your college football betting site of choice. Most of the time, these bonuses will take the form of gambling credits, and the award amount is determined by your deposit. Bonuses are usually expressed as percentages of a given deposit. There is a caveat with deposit bonuses, of course: You must meet the promotion’s “rollover” requirements (expressed as a multiple of the sum of your deposit and bonus) before you are able to withdraw any winnings accrued via bets placed using all or part of your bonus.

Consider the following example: Let’s say you fill your account at Bovada with a $250 deposit and select a 100% “deposit match” bonus, which yields $500 to bet with in your account. However, since the “rollover” required to cash out is “5X,” you’ll have to meet a total handle – or total amount wagered – of five times that $500 in order to withdraw any funds related to that deposit and bonus. In other words, you will have to bet a total of $2500 before you can take your winnings to the bank. Because of the extended amount of play time that collecting bonuses requires, such promos at college football betting sites are really only useful for folks who intend to do a fair amount of extended gaming.

Should I Take The Deposit Bonus?

At college football betting sites, bonuses are optional. This is simply because, for many bettors, it won’t always make sense to take the deposit bonus. As a general rule, you should only take the bonus if you plan to grow your seed money over time and stick it out for, say, an entire NCAA football season. Because of the rollover requirements, it will likely take you all this time to meet whatever handle multiple applies. On the other hand, if you are only planning to place a few quick bets before cashing out, a deposit bonus will only prevent you from collecting your winnings when you need them.

Understanding Betting Odds

Wagering at college football betting sites can be as simple or complex as you want it to be, and much of that is going to be determined by the betting types you prefer to play. The terminology is largely the same across the board, but understanding betting odds is key to gauging the merits of any wager offered by any sportsbook. In the US, betting odds are expressed in positive or negative fractional numbers, and these are formed on the basis of a $100 bet. (As a contrast, European markets use decimals and traditional ratio expressions for their betting odds.)

Common Wager Types Found At Legal Online College Football Betting Sites

The most common wager types found at legal online college football betting sites are the spread, the moneyline, and totals (or over/under) bets. Indeed, these are the most common wager types for all mainstream American sports, and they combine to form a comprehensive picture of how folks are betting on any contest in question.

A moment to clear something up: When it comes to sports betting, the odds are not a statistical likelihood that a given team will win a given game. While many broadcasts and sports pundits use them in this way, that’s not how it works. Instead, betting odds simply reflect how the public is actually betting on a game. Remember, college football betting sites make their money by balancing the wager amounts on either side of an offered contest. Thus, the sportsbook maximizes its take (called the “vig” or the “juice”). In this way, odds are not what statisticians and analysts think is going happen, but what people actually betting on the game believe will occur.

How To Bet The Spread

The spread, or point spread, is the most common type of bet across all major sports. Since it would likely be too easy to simply bet on the winner in the majority of college football matchups, the spread is a way to “handicap” an otherwise uncompetitive matchup. Take a lopsided affair like Louisiana-Monroe at Florida State, where the spread might look something like this:

Louisiana-Monroe +32 (-110) at Florida State -32 (-110)

The positive number next to the visitor’s name means that, in this case, Louisiana-Monroe has a 32-point head start. If you bet on FSU to beat the spread and win the bet, the Seminoles have to beat the Warhawks by more than 32 points. A 31-point victory would be a losing bet for FSU, even though it’d be a blowout win on the field. Since Noles backers would win 100% of the money on a straight win/lose bet, handicapping teams via the spread is a way for sportsbooks to get the same number of bets on both sides when they otherwise couldn’t.

Note: The above example shows a moneyline as part of the spread bet. Those, however, are not odds. Instead, the -110 is merely an expression (using the moneyline format) of how much must be bet with a sportsbook to win $100. In this case, the sportsbook requires a $110 bet to do so, thus baking in a roughly 10% house take.

How To Bet The Moneyline

In the US, many betting odds are based on something called the moneyline, which is itself based on the number 100. Essentially, this basis represents a ratio of the amount bet to the winnings earned, except the American system uses positive and negative fractional numbers while the rest of the world uses decimals. (Those savages!) Using the above matchup as an example, the moneyline would be thus:

Louisiana-Monroe (+1800) at Florida State (-2500)

Here, Louisiana-Monroe would pay out $1800 on a $100 bet, while Florida State would pay out $100 on a $2500 bet. When shown next to a moneyline number, a plus sign means that the team is an underdog, and the amount shown is the amount that a $100 wager wins. A minus sign, then, means that the team is the favorite, with the number being how much must be bet in order to win $100.

How To Bet On Totals

Totals, also called an over/under bet, is one of the simplest wager types out there. For any given matchup, the sportsbook will set the total at a particular number. If the two teams’ final scores combine to exceed that number, the “over” bet wins. If they do not exceed the number, the “under” bet wins. If the total wager is listed as a whole number, a third outcome – called the push (a “tie”) – is possible, in which case the entire bet is returned to the bettor.

Louisiana-Monroe at Florida State, O/U 54.5 (-110)

Here, if the the two teams combine to score a total of 55 points or more, the “over” bet wins, and a $110 wager pays out $100. If it’s a low-scoring affair and the teams score less than 55 points, the “under” bet wins, and – again – a $110 wager pays out $100. As is the case with the spread bet, almost all totals will be listed at a moneyline of -110.

How To Bet On College Football Parlays

In addition to the three main bet types offered by various college football betting sites, you can also play parlays. A parlay combines two or more standard bets into a single wager. For example, you could bet separately that Florida State will beat the spread and that, in another game, Alabama and Vanderbilt will combine to exceed their game’s over/under. However, if you combined these bets (where the entire bet is a winner only if you win both defined aspects within it), the payout would be much, much larger for winning.

Of course, parlays are a lot riskier than simply placing multiple bets, because even if you get nine outcomes correct in a 10-bet parlay, you lose the whole thing. Betting them individually would have netted you a nice profit, but even one slip up in a parlay and you lose everything. Still, the greatly increased payouts are enticement enough for many folks to go all in.

How To Bet On College Football Props

Prop (or “proposition”) bets are another popular bet type offered by college football betting sites like Bovada, SportsBetting, and BetOnline. Props aren’t based on a game’s outcome in terms of wins or losses, instead focusing on events that might come to pass during the course of a game or season. Prop bets that run for a long period of time – like betting on who’ll win the next Super Bowl when the game is 10 months out – are usually called “future” bets, albeit – technically speaking – all props are futures.

Prop bets can be individual or team-based. Individual props might be an O/U on the Clemson quarterback’s total touchdowns for a single game or a single season. Another might be an O/U on Washington’s total defensive takeaways for the year or Ohio State’s yards-per-game average on the season. Total running back carries, interceptions, fumble recoveries, sacks, yards from scrimmage, completions, etc. are all fair game in a prop bet.

It is important to remember that every game could have nearly infinite props offered, but sportsbooks will only usually put a few of them out there for any given matchup. If a certain impact player is having a great month or a kicker’s on a roll, expect the prop to address him. Likewise, if a team is approaching some sort of meaningful record, expect them to be included in the sportsbook, too.

How To Make Live In-game Bets On College Football

Live betting, also called in-game betting, is a new phenomenon that takes full advantage of the technological nature of online college football betting sites. Unlike traditional sports betting where wagers are set in stone once a given game starts, live betting allows gamblers to place bets throughout the course of the contest.

These live bets are, of course, based on live odds, which change dynamically from play to play. Thus, bettors must stay up-to-date with the play-by-play action and be ready to bet at a literal moment’s notice during any portion of the game. Since this type of gambling obviously requires a stable Internet connection and a gaming host capable of running such time-sensitive, constant updates, live betting is a rather recent phenomenon in the online sports betting world, and it’s proving to be extremely popular among both casual and die-hard college football bettors.

How To Make College Football Bets From Your Phone

Unless you plan to sit around at the computer all night (and I’m not judging – we’ve all been there), you really can’t take full advantage of the live betting movement without having a smartphone from which to place your college football bets. Sure, you can use your mobile to make traditional bets, too, but the platform is custom tailored to offer a superior in-game betting experience.

Since Bovada, SportsBetting, and BetOnline have their fingers on the pulse of the Internet-based sports betting community with greater attention than anyone else, they’ve had the foresight to develop their brands around the concept. This has led them to create “web app” versions of their websites. These are basically mobile-optimized portals for all their normal desktop offerings, streamlined for use on the go and on smaller screens. Unfortunately, Apple and Google don’t allow actual sportsbook apps on their marketplaces yet, so these mobile website workarounds – which are admittedly less responsive and polished than dedicated apps would be – will be the de facto smartphone standard for at least the next two or three years. Which, it turns out, is totally O.K., because the product is pretty darn good to begin with.

How To Bet On The College Football Playoff

If you want to know how to bet on the college football playoff, the answer is simple: just like you bet on regular season college football games and holiday bowl games. Of course, since the four-team FBS National Championship tournament is, you know, an actual tournament, once that kicks off, there will definitely be more props and futures than usual. To be sure, these will include a bracket, where you can fill out how you think the three-game event will turn out at each stage.

If you don’t want to wait until early January to bet on the title game, you can go to one of your favorite college football betting sites right now and choose which team you think is going to hoist the trophy this time around. The payout is pretty good… if you can handle the nearly year-long buildup.

Legal College Football Betting FAQ's

What Is The Legal Age To Bet On College Football?

The legal age to bet on college football varies by state, and it is usually determined by the particulars of your area’s actual casino gambling laws. In most places, that’s going to be 21, and we recommend waiting until you’re at least that old before you create accounts at any online college football betting sites. It’s true that there’s really no chance you’ll ever be targeted or prosecuted for your online gambling habits, but on the off chance you get unlawfully investigated or detained, it’s a good policy to show good faith on the age front.

Please note: The minimum age for membership at Bovada, SportsBetting, and BetOnline is 18 years old, and the sites will ask for some sort of age verification when you sign up. However, unless you are extremely well-versed in your particular state’s gambling laws, it’s not worth taking the chance. But whatever you do, under no circumstances should you ever make a sports betting account if you are under 18 years old. Again, these sites all take their terms of service very, very seriously, and they will not hesitate to close your account, confiscate your balance, and ban you permanently.

Why Don't A Lot Of College Football Games Have Moneylines Available?

Unlike the NFL, which has full lines on every game every week, a lot of college football games don’t have moneylines available. Most NCAA matchups will have spreads and/or over/unders covered, but the straight bet is not something that’s usually on tap. Again, this is due to the lack of parity in college athletics in general, where a straight win/lose bet is much more of a sure thing than a handicapped contest.

The talent gap in many college football games each week makes it very daunting for a sportsbook to offer moneyline bets for games with mismatched opponents. You’ll usually get a massive spread for such a contest, but the moneyline is too simple, and it puts the sportsbook in danger of bankruptcy should an expected outcome occur. Obviously, that is unacceptable, so moneylines are usually ignored for the college game.

Do Online Sportsbooks Have Odds On All The Power 5 Conferences?

Yes. Because this group represents the biggest programs in the country, college football betting sites have odds on all the Power 5 conferences. Comprised of the ACC, B1G, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC, the Power 5 conferences are made up of the sports gambling community’s most wagered-on college football teams, and they’ll be headlining your sportsbook every Saturday during the season.

As far as team future bets, you can place wagers on which team will win their conference and how that will affect the national title hunt, but the real Power 5 betting action will take place on a weekly basis. As long as you pay attention to the opening odds and track them as they change, you ought to be able to jump on an attractive bet the moment you see it.

What Is The Best Way To Deposit Money Into My Online Sportsbook Account?

You already know that you’re able to use pretty much any deposit method you want to load up your sportsbook of choice. Credit and debit cards are the fastest means to get money transferred over and ready to bet, while things like cashier’s check, money orders, and wire transfers take much longer and come with far higher transfer fees. Bovada is one of the only big sportsbooks to take American Express, while SportsBetting and BetOnline accept just about everything else (including various peer-to-peer money sharing services).

However, all three college football betting sites support Bitcoin, which is the best solution for both account deposits and withdrawals. This is because, unlike credit or debit cards which are only cursorily encrypted (and may not even work, depending on your bank’s sports betting policies), Bitcoin utilizes the cutting-edge blockchain protocol to protect your location and identity credentials. If anonymity is of the utmost concern when it comes to online sports betting, the pastime doesn’t get any safer than with Bitcoin.

As an added bonus, Bitcoin continues to enjoy a promising trajectory of general appreciation, rising in value month-over-month for over a year and counting. It is undoubtedly a volatile currency, but in that volatility, you could be making – and winning – yet another big bet. If you’re new to college football betting and have never used Bitcoin, now is the perfect time to get started with both!