After a long offseason, college football is back on the betting board. If you’re sizing up the early-season NCAA odds, here are some betting tips and tactics to follow in the first few weeks of the schedule.
Capping college football can be a challenge, with more than 120 FBS programs suiting up each week, that take us right to our first tip for betting the college football odds:
Tip No. 1: Slim you scope.
It’s nearly impossible to stay on top of all the need-to-know news and notes around those 129 teams, so narrow your focus to some select schools or conferences. If you have a regional preference or you’re an alum, perhaps stick to those familiar schools and their respective leagues. You can really drill down and find out what makes those teams ticks and you’ll have a better grasp on the week-to-week action and be more apt to spot soft or incorrect odds.
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Tip No. 2: Coaches, QBs and starters
College football is a carousel when it comes to players, with guys graduating, transferring, or jumping to the pros every year. Keep track of how many starters a squad is bringing back on both sides of the ball, and be especially mindful of who’s under center to start the season. Is it an experienced quarterback that can put the offense on his shoulders? Or are we betting on a wet-behind-the-ears passer who’s still learning the system and gaining chemistry with his targets?
And let’s not forget the head coach and coordinators. There are 21 new head coaches on the sideline this season and countless new offensive and defensive coordinators. Before you bet on their teams in the early workings of the season, find out their styles, systems, and philosophies – as well as investigate into how the players are taking to these brand-new playbooks and personalities.
Tip No. 3: Size up the schedule
The first few weeks of the college football schedule used to be littered with power programs shaking off the rust against cupcake opponents. But since the introduction of the College Football Playoff, we’ve seen greater importance put on these opening matchups, with more and more marquee schools butting heads early on – trying to boost their CFP chances right out of the gate.
With that in mind, spot bets are ripe for the picking during this time. Teams can get caught looking past a weaker opponent with a heavyweight matchup the following week, while also rolling out a vanilla playbook as to not tip their hand before that important game. We also see teams suffering letdowns after big wins and losses, coming out flat after playing such a high-stakes contest the week before. Travel can also take its toll on teams during this non-conference chunk of the schedule, before playing more regional action once conference plays picks up.
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For more college football betting odds and insights, check out Covers’ NCAAF home page. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @Covers for the most valuable breaking news and betting notes all season long. This college football season, “Winning Starts Here”.
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