Betting on college football can be a real challenge, but with the right strategies and tips, you can be a real winner. Without further ado, here are eight tips you want to consider so you can have better success each and every Saturday.
Don’t Think Like a Pro
What separates college football from the professional ranks is that emotion can carry a team a long way. Teams are much more likely to play better in emotional situations, such as a lame-duck coach coaching his last game or a coach who may be on his way out rallying his team to help to save his job. These kinds of emotional situations can get a team fired up, helping turn what looks to be a loser into an upset victory.
The same is true of rivalry games. Never assume because a team is highly ranked that they are a sure winner against a 2-6 team when a huge rivalry is on the line. This is the kind of inspiration that can get a team fired up. Surprisingly, a team that finishes 2-9 will consider it a successful season if they have been able to knock off their chief rival.
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Watch for the Letdown
While emotion plays a huge role in college football in a positive way, it can also have a negative impact. The week after a team won a huge rivalry game can turn into a big letdown as they have left everything on the field the week before.
College football is littered with examples where a team had a huge victory on Saturday, then threw a dud the following week. Look for those kinds of trap games, either before or after a big rivalry week.
Look for the Respect Factor
This happens literally every single season. A team like Alabama will be favored by 27 over a team like Army. In almost every case they never cover. The reason behind this is simple. Coaches of big schools have the utmost respect for the service academies. There is no way they are going to do anything to embarrass these teams or their players, so they will never run up the score.
Where Alabama may absolutely crush LSU, Tennessee, or Kentucky, they are not going to do so against Army or Navy. There is just way too much respect from the coaching staff. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about Notre Dame, Georgia, USC, or any other major college. They are not going to run up the score against the service academies, so always look for that as a smart bet to take the points.
Check the Schedule Long Term
Before the season even gets underway, spend some time going through the schedule. A common mistake that many make is that they start spending huge amounts of money early on and, by the time they are at the mid-point of the season, they don’t have as much money to wager. This takes them away from some key matchups where they can earn some real money.
Look for games that you think would be real winners for you in the latter weeks of the season, and make sure you set aside funds to be able to place a wager on that contest.
Use Proper Money Management
As you enter the season and you are looking over the schedule, you should also look over your budget. Determine how much you have available to spend on college football for the entire season. Excluding bowl games, you have no more than 13 weeks from start to finish. Decide whether you can spend as much as 5% or 10% of your paycheck every time or if you have a total set budget of $3000, for instance.
Once you have determined your budget, then it is time to start looking at the schedule long-term. See if there are games you absolutely want to wager on, and have the proper amount of money set aside for those games. In other words, don’t waste it all upfront, and don’t spend money you know you can’t afford to use.
Follow the Line as the Week Goes Along
Look at the odds early in the week and see how they are set for contests you are interested in. What you may find is that a line will move as the week goes along. This me tell you a lot about either how people are betting on that event or if there is some significant news story that is causing oddsmakers to change their opinions.
What you want to see is if trends start to develop related to that contest. While you may not get a better line as the week moves along, you may find that your bet was not as solid as you may have thought on Tuesday or Wednesday. In other words, don’t be afraid to wait until Friday or Saturday before placing a wager.
Be a Maverick
One of the most common mistakes that people make in wagering as they get caught up on the bandwagon. Everybody is betting a certain way and so they conclude that they should too.
If Georgia is favored by 10 in a contest and everybody is going that way but you are quite sure that they are not going to cover the spread, don’t be afraid to be a maverick. Be smart about it. If you have some insight or have watched games closely enough to believe that there is no way they are going to cover the spread, then go with your gut. As long as you are not making your decision based upon emotion, you could be on solid ground.
Use Many Sportsbooks
While you may find that one website is better than the rest, it doesn’t mean you should use that one exclusively. What you may find is that there are better odds on another site, so don’t be afraid to use that. You may find that one site has better information related to a game than another. You may also find that by joining four or five different sites you can get a series of bonuses and offers that can help to increase your budget.
By following these simple tips, you can have a lot more success with your college football wagering every week. College football is an exciting time, no doubt about that, but there is no reason why you can’t be winning every week as well.