NCAA Football Betting

Nearly 500,000 athletes compete annually in events run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Football is one of the biggest college sports enjoyed by fans in the United States and Canada. Spectators can get extra involvement in the action by taking advantage of a host of online NCAA football betting opportunities.

In this guide we’ll tell you:

• How betting on NCAA football works
• What people who love NCAA football like to bet on
• How to begin live betting on NCAA football

An Introduction to NCAA Football

People who love top-quality football action have plenty to keep them entertained from venues across the United States.

1. NCAA Football - Fact 1 NCAA football has a long history and pre-dates the NFL by decades
2. NCAA Football - Fact 2 It is considered the second tier of football in the United States and Canada behind the NFL
3. NCAA Football - Fact 3 There are four levels of college football, with 124 teams in the highest, the Football Bowl Subdivision, divided into 11 conferences
4. NCAA Football - Fact 4 Champions in each conference play off in Bowl games
5. NCAA Football - Fact 5 Since 2014, there has been a College Football Playoffs knockout tournament to determine a national champion
6. NCAA Football - Fact 6 Four teams are selected to play in the semi-finals, with the winners meeting in a single final
7. NCAA Football - Fact 7 Players who shine in NCAA football action have the best chance of taking the next big step up to the NFL

How NCAA Football Odds Work

You can bet on on NCAA Football in exactly the same as you can wager on the NFL. This is a simple guide to how the odds work.

Take the example of a match between Ohio State and Alabama. The odds, expressed as decimals, may read:

1.7

2.25

If you stake C$10 on Duke, the favourite, you get back C$17. If you put C$10 on Washington, the underdogs, and they win your return is C$22.50.

Odds can be displayed in other formats, such as fractional and moneyline (also known as American) odds.

Most sportsbooks, however, allow you to swap between systems so you can choose how to view the odds. Have a go at our Odds Calculator to see how they compare.

NCAA Football Betting Options

• The point spread

  Also known as handicap betting. The sportsbook sets a figure predicting by how many points one side will win, then gives you a 50-50 choice. You have to decide whether you think one side will win – or lose – by more than that margin.

• The moneyline

  This time there isn’t a handicap, simply a straight choice. Which team is going to win the match?

• Total points – over or under

  Another simple question: How many points will the teams score in total? If you think it’ll be a lower-scoring match than the sportsbook does, it’s the unders for you.

• Quarter bets

  Which side will score more points in the first quarter?

• Prop bets

  Proposition bets, to give them their full name, are unrelated to the overall outcome. These are special markets on things that might happen during a game.

• To lead the Conference

  If you are confident a team will win its conference, you will get better odds if you wager on them well in advance.

• To win the Playoff National Championship

  This may be a long way off, but sportsbooks will offer markets about the big game at the end of the season well before anyone knows who’s playing.

What is NCAA Football Live Betting?

• It’s now possible for bettors to wager once a game has started
• Sportsbooks will offer odds that change according to the way the action ebbs and flows
• It’s possible to bet on markets such as who wins the next quarter
• However, you can still wager on the final result of the match
• It’s an extra layer of enjoyment to be able to wager when you think you know what’s going to happen next

Brief NCAA Basketball Timeline

• 1869 The first intercollegiate game is played, between Princeton and Rutgers
• 1892 The first night-time match is staged as the sport expands rapidly
• 1906 The NCAA, established four years earlier, takes its new name
• 1916 Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222-0 in the most one-sided game in college football history
• 1930s Creation of football’s four Bowl games – Orange, Sugar, Sun and Cotton
• 1956 Oklahoma wins its third national title of the decade
• 1990 By now there are 19 bowl games
• 1998 For the first time, all major conferences meet in the Bowl Championship Series
• 2012 Alabama wins the BCS Championship Game for the third time in four years

Recent College Football National Championship Game Winners

• 2018 Clemson Tigers
• 2017 Alabama Crimson Tide
• 2016 Clemson Tigers
• 2015 Alabama Crimson Tide
• 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes

Conclusion

Betting on NCAA football is hugely popular among fans in Canada. Now that, it seems, virtually everybody owns a smartphone, and given the user-friendly nature of sportsbooks’ apps, it is increasingly easy to get involved.

To find out everything you could want to know about football betting in Canada, check out our home page.