Best college football betting sites: How to bet on college football in 2025

College football betting is among the most popular sports to bet on in the United States. From late August through November, there are more than 50 games available to bet on each week during the regular season, and then the annual bowl extravaganza and expanded 12-team playoff that takes you through December and January.

Best college football betting sites

Here, we want to provide an understanding of those different odds and markets so you can better comprehend the college football betting odds sheet.

Finding the best U.S. sportsbook for college football betting

Betting on college football starts with finding the right college football betting sites, and finding the right betting site starts with finding the right welcome promos, as seen in the table above.

Utilizing multiple sportsbooks can allow you to shop lines, as each sportsbook will feature different odds on each game or market. Some sportsbooks may provide better money line prices, while others may provide better numbers on props, and shopping around before placing a bet allows you to find the best price for the wagers you want to make. 

How to read college football odds

For each college football game, you will see three main wager markets, typically in this order from left to right:

• Spread: betting on whether a team will win by X number of points (or lose by fewer than X number of points, or win outright)

• Money line: betting on who you think will win the game outright on the field

• Total (over/under): betting on how many points will be scored by both teams in the game combined.

For illustration purposes, take a game between the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes. This is what the basic odds table at a sports betting app might look like:

Spread 

The spread is how oddsmakers level a game out to have closer to even odds on bets on both sides. In the above example, Ohio State is a 3.5-point favorite, meaning to cover the spread, they would need to win by 4 points or more. Conversely, by being the underdog, Texas does not need to win the game for bets on their spread of +3.5 to win; they just need to lose by three or fewer (or win the game outright). 

The smaller number next to the spread (and point total) tells you what the price is for the spread. The typical odds on a spread or point total bet are -110 on both sides, indicating a wager of $110 would win a profit of $100. That means each bet is laying a little money for what's called the vigorish (or vig), which is the fee the sportsbook places on each bet for accepting the wager. 

However, as action comes in, oddsmakers will often change those numbers before moving the spread number. In the above example, you can see this in action, as Texas's spread odds are -128 and Ohio State's are +104. That means you would have to wager $128 to profit $100 on Texas +3.5, while a $100 wager on Ohio State would yield a $104 profit should the Buckeyes cover. If you ever see an EV (or +100) on a bet, that would mean the bet has "even" odds, which means a $100 bet wins $100. 

You'll find odds listed for each bet at the sportsbook, and it's important to always consider those odds (especially when you get into props and other wagers) as they will determine how much money you can potentially win on each bet. 

Money line

The most basic bet in college football is a money line bet, which is a wager on which team you believe will win the game. The outcome is all that matters.

In the example above, you can see Texas's money line odds are +114 and Ohio State's money line odds are -137. What those odds mean is a $100 bet on Iowa State would win you $114 in profit, while a $137 bet on Ohio State would win you $100 in profit.

Point totals

Where the spread and money line are betting on an individual team, the point total is betting on how many points the two teams will combine to score in the game, regardless of who wins or loses. When betting on the point total, you can select Over or Under. 

In the example above, you'll see the point total is set at 51.5 for the game. If you believe it will be high-scoring and see 52 or more points get scored, you would select the Over 51.5 option. If you believed in the defenses to keep the scores lower and finish with 51 points or fewer, you would select the Under 51.5 option. 

Like with the spread, you'll find prices under each option for the point total. In this case, both bets have a -110, meaning a $110 bet is needed to win $100. 

Advanced wager markets

At most online sportsbooks, there will be an expanded menu for more advanced betting options for that particular game. This is where you would go to find prop bets, create same game parlays and more. 

While the spread, money line, and totals for college football betting are posted early in the week (typically Sunday or Monday), advanced wagering markets are generally posted a couple of days later. That's especially the case for player props, as injury reports play a major role in those markets, and sometimes those won't appear until a day or two before the game is played.

Half and quarter betting

Half and quarter betting are popular in college football, where you can bet on the spread, total and money line for portions of the game. Some teams are notoriously fast or slow starters, and bettors can try to take advantage of those trends by betting on them to over- or underperform the oddsmakers projections in the first half rather than betting on the full game. 

The odds for half and quarter betting work the same as for a full game. You'll be presented with a spread, money line and point total, but the numbers will be near (but not exactly) half of the full game numbers. That's because the books also take into account team performances and trends. 

First half and first quarter odds are widely available, but some betting apps will allow you to do pregame wagering on all four quarters individually. If a team is particularly good coming out of the locker room, you might bet their third quarter spread, while others may close games strong and you can take them to cover in the fourth.

Understanding trends and how teams prefer to play in different portions of the game can provide some edges in half and quarter betting that aren't available in full game markets. 

Prop bets

Prop bets have become extremely popular and college football betting sites now offer a robust menu of prop bet options for most every game on the schedule. Some prop bets are team props, which means you are betting on what that team does as a whole, while others are player props that are specifically wagers on what that individual player will do.

It must be noted that prop betting on college sports comes with different regulations in different states, based on concerns about athlete welfare and game integrity. Below you will find a list of which states allow college sports prop betting:

The most popular player props are touchdown scorer bets. There are multiple types of touchdown props you will find: Anytime TD, first TD scorer and last TD scorer are the main ones. An anytime touchdown prop wins if that player scores a touchdown at any point in the game, while a first touchdown prop only wins if they are the first player to score a TD for either team in the game. You can also bet on a player to score multiple touchdowns. Touchdown props are typically offered as a "YES" bet, where you only pick a player if you think they will score a TD.

Some books will present anytime TD odds that include a "NO" option you can bet on if you do not think that player will get in the end zone in that game. 

Other player props will present a stat (passing yards, rushing yards, etc.) and a number to choose Over or Under on. It is particularly important to pay attention to the odds below the prop bet number. Unlike spreads and totals, books tend to take a heavier vig on props, sometimes starting at -115/-115. They will also often raise the juice on a popular prop side rather than just moving the number, particularly on things with lower numbers like interceptions or touchdown passes. Those props can be quite lopsided in terms of odds, sometimes getting above -200. 

Parlays

Parlays have become incredibly popular in the world of online sports betting, and the reason is understandable. When you put together different bets and add their odds together, the potential payouts grow exponentially. However, for every big parlay that hits, there are countless others that falter, and sportsbooks make a lot of money off of parlays because they're so difficult to hit. 

To win a parlay, you have to win each leg (bet), meaning you can go 4-for-5 and get nothing in return. Betting parlays can be fun, but they need to be considered longshots and a small part of your betting card, rather than something expected to regularly return you big money.

Standard parlay

There are two types of parlays offered at sportsbooks. One is a standard parlay, in which you take bets from different games and put them together on the same card; the odds will typically be the same, depending on how many bets you add together. For standard -110 odds bets, this is how much you can expect the odds to pay out depending on how many legs you have on your parlay card: 

• 2-leg: +264
• 3-leg: +595
• 4-leg: +1228
• 5-leg: +2435

The parlay odds will vary if the initial bets have something other than -110 odds, but parlays on separate games follow the same basic structure at every sportsbook. 

Same-game parlays

Something that's grown with the advent of online sports betting is the development of same-game parlays. This allows you to build a parlay with multiple bets on the same game, but the odds vary considerably. That's because some bets are correlated, meaning that if one hits, it's more likely the other does, and books are not going to provide the same odds for combining those as two negatively correlated bets. 

Building a same-game parlay at a college football sportsbook can allow you to coordinate bets and increase your odds. You can bet on spread, total, and certain props, but at a reduced price that you will need to pay attention to as you add legs. Even if the bets are correlated, the more legs you add, the less likely your parlay will hit. Some props are not offered together as part of same-game parlays, and you will have to play around with each sportsbook to find what is and is not allowed at each one. 

Popular college football betting markets for futures

While the college football season lasts just five months, there are year-round offerings in the NCAA football betting market. Futures bets allow fans to wager on win totals, awards, conference championship winners, the national championship winner and more in advance of the season.

Futures odds shift throughout the offseason as practices take place, information comes out about positional battles and the unfortunate reality of injuries impacts depth charts across the country. Not to mention the nonstop churn of the transfer portal.

Win totals

Before each season, oddsmakers set a projected win total for every team and allow you to bet on whether they will go over or under that number during the regular season. Win total bets do not include conference championship games, bowl games or playoff games, just the 12-game regular season. 

Early in the offseason, some college football betting apps only offer win totals for teams in the Power 4 conferences (SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12) and Notre Dame. As the season gets closer, the rest of the FBS division win totals will be posted as well. 

Betting on win totals is pretty simple, as you simply select whether you think the team will go Over or Under that number (usually set at X.5 so there are no pushes). One of the most important things to remember when betting on win totals is to pay attention to each team's schedule, as the caliber of opponents they face can dictate whether they go Over or Under as much as the talent on their roster. 

National championship futures

You can also bet on who will win the national championship by winning the College Football Playoff this season. Every team in the country is given odds to win the national title, even if a relatively select few have a real chance at winning. 

National title futures are available throughout the season and will change dramatically once the games get played. Betting them before the season allows you to try and find value on teams you think will be better than the consensus, getting them at longer odds before they potentially rocket up the board once play begins.

As of August 25, here are some of the championship futures odds at DraftKings Sportsbook:

• Ohio State +600
• Penn State +650
• Georgia +700
• Texas +750
• LSU +1000
• Oregon +1300
• Notre Dame +1300  
• Clemson +1400
• Alabama +1500    

Conference championship odds

You can bet on which team will win its conference championship game. It's important to note that this is not who will finish with the best regular season record in their conference, but who will win the conference title game after the regular season is over.  

That means understanding the criteria for how each conference selects its title game participants is important, as well as looking at the team's conference schedule to see who has the easiest and most difficult paths to the title game. Some conferences will have a couple of clear favorites, while others are much more wide open. 

Heisman Trophy futures

You can also bet on the biggest award in the sport on the futures market. Preseason Heisman Trophy odds, like the preseason national championship odds, are largely valuable in finding players you think may be undervalued, or taking a favorite you think may run away with the award and will never have better odds once the season begins. 

Heisman odds work the same way as national championship odds, so if a player had +700 odds to win the Heisman, a $100 bet on them would win you $700 in profit if they were to win the award. 

Understanding trends in Heisman voting is important for futures betting, as it takes a truly spectacular season from a non-quarterback to win the award. Nine of the last 12 Heisman winners have been quarterbacks, but Travis Hunter broke that trend with his performance in a dual-threat role in the 2024 season. The winner is also now often from one of the best teams in the nation, so one of the best ways to find value in preseason Heisman betting is to identify quarterbacks of teams you think will be better than expected. 

To make the College Football Playoff

Some sportsbooks will also allow you to bet on a team to make it into the College Football Playoff field, with those odds usually going up closer to the start of the season and being updated throughout the year. It's important to understand the current 12-team CFP format when betting on this particular future, as there is an automatic qualifier for the conference champions in each of the Power 4 conferences and an auto-qualifier for the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of 5.

Beyond that, selections are made by the Playoff committee's rankings for at-large bids, with the biggest conferences (namely the SEC and Big Ten) getting the majority of those selections. 

College football live betting

Also known as in-game betting, live betting on college football allows bettors to place wagers on a game while it is actively being played. Odds and betting lines at college football sportsbooks update in real-time based on the current score, momentum shifts, player performance and other in-game factors.

You can bet on a variety of things during live play, such as predicting the outcome of the next drive or updated point spreads and totals.

Betting on college football vs. NFL betting

While the basic bet types, such as point spreads, money lines and totals work the same in college football betting as they do in NFL betting, there are some differences worth considering.

Talent gaps create great point spreads

Because college football has more than 100 FBS teams, there can be significant talent gaps between programs, which can result in larger spreads. NFL spreads are typically tight and more competitive, but it isn't particularly uncommon for college football point spreads to reach as much as 30 points.

Player prop availability

As noted above, college football prop betting is limited in many states and prohibited altogether in others due to athlete protection policies. NFL prop betting is extremely popular and is permitted wherever online sports betting is legal.

Line movement

College football betting lines can move dramatically due to less betting volume and more variance in public perception. NFL lines are more stable thanks to sharp action and other factors.