College Football Betting Sites

American college football is the third most-popular sport in North America behind the NFL and Major League Baseball. That popularity is in terms of both TV-viewership, live game attendance, and participation in fantasy sports and online fan forums and message boards. As such, it is a large market for the online gambling industry, carrying many of the benefits of NFL wagering (a long time between games and a bit of league parity) with the excitement of a much larger pool of competitors.

Betting on college football successfully is complex – it requires proper research to handicap games, a bankroll sufficient to withstand five months' of wagers, and access to bets through sportsbooks that are legal and regulated in the part of the world bettors call home. We want to simplify this process by assisting bettors with research and helping them find an ideal home for their NCAA sports wagers. An ideal home for USA college football betting sites will consist of a legally licensed and regulated destination which provides an optimal experience through a safe and well designed wagering environment and that spans the entire regular season and the College Football Playoffs.

With laws regarding the regulation of online and in-house gambling changing on a monthly basis, especially in North America, some newcomers to the college sports betting scene will have legal concerns. We have done the research to help you determine the legality of placing NCAA football bets and gathered it all in one easy-to-read location that effectively explains applicable football sports betting laws. This will provide you with access to current and up to date information on the legal status of betting on college football in the US, and empower you to make effective decisions regarding your participation in football betting based on accurate facts and current data. We provide additional information in our guide to USA Football Betting.

Free tips on how to navigate the seemingly-complex world of sportsbook lines and odds is a big part of our initial assistance offered to college football bettors. Potential sportsbook customers who don't know a point spread from a game total can quickly become familiar enough to place wagers with confidence by reading our plain-English assessments of sportsbook odds. We even discuss exotic bets in USA college football – a topic not often discussed on gambling strategy sites. Learn more in our guide to understanding football betting odds.

1. Easy access to customer service.

2. Licensing and regulation details in plain view.

3. Multiple deposit & withdrawal methods.

4. Support for a variety of international currencies.

5. Access to a large variety of NCAA wagers.

6. Bonuses and promotions for new and existing members.

7. "Live betting" and other state-of-the-art features.

The seven factors above aren't the only ways we attempt to qualify the various oddsmakers competing for your college football bankroll, but they are a good example of the types of things we look into when promoting sportsbooks to our readers. Our vetting process involves looking at the above factors (among others) and giving factual details to the people who come to us for knowledge about the college football betting market. We present reviews in a sensible arrangement, template-style for ease of viewing, and only report what can be verified with research.

Ultimately, the choice of which sportsbook to use is up to each gambler. One customer may prefer a book with flashy promotions while another will stick to a site simply because it offers deposits using a method he has access to. Choosing the best online oddsmaker for NCAA football is a matter of weighing the information found in our reviews with a bettor's own perspective and research. This site will provide the information you need to make the best possible choices that support your sports betting needs and preferences, including comprehensive online sportsbook reviews.

So, who's going to get into the college football playoff this season? Before we get into any real details, i.e. the “why” of it all, let's go over how we think things are going to play out. Here's what you're going to be looking at, when it comes to which teams get into the four-team playoff:

1) The SEC Championship winner

2) The Pac 12 Championship winner

3) The Big 10 Championship winner

4) The best of the Big 12 teams

The SEC Winner

The SEC is made up of 14 teams, 7 each in the East and West. In the East, you have some historically good teams like the Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, and the Tennessee Volunteers. In the West, however, you have currently good teams, like the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn Tigers, LSU, and the Ole Miss Rebels. By leaps and bounds, the SEC is considered the best conference in all of college football. In the average year, at least 10 teams get good bowl games, and at least half the conference is nationally ranked. So the playoff committee basically has a spot carved out in the playoff for the SEC winner. East or West, the team that wins the SEC will get into the playoff.

The Pac 12 Winner

Located on the west coast of the USA, the Pac 12 isn't as loaded as some other conferences, but they're highly respected because of teams like the Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans, and the Stanford Cardinal. It wasn't the case last year, because the Pac 12 champion had a two-loss record, but we see the Pac 12 champion getting into this year's playoff with a one-loss smudge on their sheet. Likely is the case it will be Oregon, but USC or another Pac 12 team could easily catch fire. However it plays out and whichever team wins, we assume that the winner will earn a spot in the four-team playoff.

The Big 10 Winner

The Ohio State Buckeyes, the Michigan State Spartans, and the Michigan Wolverines really drive the Big 10, but there are other good schools in the conference, such as Indiana, Iowa and Penn State. For the previous two seasons, the winner of the Big 10 Championship has earned placement in the college football playoff, and we really see no reason that it would change this season. The Big 10 is a power five and right behind the SEC in terms of significance, so it would take something really wonky and rare to keep the champion out, like a three-loss team in a conference that just falls completely apart. Barring something completely out of character, you can expect the Big 10 winner to earn a spot in the playoff.

The Big 12 Top Dog

No Big 12 teams made the first ever playoff, so the crying started and didn't stop until the Oklahoma Sooners made it last year. The Texas conference was screaming and crying about religious discrimination and SEC bias and everything else. It was to the point that it was practically a nationwide conspiracy, and the committee did what they had to do by including the Big 12 in the playoff, even though the conference outright refuses to name a champion. Last year's playoff was more popular than the first year, and very likely is the case that the committee won't change a working formula. They would rather allow a Big 12 team in to lose than to keep them out and have to deal with the PR nightmare of all of Texas throwing a toddler's temper tantrum. So, whichever team ends up the top dog in the Big 12, either Oklahoma, Baylor or TCU, will likely round out the playoffs and earn a 4-seed. At least until the ACC and Big East get on the map with more than just one decent team every year, the nod will likely go to the Big 12.