We've ranked and reviewed the top college football betting sites in this guide. We’ll also cover common NCAAF bet types, college football betting strategies, important events, and more.
Above, we’ve designed a quick comparison tool to help you find the best college football betting site.
You can select up to three sites from the list above and click Add to Compare to compare their offers, features, payment methods, and more side-by-side.
If you’re unsure which online site suits you, this tool can help you quickly spot the right fit. Give it a try and see how the options stack up.
Note that betting offers vary based on your location.
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Our team of industry-leading experts grades each of the betting sites they review on a scale of one to 10 across 10 different categories that we deem to be most important to sports bettors. To determine these scores, we don’t just sit behind a screen and rate sites—we test them, compare them, and really dig into the user experience to see how they stack up. Our process ensures we only recommend betting sites that meet our high standards.
In addition to identifying the best sports betting sites, we are committed to promoting responsible gambling. That’s why we only review fully licensed operators and offer tools and resources that address responsible betting practices.
The most common betting lines in college football are moneyline, spread, and over/under. You’ll have many bets to choose from in a single college football game. Bet on the outcome, the total points, or the point spread.
You can also bet on futures and back the winner of the conference months in advance.
For an individual game, you may find half a dozen different markets. Some bookmakers may offer player props—unique markets for specific football stars. You may also see odds on individual player performances or the winner of the Heisman Trophy.
Moneyline bets (wagers on the outright winner of a game) are the most popular market at NCAAF betting sites.
The odds are shorter for the favorite and longer for the underdog. Positive odds indicate the underdog, and the number represents your payout on a $100 bet. Negative odds indicate the favorite, and the number represents how much you'd have to bet to profit $100.
Point spreads give a handicap to the underdog team. A favorite needs to win by X amount of points for bookmakers to consider to have “beaten the spread.” An underdog must lose by fewer points than the spread to "cover" it.
For example, if you bet on the Patriots and they are five-point favorites (-5) to beat the Vikings, they must win by at least six points for you to win your bet. A wager on Minnesota (+5) is a winner even if the Vikings lose as long as they cover the spread.
Betting on the spread typically comes with -110 odds. Some betting sites stick with -110 and adjust the spread, while others may tweak the odds slightly before shifting the spread.
(For non U.S. readers, -110 equals 1.91 in decimal or 10/11 in fractional format.)
Total points is a betting market for the total points scored in a college football game. These bets usually follow an Over/Under (O/U) format, where you wager on whether the combined score will be over or under the oddsmaker's set line.
Knowing both teams' tendencies is always key for over/under betting, as well as the tendencies of specific teams when they play against each other. Some games are destined to be high-scoring.
You can also find NCAA football lines on team totals. This prop bet is a good alternative if you think one side or the other will achieve a certain point tally, but are less sure about the opposing team.
Many NCAAF betting sites offer odds on future outcomes. These odds may stretch months into the future and could cover conference winners or Heisman Trophy candidates. Other popular college football futures include:
Live betting sites allow wagering on college football point spreads and other markets while the odds change in real time. You can follow the action live on TV and make wagers simultaneously. Some college football betting sites offer live streaming, allowing you to watch the game on your mobile device as you place bets.
Live odds are altered automatically on the site. The odds may also change on the bet slip in real time, so you’ll need to act quickly when placing live bets.
In addition to common bets that focus on the game’s outcome, you can also find college football lines on events during the game. You may be able to bet on the team to score the next touchdown or the team to be in the lead at the end of the next quarter.
The beauty of live college football odds betting is that you can secure a profit before the game ends.
Props, or proposition bets, are wagers on specific outcomes within a game that don’t necessarily relate to the final score, like which player will score first or how many rushing yards a running back will have.
Prop bets can also relate to a team’s total points during the first quarter. Such wagers are called team props. As with any parlay—also known as an accumulator or multi in some regions—you can often combine props to boost your potential payout.
Popular college football props include:
Remember that some U.S. jurisdictions don't allow player prop bets on any college team; others don't allow betting on college games at all.
By assessing odds and trends, you can enhance your success as a college football bettor. Here are a few top tips:
Public betting shows where other gamblers are placing their wagers. With betting percentages, you can see how the public is gambling. They represent actual bets being placed.
And the truth is that most casual bettors are not successful. They back their alma mater or any home team without much research.
By studying public money, you can decide to back the consensus or “fade” the public. The public will lose more than it wins. College football betting sites automatically adjust odds if more money goes to one team or the other. Consequently, if you take the contrarian view, you can find value in the odds.
There’s a belief in college football that home teams have a considerable advantage over their opponents. In reality, home-field advantage is exaggerated.
Understanding public bias, betting sites often offer worse prices for home teams. So, in the long term, it can be less profitable to back the home side consistently.
Most legal NCAAF betting sites offer deals to new account holders. The welcome offers include deposit matches, bonus bets, money back on losing wagers, and more. Existing customers may also get odds boosts on certain high-profile games.
Make the most of welcome offers by opening multiple accounts across different CFB betting sites.
College football teams compete in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), which is organized into three divisions: Division I, II, and III. Division I is split into two tiers: the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
There are 134 teams in the FBS, divided into 10 conferences:
Some schools, such as Notre Dame, Army, and UConn, compete as independents (not part of any conference).
The college football regular season begins as the summer ends, which is the perfect way to welcome in the fall. Over 130 Division I football teams compete each season for accolades such as conference titles, bowl game wins, and even a spot in the College Football Playoffs (more on those later).
Depending on the conference and the school, a team plays about 12 games per season. Each week, the AP Top 25, the Coaches' Poll, and the College Football Playoff committee rank the top schools in the nation based on record and strength of schedule.
At the end of the regular season, the two winningest teams in each conference vie for the championship, although this doesn’t apply to all conferences. Winning that conference title can significantly affect bowl game selections and the new College Football Playoff format.
There are generally over 40 college bowl games, but that number changes yearly. Some of the most popular ones (excluding the most prominent that occur on New Year's Day) include the Gator Bowl, the Music City Bowl, and the Holiday Bowl.
Usually, teams must have at least a .500 record and a minimum of six wins to be eligible for selection to a bowl game. But even a team with a losing record can get a bid if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams.
The “New Year's Six” games (Rose, Orange, Sugar, Cotton, Peach, Fiesta) host College Football Playoff games.
At the end of the regular season, the College Football Playoff committee assigns teams to a playoff bracket to establish the first 12-team postseason.
The Top 5 conference champions receive automatic bids to the College Football Playoffs, joined by the seven highest-ranking remaining teams. The 12 teams compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
The last two teams standing after the postseason rounds compete for the national title.
Between the end of the college football season and the spring, draft-eligible players can declare for the NFL Draft. You can see which of your favorite players will make it big in the pros—and even bet on where they might be selected on some sites.
We at Gambling.com take responsible gambling very seriously. Our main goals are to connect you with reliable betting operators while maintaining a safe gambling environment for all users.
College football betting sites must follow strict protocols to spot, prevent, and reduce gambling-related harm. These aren't optional measures; they're legal requirements and essential safeguards that protect vulnerable players from developing problematic habits.
We always keep these requirements in mind whenever we review and rate a betting site, and we only partner with licensed operators that adhere to legal standards. Moreover, all betting sites we review here have responsible gambling tools and resources to help you stay in control of your betting.