Guide to betting NCAA College Football smartly, responsibly

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Guide to betting NCAA College Football smartly, responsibly

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Guide to betting NCAA College Football smartly, responsibly

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Guide to betting NCAA College Football smartly, responsibly

Author:

Zach Lutz

Published:

Jul 26, 2024

04:51 p.m.

Updated:

Jan 2, 2024

10:20 a.m.

As if college football wasn't already one of the most anticipated sports seasons in the country, this year is expected to bring the excitement to a whole new level. Between the expansion of the College Football Playoff (CFP) to 12 teams, conference realignment and new head coaches taking over elite programs, there is no shortage of storylines.

With those headlines taking over all forms of media, there are more eyes than ever on the 2024-25 college football season, which will ultimately lead to more fans wagering on it. Therefore, we’re here to help ensure that if individuals are going to do so, they do so smartly and responsibly.

Introduction to betting on college football smartly

As with any sport, it’s important to understand the basics of the sport itself. That means the general scoring, timing and rules. Similarly, it also means understanding the betting markets that are available for wagering on college football.

The most popular and standard of those markets are the money line, point spread and total (over/under). Those betting markets involve the winner, the margin of victory and number of points scored, respectively. However, with such a popular sport like college football, there are a seemingly countless number of other betting markets available, including prop bets.

Those can involve much more nuance, so sticking to the standard markets may be a safer approach. That is especially true when it comes to college player prop markets, which is something we’ll discuss throughout this article and more in depth when we break down the dangers and risks of betting on college football.

Who can legally bet on college football in 2024?

Where you are located

Before we get into those dangers and risks, it’s essential to know where it is legal to bet on college football. There are 38 locations in the U.S. with some form of legal sports betting, and all of them offer college football betting markets. Of those 38 locations, 30 of them offer online (mobile) sports betting:

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia, and Wyoming

And for the eight states with legal sports betting at retail locations only, those are listed here:

Delaware, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin

Beyond the 38 legal locations, there are still 12 states that don’t offer sports betting at all, whether online or retail.

California, Texas, Idaho, Utah, Minnesota, Missouri, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Alaska and Hawaii

How old you are

Ensuring that you are in a legal location is not the only stipulation when it comes to betting on college football. There are also age considerations, and the most common is a 21-year-old or older requirement. However, there are six locations in which the age requirement is just 18 years old:

Kentucky, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming

While those locations offer sports betting at a younger age, there are still things to keep in mind. Firstly, the sportsbooks within those locations can still have a 21-year-old requirement if they so choose. Additionally, even if an individual is from one of those locations, if they are in any of the other 32 locations with legal sports betting, they must still abide by the age requirement of the location where they are currently.

Dangers & risks of betting on the 2024 college football season

Now that we’ve covered who can legally bet on college football, let’s discuss the dangers and risks of doing so. Wagering on anything comes with inherent risks, and that is certainly true of collegiate sports, especially in recent years.

Integrity

The integrity of sports is of the utmost importance, and with the incorporation of NIL (name, image and likeness) in college football, that is even more at risk. This allows players to be paid, which was a topic of much debate for the decades prior to the NIL implementation. While the NCAA works to nail down rules in place for NIL deals, it is still in its infancy.

When money is being exchanged, there is always concern of foul play. Just like we’ve seen players in professional sports manipulate contests, collegiate players may now be even more motivated to do so with money on the line. In fact, that is why we’ve seen a recent push for states to prohibit player prop bets in college athletics, including football.

There are already states that have done so, including ones with some of the largest sports betting markets like New Jersey and New York. Those states also prohibit fans from betting on their in-state colleges (although NJ may change that). As you can see, there is significant concern when it comes to the risks of betting on college football.

It’s also important to keep in mind that we are dealing with student-athletes. That means a younger generation of players that can often be influenced more than professionals. Again, this can lead to manipulation of their events, which undermines the integrity of the game. As if that wasn’t enough, the vast landscape of collegiate sports also presents another danger.

Volume of games and betting markets

With so many colleges and universities, there is significantly more to keep track of, including for oddsmakers. For example, we have prominent programs like Alabama and Georgia, but there are over 100 colleges in the FBS (the highest division of college football) alone. It is nearly impossible to know the ins and outs of every program, which means that the lines and odds available are not always the best for the consumer.

This is especially true given the turnover of players in collegiate sports. Unlike professional sports where we can see players with the same franchise for over a decade, players come and go in collegiate sports at a far more rapid rate. In other words, it is even more difficult to predict performances with smaller sample sizes of performances.

The significant number of games on any given Saturday presents nearly nonstop betting opportunities from noon to midnight. This can be incredibly dangerous for problem gamblers, who may use later games as opportunities to “chase” earlier losses with bigger or more bets in hopes of winning back what was lost.

All this adds up to making college football one of the riskiest sports to bet on, which is why it should always be done with extreme caution.

Responsible Gaming tips for NCAA College Football

Given that we’ve shared why and how college football is dangerous to bet on, it’s also important that we provide ways to do so responsibly. Many of these tips can be applied to betting on any sport, but they are ultimately helpful as we approach the college football season, which is less than a month away:

Set limits: This first tip is one that should be implemented when betting on any sporting event. A set bankroll, which can be thought of as a sports betting budget, should be put in place as a total amount that you’d be comfortable losing. From that, a percentage (preferably 1-4%) should be used on a per-wager basis. That’s known as your “unit” size.

Understand the game: Something that we’ve already mentioned is ensuring the understanding of college football. Between clock management and overtime rules, aspects of college football vary from the NFL and other collegiate sports.

Sports betting should be entertainment: This relates back to our first tip, as the bankroll you set for yourself should be viewed through the same lens as other funds that you would use for other forms of entertainment in your life. Whether that means movies, meals out or otherwise, sports betting should be seen in the same light, rather than as a potential source of income.

Don’t gamble under the influence: While this may seem to go without saying for some, gambling under the influence can lead to dangers and risks of doing so being increased significantly. Judgment is impaired in these circumstances, which can lead to poor decision-making and ultimately, greater losses.

Don’t chase losses: Speaking of losses, chasing them is another part of sports betting that needs to be avoided. This occurs when additional wagers are placed following losses in hopes of winning back the amounts lost.

Gambling addiction resources & treatment

Birches Health has multiple problem gambling treatment options available, all from the comfort of home. Whether you or someone you know is dealing with or at risk of problem gambling, the Birches team of specially trained, licensed therapists can help.

Individuals can receive the help they need at the convenience of their schedule and location. If you believe that you or a loved one could use Birches Health, there are several ways to get in touch:

You can also simply call 833-483-3838 or email hello@bircheshealth.com to get in contact directly with the Birches team right away.

New schools, new-look conferences in 2024

One of the aspects of the 2024-25 college football season that we mentioned right from the start was the conference realignment. We’ve seen them shuffle in the past, but nothing compares to the changes that have taken place in the most recent offseason.

Beginning with the conference that many consider to be the most complete, the SEC, they’ve added two of the most notable programs in the country to make it even more stacked. Fans of the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners are growing more impatient by the year, but having those two programs in the SEC has increased the excitement on those campuses.

However, simply adding teams to a conference only scratches the surface as to the changes that we’ve seen. The ACC, or Atlantic Coast Conference, is now a far cry from what the name implies. With the Pac-12 being essentially dissolved, the ACC has now added teams from the complete opposite coast of the country: Stanford and California. They also added a school that’s not even on a coast - SMU in Texas.

Many other Pac-12 schools also had to go somewhere. Four of them - Washington, UCLA, USC and Oregon - are joining the new-look Big Ten. Firstly, don’t let the name fool you, the Big Ten now consists of a whopping 18 teams. Furthermore, it’s a new-look conference as they have gotten rid of the two divisions. So, no longer will there be fans stating that the West Division is far superior with the likes of both Ohio State and Michigan within.

Top storylines for the 2024 college football season

As if the Power 5 conferences being completely realigned wasn’t enough to make the 2024-25 college football season as exciting as ever, there is still plenty more. Perhaps the biggest storyline of the entire calendar of fall sports is the expansion of the College Football Playoff.

The newest NCAA football postseason format was implemented in 2014, and it’s been incredible to watch unfold. Rather than a computer-based system to rank teams, we have a 13-person committee that ranks the top 25 teams in the country. Until this season, the top four of those have entered a playoff bracket to crown an ultimate champion.

Of course, with that came plenty of debate as to how fair this system was, especially given that there were five major conferences, among many others. Fans and analysts alike were desiring an expansion of more than just four teams, and after a few years of consideration, the committee has voted to expand the College Football Playoff to 12 teams.

To add to the NCAAF storylines, a program that we’ve seen in the CFP often - Alabama - finally has a new head coach. Nick Saban retired in the offseason and has since joined ESPN as an analyst, with former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer taking over. DeBoer led the Huskies to the National Championship Game just last season, so expectations will still be high.

With so many moving parts across the college football landscape, oddsmakers are going to have an even tougher time navigating it. Therefore, it has never been more important to bet on college football smartly and responsibly.