4 Ways to Make Money Betting on 2018 College Football Underdogs

The amount of money that people spend on sports betting football runs between $60 and $70 billion each year — and that’s just the side that passes back and forth under the table, according to CNBC. One way to yield some profits from your wagering is to find the underdog on the favorable side of a matchup or of a futures wager. We have put together a list of 2018 college football betting tips designed to help you decide when picking the underdog is the better choice.

4 Ways to Make Money Betting on 2018 College Football Underdogs

4 Saturdays until College Football. pic.twitter.com/OiDNowx86W

— Ohio Sports Nation (@SN_Ohio) July 28, 2018

Watch out for overrated teams

The high expectations that fans have for their teams carry over to the wagering counters as well, which means that some teams will be favored by more than they should be, or futures wagers will show unrealistic expectations for the season. Consider Michigan, for example. Yes, they are bringing in Shea Patterson as a transfer from Ole Miss to quarterback the offense, but there is no assurance that he will have more luck than the quarterback committee did last year. While Michigan should win over such non-conference cupcakes as Western Michigan and SMU, and win handily, games at Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan State may have Michigan either favored by more points than they should be, or an underdog, but not by as much as they could be.

Watch out for Pac-12 favorites in non-conference play

Last year, the Pac-12 did not send any teams to the College Football Playoff, and except for USC (who went 8-1 in conference play) all the other conference teams lost at least two conference games. While Washington is seen as a favorite to win the conference, they didn’t even win their division last year, and they have a number of tough road games this year, including Oregon, Washington State and Utah. But the real issue for the Pac-12 is that there is not a transcendent team that we expect to stand as a national contender. So when Washington goes to Atlanta to take on Auburn, for example, or when USC heads to Austin to take on Texas, consider adjusting that line by a few points. Washington is a 3-point underdog in their matchup with Auburn, but given that this game is in SEC territory, and given the desire that Auburn will have for redemption after losing to Georgia and then to UCF to finish last season, I like Auburn to cover that. If you see a Pac-12 favorite in non-conference play, think about choosing the underdog to cover, especially if that underdog is in a Power 5 conference as well — the conference is just down right now.

Research the mid-major programs

The American Athletic Conference has a number of teams — UCF, Temple, South Florida, Navy and Memphis especially — that can hang with Power 5 teams that are in the lower half of their conference standings. So if you see a game like Temple at Maryland, on September 15, if Maryland is more than a ten-point favorite, you might think about taking the Owls with the points, because they have the offense to hang around. Two weeks later, Temple goes up to BC for a non-conference game. If BC (an ACC team that usually dwells in the lower regions) can get a touchdown line as a favorite, the Owls could be a smart pick as an underdog.

Pay attention to moneylines

Let’s say you’re looking at a line like this:

LSU (+210) at Alabama (-155)

This means that if you bet on Alabama, you have to bet $155 to make $100 ($255 total payout). If you bet $100 on LSU, and if they win, you’ll get a $210 profit ($310 total payout). So if you can hit on a couple of underdogs on the moneyline, your profit goes up considerably — and it can cover some other losses. The profit on an Alabama win is $100 on a $155 investment, while the profit on an LSU win is $210 on a $100 wager — almost twice the profit on an investment that is about ⅔ the size. If you find an underdog that you think can win outright, on the basis of your research, go with the moneyline instead of the point spread to make your profits