Hitting a college football underdog bet is one of the best feelings! Our CFB underdog betting report tells you just how often those picks hit and how profitable those 'dogs have been throughout the season.
We've hit notable underdog bets since Week 0, when Georgia Tech (+12.5) defeated No. 10 Florida State outright, 24-21. It continued early into Week 1 when No. 23 USC (+4.5) stunned No. 13 LSU in the fourth quarter. Then, Vanderbilt (+1050) shocking Alabama, 40-35, to accomplish the biggest upset so far this season. Point is, we've had no shortage of underdog upsets this year.
College Football Underdog Records
Underdog ATS and 10-pt underdog ATS betting markets are lacking in the plus-money range, with only 10-point 'dogs sitting in the profitable region. Obviously, the outright win ratio isn't favorable, where you'd be down over $13,000 if you were blindly betting on the underdog winning games over the season. So far this year, the 10-point underdog SU record is even worse, cashing in just 33 times. But, you should be expecting the underdogs to lose majority of the time.
However, we don't necessarily need the underdogs to win to be profitable, do we?
The underdogs may go down to defeat, but the scoreboard won’t be as tilted as people think, which allows them to cover the spread more often, especially in 10-point spread occasions, where they've covered more than they havent (177-153-4).
Consider this alongside our college football computer picks when building your college football betting strategy parlays for this week’s slate of games.
How College Football Underdog Betting Works
Betting on college football can be daunting with all the conferences and teams, but one great way to get started is to have a ride-or-die strategy, like betting on the underdogs.
It’s easy and profitable, and all you need are the basics of sports betting. In your college football sportsbook, you’ll find odds that can be listed as American odds (-500), fractional odds (1/5) or decimal odds (1.20). We use American style here, but you can often swap between formats at any book.
Those odds are then used to help you gauge and value the different kinds of bets. Here’s an example of a moneyline bet (using American odds), where you would just have to pick the straight-up (SU) Sportsbook of the contest:
Ohio State Buckeyes -130
Michigan Wolverines +240
In this case, Ohio State is the favorite, paying out $100 in profit for every $130 you bet. Michigan is the underdog, as shown by the plus (+) sign, paying out a higher amount if the Wolverines were to upset the Buckeyes.
College Football Underdog Betting: Against The Spread
While betting moneyline or straight up can be very profitable for the upsets, you can always lean on spread betting if you don’t want to hope for a massive upset.
In spread wagering, the underdog is given a set number of points that they can’t lose by (or they can win outright), whereas the favorite has to win by a certain amount. Here’s an example:
LSU Tigers -7.5 (must win by eight or more points)
Alabama Crimson Tide +7.5 (can lose by seven or fewer points, or win)
More College Football Underdog Betting Resources