College Football Underdog Records
Hitting a college football underdog bet is one of the best feelings! But, an outright underdog win clearly isn't something that happens too often.
In 2023, the underdog only won 193 matches outright. But, the 10-point underdog SU is even worse, cashing in just 31 times.
Typically, 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, especially in 10-point spread occasions.
College Football Underdog Profitability
Yikes. You'd be down a massive chunk of change if you blindly bet on the underdogs outright this year. Throughout last season, we watched the 10-point 'dogs ATS chart shift back-and-forth between plus-money territory. From Week 5 to Week 13, the profit jumped from -$285 to +$405.71. But, one weekend deflated it all where it;s final stand is at -1.9 units for a sad -$194.28.
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)