Skip to content

Betting101 guide

How to Bet on College Football

Featured image for this 'How to Bet on College Football' article.

With hundreds of games taking place across every level each week during the season, college football is one of the biggest betting draws in the US, and bettors in every state want to know how to get in on the action.

The problem is that many of the states where college football is practically a religion, including Texas, California, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, still don’t have legal US sportsbooks. That’s where offshore college football betting sites come in. They accept players from all 50 states, cover everything from the College Football Playoff down to the smaller conferences, and are fully accessible wherever you live.

Below, we’ll show you the most trusted sites, how to sign up, and most importantly, how to bet on college football in the United States.

Best College Football Betting Sites

To start betting on college football, you need a sportsbook that covers every game and accepts players from every state. These are our top five college football betting sites, and they work across mobile and desktop devices:

Sportsbook ratings

1

BetOnline

Our rating 9.8/10

RegionsAustraliaCanadaUnited States

No Strings Welcome Offer50% up to $250

Minimum deposit$10 Crypto

2

BetUS

Our rating 9.8/10

RegionsCanadaUnited States

Welcome Bonus125% up to $2500

Minimum deposit$100

3

Lucky Rebel

Our rating 9.6/10

RegionsCanadaUnited States

Welcome Bonus125% Free + 50 Free Spins

Minimum deposit$50

4

MyBookie

Our rating 9.1/10

RegionsCanadaUnited States

Crypto Bonus100% up to $1000

Minimum deposit$20 (crypto) / $45 (card)

How to Bet on College Football Online

Your first step to placing a wager on college football is to sign up for an online football sportsbook. Thankfully, this is an easy process.

Select any of our top five college football sportsbooks from above and click the “claim now” button. This will take you to their site, where you can follow the instructions to sign up and create your account.

Once you’ve created your account, all you need to do is fund it. Pick your preferred payment method and the amount you’re comfortable adding to your bankroll, and you’re ready to go.

PRO TIP: If directed by the sportsbook, it’s best to complete any ID and verification requirements straight away. This will prevent any delays when you win and want to withdraw your funds.

The Differences Between Online vs Land-based Betting

OnlineIn-person
Remote bettingLivelier atmosphere
More marketsLimited selection
Instant odds comparisonOne sportsbook’s prices
Crypto options (if offshore)Convenient for cash bets

How to Bet on a College Football Game

Once you’ve signed up for your online betting account and have funded the account, you’re ready to pick your chosen bet(s) and place a wager. For this example, we’ve used a college football game between Syracuse and UConn.

Odds taken from BetOnline for a college football game between UConn and Syracuse

As shown in the example, betting on a college football game tends to be broken down into three choices:

Moneyline

In NCAAF, moneyline betting is where you pick which team you think is going to win the game. These odds also include overtime, so you would still win if your team wins during OT.

A – (minus) symbol before the odds indicates the favorite, and the + (plus) symbol means the team is an underdog. On rare occasions, it’s possible that both teams will have ‘minus’ odds, usually when it’s too close to call.

In this example, a $100 wager would win the following:

Syracuse (-237): $42.19
UConn (+197): $197.00

Spread

Spread betting is one of the most commonly used terms in college football, and it’s where the sportsbook will apply a handicap to try to even the playing field.

The spread is a number of points either taken away from the favorite or added to the underdog. In this example, Syracuse is listed as a 6.5-point favorite, and the betting works in the following way:

Syracuse (-6.5): Your bet will win if Syracuse wins the game by at least seven points.
UConn (+6.5): Your bet will win if UConn wins the game, or if they lose by six points or fewer.

So, for example, if the final score is a 28-24 win for Syracuse, the moneyline bet on Syracuse would win, but it would be the spread wager on UConn that would win.

Total

Totals betting is where you don’t pay attention to who actually wins the game, but how many points are scored by both teams during the game.

The sportsbook will set an under/over line (in this case, it’s 51 points), and you decide if you think the teams will combine for more or less than 51 points in the game (including overtime).

It doesn’t matter who scores the points, so if you select the over and the score is 52-0, the wager will still win.

How to Place a College Football Parlay Bet

Now that you understand the basic college football betting options, it’s important to know that if you want to bet on more than one game, you can roll those selections into what’s known as a parlay bet.

This is where your odds are multiplied for each leg that you add to the parlay, but this also comes with added risk. In a parlay bet, you need every single selection to be correct; otherwise, the wager will be lost.

For example, we’ve selected three moneyline options for upcoming college football games:

A college football parlay from BetOnline, selecting North Texas, Stanford and Navy to win their selected games

As you can see on the bet slip, the overall odds are enhanced by combining the selections into a college football parlay bet. This increases the potential payout, but if only two out of the three teams were to win, then our wager would be lost.

To illustrate the difference between parlay and single wagers, this betslip shows the potential returns if we were to place a single $33.33 moneyline wager on each game:

A betslip from BetOnline detailing three college football moneyline bets, on North Texas, Stanford and Navy to win their games

As you can see, the potential win amount is drastically lower, but so is the overall risk. Even if one team were to lose, we would still win the wagers on the other two games.

Why Use Offshore Sites to Bet on College Football?

Even if you live in a state with legal sports betting, you might find that your local sportsbook doesn’t let you bet on the college games you actually care about.

Several states have restrictions on college betting. Some don’t allow wagers on in-state college teams, so fans can’t bet on their own school. A growing number have banned college player props entirely, meaning no QB passing yards, no receiving totals, and no anytime TD scorer bets on college players. In Oregon, the state’s legal sportsbook doesn’t offer online college sports betting at all.

Offshore sites don’t have these restrictions. You can bet on any team, any conference, and any market, including player props, from wherever you are. For college football fans, that’s often the difference between betting on your team’s big game and watching it without a stake.

How to Bet on College Football FAQs

How do I sign up to bet on college football?

Pick a sportsbook from our list above, such as BetOnline or BetUS, and click through to their site. Enter your name, email, date of birth, and address, then create a password. The whole thing takes a couple of minutes, and you’ll be ready to fund your account and start betting.

How do I deposit money into my sportsbook account?

Head to the cashier or banking section once you’re logged in, choose a payment method,and enter the amount you want to deposit. Most offshore sites, including BetOnline and BetUS, accept credit and debit cards as well as crypto such as Bitcoin, with crypto usually being the fastest option for both deposits and withdrawals

How do I place a bet on a college football game?

Go to the football section of the sportsbook and select NCAAF. Find the game you want, then click the odds for the bet you want to make, whether that’s the spread, moneyline, or total. Your selection will be added to the bet slip, where you enter your stake, check the potential payout, and hit confirm.

Can I bet on college football from my phone?

Yes. BetOnline and BetUS both work in your mobile browser, so there’s no need to download an app. Just log in on your phone, and you’ll get the same games, odds, and markets as on desktop.

How do I bet on college football player props?

Open the game you’re interested in and look for the player props tab, which is usually listed alongside the game lines. From there, you can bet on markets like passing yards, rushing yards, receptions, and anytime TD scorers for the biggest names in the game.

Where can I bet on college football if my state doesn’t have legal sportsbooks?

Offshore sites like BetOnline and BetUS accept players from all 50 states, including Texas, California, and Georgia, where US apps like DraftKings and FanDuel aren’t available.