Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for Saturday’s game: Iowa State vs. Oklahoma State.
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Top College Football Odds & Picks: Iowa State vs. Oklahoma State
I had tickets on both these teams last week, cashing on Okie State, losing on Iowa State (the refs calling a clearly-made ISU field goal no-good didn’t help in a 3-point loss, but we digress).
This week, in a battle between the two, we’re siding with Iowa State. The Cyclones offense is utterly rancid. But its defense remains rock-solid, both with the fundamentals (No. 42 tackling success rate) and situationally (top-16 in both third-and-long and third-and-short success rate).
We’re counting on ISU’s No. 11 SP+ defense to carry the day here in what projects to be an ugly game.
Oklahoma State’s own ugly offense €“ which continues to insist upon a ridiculous three-man QB rotation €“ is neither efficient nor explosive. All three OSU QBs average less than 6.0 air yards per pass.
And Okie State’s middle-of-the-road run game becomes far less effective when the opponent moves defenders closer to the LOS because it has no fear of getting beaten over-the-top. We saw that last week when South Alabama €“ boasting one of the G5’s best defenses €“ throttled Oklahoma State 33-7 in Stillwater.
And while we hate Iowa State’s offense, it should carve out enough points to get us the cover, here. Oklahoma State’s defense tends to be forgiving in offering second-chances to extend drives, ranking No. 131 out of 133 in tackling efficiency.
The pick: Iowa State -2.5 (play to -4)
Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners
Game Total
Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that’s it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it’s called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.
ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42
tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.
Moneyline
The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That’s it. The moneyline doesn’t use favorites or underdogs, it’s totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they’re weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.
For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don’t matter, they just need to win the game. But because it’s safer to take them straight-up without points, you’ll have to risk more when you make the bet €” remember, they’re seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it’s a riskier bet €” they’re seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog €” +220 on the moneyline. You’d win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.
ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)
tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.
Player Props
Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they’re also easy to understand. For major conferences, you’ll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It’s simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don’t vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.
ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California? Over 250 or Under 250
tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they’re going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.
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