Sports betting college football lines are fascinating to look at each week. What actually goes into making college football online sports odds? What factors do sports betting oddsmakers look at?
Sports betting oddsmakers start with looking at the actual pure merits of the teams in a matchup and assign what is known as a “pure” or “virgin” online sports line. After the “pure” line is made the sports betting oddsmakers will take into account how the college football online sports public actually perceives the two teams involved. Much more than in NFL betting, public perception in college football sports has much to do with a team’s history.
Programs such as Florida, Florida State, Miami-Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and USC often get lesser sports odds than they actually merit because they have so much public appeal due to their rich history through the years. Such teams known as “traditional powers,” often end up laying too many points, particularly at home matched up against weaker teams, because all the public can see is the word “slaughter,” without regard to actual board value or merit in online betting.
Keep in mind that with college sports that college football is much more of a coach’s game than pro football, which is more of a player’s game. A big name coach such as Charlie Weiss at Notre Dame, Urban Meyer at Florida, Jim Tressel at Ohio State, Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, Mack Brown at Texas, Joe Paterno at Penn State, and Pete Carroll at USC will all command a higher price on the sports betting board because of their name recognition as respected head men.
In addition to the coaches, stadiums such as Notre Dame Stadium with its famed “Touchdown Jesus,” Ohio State’s Horseshoe, Michigan’s “Big House,” and Florida’s “Swamp” all serve to intimidate and intoxicate the sports masses into taking the home team and, more often than not, pay too much for the privilege. Home field advantage in college football betting is big, but the oddsmakers definitely tack on a lot of points to the odds because of the home venue.
Don’t forget about the intangibles as you look at college football sports betting odds. Revenge, intra-state rivalries, last week’s results, sandwich games and weather are all factors to consider in college football sports betting.