When it comes to the betting line, there is no shortage in college football. With over 50-games played each Saturday, the public has multiple options in finding the best games to bet on.
While some players bet only on their favorite team, a savvy gambler makes their decision based on the betting line, also known as the point spread. With so many games to choose from, the savvy gambler will also look for games where Vegas may have missed a line, meaning the point spread is soft.
With the sheer number of game, there are several soft lines each week. You won’t find this in games like LSU vs. Alabama. Instead, soft lines usually come from teams that are not in the spotlight, or are playing better than the oddsmakers anticipated they would.
The most popular bet in college football is “against the spread.” The point spread is when Vegas says, “Team A (favorite) is x-amount points better than Team B (underdog).” You can either take favorite and lay the points, or bet on the underdog and take the points.
AccuScore provides against the spread simulations for every team in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and keeps records on each. Because of this, AccuScore subscribers can see our seasonal record for multiple betting lines.
Here are some examples:
Point Spread is 0.5 to 3 points
Point Spread is 3.5 to 7 points
Point Spread is 7.5 to 10 points
Home team is favored 7 or more points
In addition to our detailed record keeping, clients gain an advantage in being able to access how the AccuScore computer has done in game projections for all teams in the FBS. This is a tremendous advantage when trying to find out what team to bet on during the season, especially when a betting line might look attractive.
A great example is the 2010 game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State was the hot team, and a 3-point favorite at home to beat Oklahoma. With their potent offense, picking Oklahoma State -3 points seemed like the easy selection.
However, this game was the last game of the year and we had a full season’s worth of data on each team. AccuScore made against the spread selections for all of OSU’s previous 11 games and the computer successfully picked the right ATS team 10 times and was wrong only once. For Oklahoma’s 11 previous games, the AccuScore ATS pick had a record of 8-3.
The AccuScore ATS selection for this game was Oklahoma +3 points, which was in contrast to public opinion. However in posting a 18-4 combined ATS record with these teams, it showed that they both played to their simulations.
Advisor subscribers who followed the AccuScore selection were not disappointed in this game, where Oklahoma not only covered the spread; they won the game straight up.
