The NCAAF is the pinnacle of college football. It’s where the best high-school talent graduates to university and college levels, with the long-term ambition of making the grade as a professional in the NFL.
The NCAAF is one of the best-supported college sports on the planet. In 2023, average attendance for NCAAF games hit 41,867 fans per game – bigger than some professional soccer leagues in Europe. Read on to get the lowdown on betting on the NCAAF with Stake’s online sportsbook .
College football is American Football played by college teams involving the best student-athletes. It’s often a direct route into the NFL and the CFL in Canada.
History of NCAAF
The NCAA was founded in 1906 in a bid to improve the protection of college athletes and provide a regulated framework for sporting competitions. Before 1957, there was only one NCAAF division for all schools with active American Football teams. Since then, the NCAAF has been divided into University and College Divisions, followed by a three-tier pyramid system – Division I, Division II and Division III. Colleges within the top two divisions can offer athletic scholarships to up-and-coming prospects with the potential to develop and make it in the big time of the NFL.
2023 NCAAF Winners
Big Ten team Michigan won their first national championship since 1997, beating Washington 34-13 in the final game of the 2023 NCAAF season. The win meant the Wolverines became only the fourth NCAAF FBS national champions to ever finish the season with a 15-0 record.
The 2024 College Football season begins on 24 August 2024.
The regular season ends on 14 December 2024.
College Football’s postseason begins on 14 December 2024.
The final game of the postseason, the College Football Playoff National Championship, is held on 20 January 2025.
Which Teams Play in the NCAAF?
Across all the conferences in the NCAAF, there are currently 134 active college football teams in the United States. In terms of total wins, Michigan and Ohio States are the two most successful teams in NCAAF history. Other teams within the top ten based on total wins include Alabama, who recently developed NFL quarterback Bryce Young, Yale, Penn State and Harvard. At the same time, some of the least successful include Illinois, Oklahoma State and South Carolina.
Format & Schedule of NCAAF 2024
During the regular season, teams play most of their fixtures against other colleges within their conference. The main conferences are The Big XII, Pac-12, SEC, ACC and the Big 10. At the end of the regular season, the conference champion is the team with the best record in The Big XII and Big East.
Meanwhile, the top two teams of the Pac-12, Big 10, SEC and ACC enter a winner-takes-all championship game to determine the champion. The conference champions then advance to the bowl games, including the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. Based on the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings, the top two teams advance to the National Championship Game to be crowned the overall season winner.
Moneyline
One of the simplest wagers, the moneyline bet allows you to pick the winning team of an upcoming fixture. It’s almost the opposite of the futures markets, which require you to bet on the winner of an entire season. The game odds on a moneyline market will have three outcomes – Team A wins, Team B wins or the Tie.
Handicap
The handicap markets in American Football are also known as the point spread markets . They operate like Asian totals used in other sports. Pre-game, the favourite is given a points deficit and the underdog is given a points advantage. This usually brings most teams closer to even money, potentially giving you more value on the favourite if they can cover the points spread, almost like a spread bet.
Halves
Some games will have first-half betting markets. This allows you to bet on teams to win the first half of games, which may offer value if the opposition is well-known as a slow starter in college sports.
Quarters
Quarter-line markets allow you to bet on each quarter of an NCAAF game individually. In most games, quarter markets will have money line and point-spread markets for college football totals in each quarter. This lets you bet on 15-minute quarters rather than the entire 60-minute game.
Player Props
Player prop markets let you bet on the performance of individual players instead of the overall team. You can bet on whether a wide receiver will rack up 100+ receiving yards in a game or which player will score the first touchdown. You can even combine multiple player props into a potentially lucrative parlay bet. Prop bets for college football are designed to let you put your knowledge to the test.
Outright
Outright betting markets let you bet on the outcome of the season of the postseason playoffs. Predict which team you think will win the Championship.
Parlays
Parlays combine multiple bets into one, increasing the odds and your potential payout. However, all of the bets within your parlay have to win for it to be successful. Same-game parlays are also available if you want to combine multiple bets from the same NCAAF match.
As a member of Stake Sports, you’ll have real-time access to our in-play betting interface, showing live scores across all the latest NCAAF games. This makes placing in-play bets on the NCAAF action possible by reacting to the latest scores and plays.
Our live streaming platform is always free and available to any Stake users, so you can live stream NCAAF games in real-time, taking you even closer to the action. So whether you want to place your bets on upcoming games , or place live wagers , you'll find it all at Stake.com. Learn more about the differences between live betting vs. pre-match betting and how to devise the best betting strategy to win.
NCAAF Betting Odds & Payouts
At Stake.com , we make it easy to view the latest college football betting lines however you want. Choose from American, fractional, and decimal odds to help you find value in the upcoming American Football markets for the NCAAF.
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Now that you’re up to speed with the popular types of bets on NCAA football, including team prop bets, moneyline bets and wagers on the college football playoffs in the postseason, we’ve put together some sports betting tips to get you started with NCAAF markets:
Utilise our latest sportsbook promotions when online sports betting at Stake.com. You can get bonus funds eligible for use on the upcoming college football games to boost your bankroll.
Read up on our sports betting tips and discover our ultimate guide to online sports betting to help you devise your strategy before getting amongst the betting action. Be sure to check out our picks and predictions for the NCAAF College Football games .
Take advantage of mismatches in the NCAAF. There are often games where teams can win by 40 or 50 clear points, unlike the NFL, where games are often tighter. Look at the points spread markets to try and find value odds on pre-game favourites.
With such a packed NCAAF schedule, it’s often best to familiarise yourself with a handful of college football teams first. Understand their strengths and weaknesses to make it easier to bet on them while you build your knowledge of the rest of the divisions.
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