College football rivalry games are all about over-the-top emotions, exaggerated hype and spotlight from the media, and a soldier-like devotion from the players to give their all for the honor of their schools. And with all that comes a lot of confusion to college football betting enthusiasts, considering we have 10 NCAAF conferences along with a number of Independent schools that play week-in, week-out in rivalry games. To stay ahead of other bettors when online betting on rivalries, it is therefore well worth your effort to primarily familiarize yourself with the best sportsbetting tips for the college rivalry games. And that’s exactly what we’ll be doing in this article, as we shed light on some elemental pro betting tips for the NCAA Football rivalry games, which so often have a large bearing on divisional championships and national title contention as well.
How to Bet Guide for College Football Rivalry Games
Betting On The Home Underdog
Placing a bet on home underdog in a rivalry game, especially a small underdog, is possibly the sharpest betting angle to use when betting on rivalry games. For instance, if USC is favored on the road against UCLA, the Bruins are the best bet in this spot. Even if the USC Trojans manage to win the game, chances are that UCLA will at least cover the spread, making the hosts a good value bet.Betting Against Ranked Teams in the ATS Lines
At the beginning of the season, big public football programs like Alabama, Florida, USC, Texas and Ohio State are often overhyped and voted highly by the media and the coaches in preseason rankings even when the reality is that they are not that good. When you find teams that fit such a bill, like those that have an erratic quarterback or a poor defense, it could be greatly rewarding to you if you bet against them in the ATS lines more so in games when they run into a solid opponent. A good example is the 2015 Auburn Tigers team that was popularly hyped in the preseason polls and ranked at No. 7 in the USA Today Poll, only for them to disappoint mightily in the course of the season with cheap straight up losses and surprising ATS non-covers. In the just-began 2016 season, this trend is perfectly exemplified by the Appalachian State at No. 9 Tennessee Week 1 encounter, where the extremely hyped Vols were favored by 20-plus points over the solid—and underrated—App. State team. The result? Not only did the visitors dominate the Vols for most of the game, but Tennessee had to struggle mightily to take the game to OT, where the Vols won via 7 points on a luckily recovered fumble in the end zone. Needless to say, the 7-point Tennessee victory was nowhere close to covering the 23-point spread over App. State. In that sense, don’t buy too much into the rankings. But if you do, then use professional discretion to judge the teams rather than just basing your entire NCAA Football betting strategy on the rankingsBe on the Lookout for Excessively Trimmed-down Spreads
While it is true that rivalry games come with a lot of surprises from the underdogs, it is important to remember that the value is NOT ALWAYS on the puppies’ side. And knowing that bettors often gravitate towards betting on the underdogs, the Oddsmakers sometimes misappropriate the value of the favorites by placing a pretty low point spread to trick the underdog bettors into thinking that the favored team is vulnerable. My favorite example of this is the 1996 Arizona State Sun Devils at Arizona rivalry game. At the time, Arizona State was ranked at No.3 in the nation and was playing great football as a possible national contender while Arizona had barely won 5 games. But to my surprise, Arizona State was favored by just 7 points, rather than 20-plus points over the then-hapless Arizona team. Come the end of the game, Arizona State routed Arizona to the tune of 56-14. The lesson? Be on the lookout for this type of trap and be careful not to fall for it. Yes, most rivalry games tend to be real close, but that is not always the case.
