The top category of college football, known as the category 1 Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS, has 130 teams, whereas the NFL has 32 teams. This implies that on a typical weekend, there are sixteen NFL games and, occasionally, up to sixty-five college football games involving FBS teams.
The enormous disparity in playing quality between teams is one effect of college football’s enormous size. For example, almost all of the starters on a team like Alabama probably have aspirations of playing in the NFL. Only the top three players at a school like Northern Illinois have a real shot at making it to the pros. Nevertheless, despite the stark talent difference, a club like Alabama can schedule and play a squad like Northern Illinois in college football.
There are genuinely lines that high every season between the top college football team and one of the 10 or so worst FBS teams. The spread for that matchup can go up to fifty points or more. In the NFL, it is rare for the spread to ever be greater than 21 points when the top club faces the bottom team. The line for the game between the undefeated New York Jets and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs was roughly 20 points. In the college football polls, Alabama or Clemson may be favored by 20 points over the team ranked #10, respectively.
But there is also a great deal of variation in college football games. In numerous NFL seasons, hardly a single team scores 50 points in a single game. Alabama scored more than 47 points a game on average in 2019. Although 70-0 final scores are common, teams that are 20 or 30 points favorites also lose completely on occasion. In the NFL, an 18–20 point favorite might not win the game, but it would be extremely rare for them to lose.
Point Spreads and Totals
Betting the spread and totals is very much the same in the NFL as it is in college football. The spread , or handicap, is the amount a team must win by to win the bet. Or, if you bet the underdog, your team van lose by those same amount of points but still win the bet. For example, let’s say Oklahoma is +7 points but they only lose by 6 points. If you bet Oklahoma then you still have won your bet.
According to the folks at a top sportsbook review website “if you can consistently pick winners against the spread then you are in the the exception to the rule. People can often go on winning streaks (“heaters”) but will eventually go on a cold one too. But, there are some guys out there than end up winning every year. They are the creme de la creme in sports betting.”
When they say “the house always win” they don’t mean in the short team or even vs an individual. This saying means in the long run the house simply outlasts the players and has a slight advantage numerically speaking.