By Betmaker Team
Betting college football bowl games is exciting and it can be profitable if you keep a few things in mind. What bettors oftentimes forget is that bowl games are an entity all to themselves and you can’t handicap them as you would regular season games. The things that worked during the regular season don’t always work with bowl games. The good news is that there are some specific college football betting tips and trends that apply specifically to bowl games. Let’s look at college football bowl betting tips and trends.
Betting Bowl Underdogs
If you don’t remember anything else about college football bowl betting make sure to remember this one fact, underdogs are usually the way to go. And big underdogs are solid bets. Underdogs getting a touchdown or more have been a moneymaker in bowl games for decades and double-digit underdogs have consistently performed well against the spread. Double-digit dogs have hit at over 57% against the spread since 2005 in bowl games that are not part of the College Football Playoff.
There is no question that taking the big points is much more attractive in bowl games than during the regular season. Teams laying big points oftentimes don’t have the same motivation that the underdog will have. It is always worth considering taking the big moneyline underdog in bowl games because invariably there will be some big upsets.
Just how successful are some of the big underdogs? If you go back a number of years you will find that double-digit underdogs in bowl games getting 10-14 points against the spread have won outright almost 27% of the time. What that means is that you shouldn’t be afraid of putting a few dollars down on a big moneyline underdog.
2021-2022 Bowl Betting Tips
Let’s get specific to this year’s bowl games and some things you can use for the 2021-2022 bowl games. A lot of people like to bet the College Football Playoff so let’s begin with those two semifinal games. One thing to remember is that the pointspread rarely comes into play. The team that wins the College Football Playoff is 17-4 ATS. It is worth noting that the Alabama Crimson Tide have accounted for all four ATS losses. It is interesting to note that a No. 3 team has never won the title. That does not bode well for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Looking at some other bowl betting trends to consider for this year’s games finds that four coaches are good bets to cover their bowl games. They are Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, Clemson's Dabo Swinney and Utah's Kyle Whittingham. Gundy’s teams are 10-5 ATS, Ferentz’s teams are 11-6 ATS, Swinney’s teams are 11-6 ATS, while Whittingham’s teams are 9-5 ATS.
Five coaches are good to bet against in bowl games. They are Houston's Dana Holgorsen, Utah State's Blake Anderson, Middle Tennessee State's Rick Stockstill, Wake Forest's Dave Clawson and Mississippi State's Mike Leach. Holgorsen’s team’s are 1-7 ATS, Anderson’s teams are 1-4 ATS, Stockstill and Clawson’s teams are 2-6 ATS, while Leach’s teams are 5-11 ATS.
Did you know that the Pac-12 is 8-22-1 in bowl games since 2016? Oregon State has already lost outright in a bowl game, as they were beaten by Utah State in the LA Bowl.
You should look seriously at service academy teams, as they are 20-9 ATS in their last 30 bowl games. That would have you taking Air Force and Army this year.
Wyoming could be a good bet in their bowl game against Kent State. Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl has a 10-3 ATS record in bowl games. Three other teams have coaches who have been good as underdogs in their career and their teams are getting points in this year’s bowl games. They are Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman whose teams are 11-4 ATS as dogs. Arizona State’s Herm Edwards whose teams are 11-6 ATS as dogs and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham whose teams are 38-22-1 ATS as an underdog.
Head coaches who have been good as favorites in their careers are Kansas State's Chris Klieman, Liberty's Hugh Freeze and Ohio State's Ryan Day.
Teams that did well against the spread during the regular season were Michigan at 11-2 ATS, Pittsburgh 10-3 ATS, North Texas 9-3 ATS, Oklahoma State 9-3 ATS and Notre Dame 9-3 ATS
Check out the latest college football bowl odds at SugarHouse Sportsbook.
