This wasn’t the greatest of college football seasons for the SEC, but one of their teams is guaranteed to win the National Championship. Will it be the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (13-1 SU, 10-4 ATS) or the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1 SU, 6-7 ATS)? They’ll meet in Monday’s title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, kicking off at 8 PM ET on ESPN, and at press time, it’s the Crimson Tide laying five points on the NCAAF odds board.
The National Championship Game is the biggest game in college sports, so it’s only fitting that Monday’s contest will attract more college football betting than any other contest. There will be dozens of different ways to bet on Alabama-Georgia by the time they kick off. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect to find on the NCAAF betting lines:
Straight Bet
This is the most popular way to bet on college football. Straight bets, also known as single bets, are wagers on the outcome of a single game. Most people will be betting on the point spread; as mentioned, Alabama is a 5-point favorite in the National Championship Game. The point spread is a margin of victory that the favorite must win by or underdog can lose by in order for the bet to pay out. For Monday’s game, if the Tide win by more than five points, they cover the spread. If the Bulldogs win or lose by fewer than five points, they cover the spread. A 5-point victory by Alabama will result in a push – all monies returned.
You can also bet on ‘Bama at –190 on the moneyline, which takes the spread out of the equation. At –190 odds, a wager of $190 on the Crimson Tide will pay out $100 in profit if they win straight-up (smaller and larger bets are allowed). Georgia is a +165 underdog, paying out $165 for every $100 wagered if they win the title. Finally, there’s a total of 45 points on the college football betting board. You can bet on whether the combined final score for the two teams will go over or under 45 points. As with the point spread, if Alabama and Georgia combine for exactly 45 points, it’s a push.
Parlay Betting
If you want to boost your potential earnings, you can combine several single bets in a parlay, and get paid exponentially more when all your picks are correct. Parlays (aka combo bets) can normally include anywhere between two and 12 “teams” inclusive, but since there’s just one college football game left to play, you can only make a 2-team parlay using single bets for Monday’s contest: Either combine the point spread and the total, or the moneyline and the total. Get both picks right to earn over $260 for every $100 you wager.
Game Props
Proposition bets have been gaining in popularity over the past 20-plus years of online sports betting. Instead of betting on the final outcome of the National Championship Game, you can wager on other things that will happen during the game, like how many touchdown passes each quarterback with complete, or whether or not a safety will be scored. Player props and team props will be posted well before Monday’s kick-off, so keep checking Bovada for the latest college football odds as they become available.
*Odds as of January 3, 2018