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Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for Saturday’s game: Massachusetts vs. Eastern Michigan.
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Top College Football Odds & Picks: Massachusetts vs. Eastern Michigan
Massachusetts vs. Eastern Michigan
The Minutemen will travel to Ypsilanti to take on Eastern Michigan. The Minutemen are coming off back to back losses where they struggled to keep their opponent out of the endzone. The first loss to Auburn was quite forgivable. However, last Saturday they gave up a lot of big plays to Miami (OH). It’s been an issue the Minutemen have struggled with all season, but their opponent this weekend may not be able to take advantage of this weakness. In two games this year, against FCS Howard and Minnesota, the Eagles have only managed five plays of 20 or more yards all season, and only one over 25. When Massachusetts manages to limit the big plays the defense has been effective.
Offensively, UMass has been worlds better than they were last season. They really got going in Week 0 against NMSU and followed it up with a solid performance against Miami in Week 2. QB Carlos Davis has given them the ability to rely on the passing game, something they’ve sorely missed for a while. Having a competent offense will give them an advantage against an EMU defense that has struggled regardless of what the final scores have said. Howard was able to move six drives into EMU territory in Week 1 but managed only 23 points. Minnesota followed that up with seven drives into EMU territory, managing only 24. The Eagles have been fortunate defensively to not give up more points.
SP+ ranks both of these teams in the bottom 30 in all of FBS. Years of poor UMass teams are controlling the narrative on a team that has shown to be incredibly competent on offense. Conversely, EMU has been on a solid run the last few years but this team isn’t on those levels. This is a great opportunity for Massachusetts to go on the road and pull off a big upset victory.
Pick: Massachusetts (+285)
Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners
Game Total
Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that’s it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it’s called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.
ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42
tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.
Moneyline
The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That’s it. The moneyline doesn’t use favorites or underdogs, it’s totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they’re weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.
For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don’t matter, they just need to win the game. But because it’s safer to take them straight-up without points, you’ll have to risk more when you make the bet €” remember, they’re seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it’s a riskier bet €” they’re seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog €” +220 on the moneyline. You’d win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.
ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)
tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.
Player Props
Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they’re also easy to understand. For major conferences, you’ll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It’s simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don’t vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.
ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California? Over 250 or Under 250
tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they’re going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.
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