How to Bet CFB Second Half

Knowing how to bet CFB second half can lead to big betting wins.

Key Points

– Bettors can take advantage of betting CFB’s second half.

– CFB second half odds markets are inefficient.

How to Bet CFB Second Half

If you don't wager on CFB games in the second half, you should. Sportsbooks have a significant disadvantage in second-half markets. These inefficiencies can be exploited by savvy bettors to gain considerable benefit.

Understanding how everything works is the key to succeeding with college football second half wagers. Betting on the second half lines can be extremely profitable if you know what to look for.

Setting Second Half Odds

Sportsbooks start setting up CFB second half lines and odds the moment the first half of a game is over. Sportsbooks' issue is that they don't have a lot of time to work with.

The average college football game has a halftime of 15 minutes. There are certain circumstances where the halftime may be longer. This is true of bowl games especially. During the regular season, homecoming games typically have a longer halftime.

There can be other games where a halftime is longer, but the bottom line is that college football oddsmakers don’t have a lot of time.

That means sportsbooks have, at the very least, a total of 15 minutes to post all of their lines and odds for each game's second half. That includes all second half bets. Think of all the various wagers. There are a lot of them. Sportsbooks are more likely to make a mistake when they have less time. Because of this, CFB bettors ought to wager on this market.

There are several strategies to bet CFB second half that bettors might employ to win more often.

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Underdogs in the 2nd Half

Bettors have to keep in mind that only the outcomes of the second half matter when placing a wager in this market. Although the play in the first half may have an impact on the second half's outcome, what happened in the first half does not. A significant second half underdog is one of the first things a second half bettor should search for. By significant, we mean an underdog of 42 points (+42) or more.

So, this team is getting blown out. Think of a game that is 42-0 at the half. Bettors in this case should consider the underdog to cover the second half spread. Since 2005, college football teams trailing by at least 42 points have covered the second half spread 64.2 percent of the time.

Thinking about the situation, it makes sense. The team that is ahead takes its foot off the gas. Starters are replaced by backups. The losing team scores a touchdown here and there. Remember, oddsmakers have about 15 minutes to get that second half line right. In this case, they typically do not.

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Road Underdogs

Teams on the road that go down big in the first half have also been solid bets in the second half of college football games. Sticking with the 42-point benchmark, teams getting blown out typically are not favored to cover in the second half. Since 2005, that’s only happened twice.

In 2016, Texas Tech was getting blown out by Iowa State at the half but was a -3.5 favorite in the second half. Cincinnati was down 51-3 to South Florida at the half in 2015 but did cover as a -4 second half favorite.

One team has been surprisingly good in this situation - Kansas. The Jayhawks are one of the worst teams in college football historically and haven’t been a good bet overall. However, when getting blown out at the half by 42 or more, Kansas is 6-0 ATS the second half spread.

Home teams aren’t a great bet against the second half spread, going 7-9 ATS when leading by at least 42 points. Road teams have done much better going 81-40-4 ATS in the second half when getting blown out in the opening half.

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Favorites Losing at Halftime - Bet CFB Second Half

When placing a second-half CFB wager, keep an eye out for the huge pregame favorite who is trailing at the break. Pregame favorites of at least 10 points have a history when trailing at halftime.

Teams in this situation have performed well against the second half spread since 2005. College football favorites of 10 or more points that are losing at the half have won nearly 55 percent of the time against the second half spread.

That makes sense. There's a reason why good teams are pregame favorites of 10 or more. They typically do a better job of adjusting at halftime. This wager wins even more in postseason games. Teams in this category have a winning percentage of above 56 percent since 2005.

You have a good reason to bet CFB second half. Since the market is less efficient, you can profit from good second-half odds by knowing what to look for.

The last article we featured helped you learn about betting on baseball. Take a look at how to bet MLB futures.