Betting On College Baseball

College Baseball Odds

When betting on College Baseball at USA online gambling sites, there are a few major ways to wager, and it's important that you get familiar with each of them. The three major game bet types are moneylines, spreads and point totals, with prop betting being available on individual players largely at non-US sportsbooks.

College Baseball Moneylines

Moneylines are a classic bet, and all you have to do to cash in on them is pick winners. However, they do not give you the ability to pick winners at even odds - the winners are handicapped such that big favorites pay out less than big underdogs. Let's look at an example.

College Baseball Example Moneyline

• Florida State -300
• Jacksonville +200

In this example, Florida State is a big favorite. They have -300 odds, meaning that if you wanted to get a $100 payout, you'd have to wager $300. Jacksonville, the underdog, has a more generous payout ratio because they are not expected to win. A bet of $100 on Jacksonville would result in a payout of $200.

College Baseball Spreads

Spreads at college baseball gambling sites tend to take the form of run lines, meaning the favorite is handicapped at -1.5 runs and the underdog is handicapped at +1.5 runs, with the odds on those then depending on how the money has been split. Let's look at an example.

College Baseball Example Run Line

• Florida State -1.5 -110
• Jacksonville +1.5 -110

In this example, Florida State is favored over Jacksonville, but they have -110 odds to cover the spread. The spread, 1.5 runs, means that in order for someone betting on Florida State to cash in, Florida State would need to win by more than 1.5 runs - two or more, in other words. If they lose, or win by only one run, a bet on Florida State -1.5 would not cash.

College Baseball Point Totals

Point totals are wagers on the total runs scored in the game. This means the combined amount of runs both teams score. They tend to be higher in college than they are in MLB, due to the high quality of major league pitching relative to college, and the larger quantity of college teams causing more variance in talent. Let's look at an example.

College Baseball Example Point Total

• Over 11.5 -110
• Under 11.5 -110

This wager is simply picking whether the total number of runs in a game goes over 11.5 or under 11.5. Note that the "point total" phrasing is a leftover from other sports - points do not exist in baseball, runs do.

College Baseball Prop Betting

Prop betting on college baseball is usually found in the form of wagers on individual statistical accomplishments. These wagers can encompass "will X Player hit a home run?" or "Will X Player win MVP". However, in baseball, each batter only sees the plate about three to five times a game, so there are limited prop betting opportunities.

These opportunities are further limited by many rules that restrict state-based casinos from offering collegiate prop betting odds. In other words, it's very hard to find these odds from any US based casino, and even the offshores can be spotty in terms of coverage due to the statistical oddities of baseball and the lack of interest in college baseball's regular season.