The main gist of betting on college football futures is that you’ll have a series of potential outcomes at the end of a conference or season to choose from. For example, you’re not betting on Alabama to beat Georgia this weekend. You could instead back Alabama to win the SEC, make the College Football Playoff or win the National Championship.
That means there’s a lot more to consider when placing these bets. Does the team have enough squad depth? Are key players injury-prone? Is the team experienced enough to go all the way? These are the types of questions worth asking before committing to a futures bet, particularly when your wager could remain open for several months.
It makes futures a little more tactical than simply picking the team you think will win at the weekend. The strength of a futures wager also depends on the odds available, the sportsbook you’re using, and whether you think those odds accurately reflect the chances of that outcome actually happening.
If you’re still a bit confused, we’ve highlighted a few of the basics to get your head around when it comes to futures betting.
| Feature | How it works |
| Long-term timelines | Futures bets can stay open for weeks or even months. You can place them before the season starts or later in the year as the odds change. |
| Locked-in odds | Your odds are locked in when you place the bet. For example, if you bet $100 on a team at +1000 in July and its odds shorten to +200 by November, a winning bet would still be settled at your original +1000 odds. |
| American odds | Positive odds show how much profit you could make from a $100 stake. Negative odds show how much you would need to stake to make a $100 profit. |
| Settlement | Your bet is normally settled once the relevant outcome has been decided. That could be when a conference champion is crowned, the playoff field is confirmed or the National Championship is decided. |
There’s a lot more to college football futures than simply picking who will become the National Champion. You can back teams to win their conference, make the College Football Playoff, or hit a certain number of wins. There are also player markets, including who will take home the Heisman Trophy.
| Futures market | What are you betting on? | How it works | Example |
| National Championship | Which team will win the College Football Playoff National Championship. | Pick the team you think will go all the way, with your odds locked in when you place the bet. | A hypothetical $100 bet on Ohio State at +600 would make $600 profit if they won, plus your $100 stake back. |
| College Football Playoff (CFP) | Whether a team will make the College Football Playoff. | You’ll commonly find odds on different teams to make or miss the CFP. | If Ole Miss were +250 to make the CFP, a $100 winning bet would make $250 profit. |
| Conference winner | Which team will win a conference such as the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, or Big 12. | Pick the team you think will finish the season as the conference champion. | You could back Miami to win the ACC, with the bet settled once the conference champion is decided. |
| Regular-season win totals | Whether a team will finish above or below a set number of wins. | If the line is 9.5 wins, Over requires 10 or more while Under requires nine or fewer, subject to the sportsbook’s settlement rules. | If Notre Dame had a 10.5 win total, you’d need at least 11 qualifying wins for the Over to land. |
| Heisman Trophy | Which player will win the Heisman Trophy. | Pick a player to win the award, with odds moving throughout the season as performances and expectations change. | You could back a quarterback such as Arch Manning at whatever odds are available when you place the bet. |
| Player season markets | How a player will perform across the season. | Depending on the sportsbook, you may find season-long markets covering stats such as passing, rushing or receiving totals. | A rushing touchdown line of 11.5 would require 12 or more qualifying touchdowns for the Over to win. |
Whether you fancy a team to be big winners or losers across the entire season, or you think a particular player is set for a big year, there are plenty of different ways to approach futures. Just remember that odds and markets can vary between sportsbooks, so always make sure you know exactly what you’re betting on.
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There’s no magic formula for finding the best college football futures bets, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a strategy to improve your chances of making a good bet. The aim is to find a fair price for a particular outcome and decide whether the odds actually reflect the likelihood of it happening. Here are some of the areas we pay particularly close attention to.
🛒 Shop around for the best futures odds
This is probably the easiest way to get more value from a futures bet. Don’t assume every sportsbook will give you the same price. One team could be +800 at one sportsbook and +1100 at another. You’re making exactly the same prediction either way, but that extra +300 makes a big difference to your potential profit. It’s always worth checking a few sportsbooks before settling on a price.
📅 Research the strength of the schedule
Who does the team actually have to play? This consideration is an absolute must and is the first question we’d ask, particularly when looking at season win totals.
A schedule packed with difficult road games and strong conference opponents is a very different proposition from one with a relatively straightforward opening few weeks. Look through the entire schedule rather than judging a team purely on how good you think its starting lineup is.
🔄 Keep an eye on the transfer portal
College football rosters can look completely different from one season to the next, and the transfer portal is a big reason why.
Look at who has actually arrived and departed. A team might have brought in several highly rated transfers, but how quickly will they fit into the system? Are they actually an upgrade? Has a less-hyped transfer arrived who could make a massive difference?
On the other hand, a less exciting roster isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A team that has spent more time together may understand each other better on the field and benefit from that extra chemistry.
🏈 Check returning players and the quarterback situation
We’d pay particularly close attention to what’s happening at quarterback. The quarterback is arguably the most important offensive player on the team, so the question is: Is an experienced starter returning, or will someone new take over the offense?
Don’t stop there either. Returning offensive linemen, receivers, and defensive starters can all give you a better idea of how much rebuilding a team has to do. The more important the pieces that need replacing, the more uncertainty you’re dealing with.
🧑🏫 Consider coaching changes
This is perhaps even more important than the returning players. It’s incredibly difficult to win anything without a top coach. Think of them as the conductor of an orchestra, bringing all the different parts of the team together. A new head coach or coordinator can completely change how a team plays. Sometimes that works immediately; sometimes it takes a while for everything to click.
Check whether there have been major changes to the coaching staff and what that could mean for the existing roster. Even a talented group of players may need time to adjust to a completely different system.
📊 Don’t get carried away with preseason rankings
Seeing a team sitting near the top of the preseason rankings might make them look like an obvious futures pick, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the odds offer much value.
Use rankings as another piece of information rather than the reason for placing your bet. We’d still want to look at the schedule, roster and price before deciding whether a highly ranked team is actually worth backing.
💰 Think about how long your money is tied up
This one is easy to forget. Place a National Championship future before the season, and that money could be tied up for months.
You don’t want to throw too much of your bankroll into futures and then leave yourself short for the rest of the season. Decide how much you’re comfortable committing to long-term bets before you start picking teams.
📈 Watch how the odds move
The price you see in August probably won’t be the price you see a few weeks into the season. A surprise loss, big win, or injury to a key player can quickly move futures odds.
That leaves you to decide whether to take the price early or wait until you know more. There isn’t always a right answer, but keeping track of how the market moves gives you more information to work with.
Pros and cons
- Prices can offer bigger potential returns than short-priced favorites
- You can lock in a price before the odds eventually shorten
- Plenty of team and player markets to choose from
- Lets you back your predictions for the entire season
- Your wager could take months before it’s settled
Picking a sportsbook isn’t just about which app you prefer using. Futures prices can be surprisingly different from one book to another, even when you’re backing exactly the same outcome. We’ve picked out five sportsbooks worth comparing and looked at what each one brings to the table.
FanDuel – Easy market navigation with cash out
FanDuel Pros & Cons
- Seamless integration of sportsbook and casino
- Diverse casino game selection
- Frequent promotions for both platforms
- User-friendly and responsive interface
- High playthrough requirements on bonuses
FanDuel is probably one of the first places we’d check. There’s a good range of college football futures to explore, covering major markets such as the National Championship and College Football Playoff.
FanDuel currently has an offer that allows new customers to bet $5 and receive $50 in Bonus Bets each day for the first seven days after opening an account. This is a nice touch and gives you a good opportunity to spread your futures bets across several different markets using Bonus Bets.
We also like how easy it is to jump between markets and see what’s available without having to dig through endless bet lists. FanDuel also supports cash out on eligible bets. That could come in handy if your opinion changes halfway through the season or something substantial happens to the team that could affect the rest of their year. There’s no guarantee that cash out will be offered on a particular wager, though.
DraftKings – Widest range of season-long markets
DraftKings Pros & Cons
- Extensive daily fantasy integration
- Frequent promotions and bonus offers
- Highly competitive betting odds
- Wide variety of casino games
- High rollover requirements on bonuses
If you’re after a bigger range of choices, DraftKings makes a strong case for itself and is probably a good place to start. You can look beyond who will win the National Championship and explore conference, playoff, and other season-long markets. Don’t miss out on their welcome offer. New customers can place a first bet of at least $5 and receive $200 in bonus bets, which are paid out over 21 days.
That gives you a bit more room to get creative with your picks. Maybe you think a team has a great chance of making the CFP, but can’t quite see them going all the way. You don’t necessarily have to back them for the title. DraftKings is user-friendly and fairly straightforward when comparing several markets at once.
BetMGM Pros & Cons
- Wide variety of betting options
- User-friendly mobile app interface
- Generous promotions for new users
- Extensive selection of casino games
- Limited availability in some states
BetMGM would be on our shortlist mainly because it gives you another set of prices to compare. They also offer a generous welcome bonus: new players receive their stake back as bonus bets of up to $ 1,500.
You’ll find many of the big college football futures here, including the National Championship and Heisman Trophy. But say you’ve already decided you want to back Ohio State for the title. Imagine FanDuel has them at +700 and DraftKings at +750. Before placing anything, why not see if BetMGM has +800?
It takes very little extra work and could leave you with a better price on exactly the same prediction.
Borgata – Handy extra option for NJ bettors
Borgata Pros & Cons
- Wide variety of casino games
- Integrated MGM Rewards loyalty program
- User-friendly app and website
- Trusted brand with strong reputation
- Limited availability in some states
Borgata is the odd one out on our list as it’s primarily relevant to New Jersey bettors. There are NCAAF markets available, including futures, but we’d probably see Borgata as an extra option rather than somewhere everyone needs to consider.
If you already use the platform, though, you might as well see how its price compares before going elsewhere. Oh, and don’t forget their welcome offer, which gives a $100 bonus after a new customer makes a $20 wager.
Fanatics – FanCash rewards on every bet
Fanatics Pros & Cons
- Seamless integration with Fanatics ecosystem
- Innovative rewards tied to merchandise
- User-friendly and intuitive platform
- Competitive betting markets and odds
- Limited availability in some states
Fanatics is an interesting one, especially if you already buy merchandise through Fanatics. Its FanCash system gives the sportsbook a different angle from some of the other names on our list, and it also offers college football futures covering outright winners, playoffs, and other season-long outcomes where available.
Fanatics matches your first wager of the day 100% up to $100, for 10 consecutive days for new customers. It’s a welcome offer that can’t be overlooked and a major factor that puts Fanatics on our top picks list. As with all the offers mentioned, please check the T&Cs before claiming.
Would we choose Fanatics purely because of FanCash? Probably not. The price of the actual future still matters more to us. However, if Fanatics has the price you want and you already use its wider platform, the additional benefits could tip the scales.
We wouldn’t crown one sportsbook the winner and use it for every bet. That misses one of the biggest advantages of having several options available.
Say you want Alabama to win the National Championship. Check FanDuel. Check DraftKings. Have a look at BetMGM and Fanatics too. If one has a noticeably better price, you’ve got your answer.
For futures in particular, we’d put price ahead of brand loyalty. You could be waiting months for the bet to settle, so there’s little sense in accepting +800 when exactly the same prediction is sitting elsewhere at +1000.
Want to explore the other markets available throughout the season? Take a look at our guide to
online betting on college football.
Futures are only one way to bet on college football. While they have you looking weeks or even months ahead, other markets focus on what happens in a single game or even with a single player. If you’re still learning
how to bet on college football, here’s how futures compare with some of the other popular NCAAF markets.
| Market | What you’re betting on | Typical settlement |
| Futures | Season-long outcome | Weeks/months |
| Moneyline | Game winner | End of game |
| Spread | Result after the point spread is applied | End of game |
| Total | Combined score | End of game |
| Player prop | Individual performance | End of game |
| Live betting | Live events after kickoff | During/end of game |
We also have more detailed guides covering individual markets, including our
college football prop bets
guide.
Futures might be our main focus, but many of the same principles apply when betting on individual games. The best
college football betting strategies
include researching the teams, keeping up with injuries, and not assuming the first price you see is the best one.
Point spreads are a good place to start. Three and seven are particularly important numbers as they represent a field goal and a touchdown with the extra point. That makes the half-point valuable. An underdog at +7.5 still covers if they lose by seven, whereas +7 would normally result in a push.
Timing matters too. Lines can move throughout the week as team news breaks and the market reacts, so keep an eye on the price rather than waiting until Saturday to check.
There are plenty of other clues worth considering. Injuries, weather, home-field advantage, and
NCAAF public betting
data can all add context to a matchup. None should decide on a bet on their own, though. We’d rather build up a picture of the game and then decide whether the odds in front of us actually make sense.
If you enjoy betting and you’re a big college football fan, then giving college football futures bets a shot would be a good idea. Having something riding on the entire season can make it that bit more exciting and memorable. It’s especially worth considering if you enjoy researching teams, schedules and the bigger picture rather than focusing solely on individual games.
Our best advice is to take your time before locking anything in. You could be sitting with this bet for months, so find an outcome you believe in and make sure you’re happy with the price. Ready to make your pick? Click the on-page banners to compare the latest college football futures odds and see what catches your eye.
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There isn’t one future we’d call the best. Popular options include the National Championship, CFP qualification, conference winners, season win totals, and the Heisman Trophy. We’d focus on finding a market where you think the available odds offer a good price.
It depends on what you’re betting on. Placing a future early could let you lock in a higher price before the odds shorten, while waiting gives you more time to judge performances, injuries, and how a team is shaping up.
Yes, many college football futures remain available once the season gets underway. The markets and prices will change as results come in, so the odds you find halfway through the season could look very different from those available before Week 1.
Sometimes. Certain sportsbooks may offer cash out on eligible futures, allowing you to settle the bet before the final outcome is known. It isn’t guaranteed, though, and the option could appear or disappear as the season progresses.
