While betting on the first half of college football games has its benefits, the same is true for wagering on the final 30 minutes of a game. And if handicappers haven’t spent all their money on first half bets, they can turn some serious profits from watching the first 30 minutes of a college football game, and use the stats to get a sense of how the well a game is going.
For that reason and others, second half betting can be very attractive, but can also be challenging as there is very little time for bettors to make a decision and place their wager.
With that we have put together a list of simple rules to follow to help college football handicappers make winning second half bets.
For starters handicappers need to know what to look for early and eliminate games quickly.
Because there is a such a short amount of time for bettors to make their decision to place second half bets, they should be looking for specific game situations that would lead to second half betting success early on in the game.
For example, if a team’s defense has played a lot of minutes in the first half, then they are likely to run out of gas in the second half. Or if an offense has been effective moving the ball, but has come up short on points., they may have it figured out by halftime, and could explode in the second half.
Because bettors don’t have the time to do in depth handicapping, looking for key situations like these far in advance is much more effective, as well as passing over games that don’t look attractive for any specific reason.
Next, expert handicappers need to recognize game situations that are far exceeding a team’s expectations, and ask why.
Has there been an injury to a key player? What about the weather?
If there is an obvious reason a team has outperformed or under performed in the first half of play, then it is possible that it may adjust and regroup at the start of the second half, performing much closer to expectations. This would be a bet to pass over.
Nevertheless, there are plenty of other types of situations that can create massive values. But handicappers need to be careful not to get caught up by overvaluing the significance of what happened in the first half of college football game, as some teams don’t worry about playing their best in the first half. Maybe they are saving themselves.
College Football Oddsmakers know that the betting public will often fall into the trap of placing too much significance on the first half of a game and they will set the lines accordingly. But smart handicappers’ should learn to recognize this, so they don’t get taken.
Finally, bettors need to accept the limitations of second-half college football wagering.
For example, if they think a team is likely to win the second half by a touchdown then they might bet on them if they are underdogs, or if they are favored by three. However, they should stay away if they are favored by 6.5.
