Getting the best number when betting on sports is critical.
Similar to stocks, knowing when to fire into a steaming market helps when trying to secure the best price. One of the biggest talking points on the Big Bets on Campus podcast is key numbers in college football.
While sides have remained the same at coefficients of 3 and 7, totals have changed over the years.
The continued wrinkles of the Air Raid and triple option schemes have changed the college football landscape in recent years. From Josh Heupel's wide split spread at Tennessee to Garrett Riley's fast and violent Air Raid at Clemson, offensive football continues to see transformations year after year.
With those changes in mind, this article will examine the key numbers when betting totals. The sample comes from all FBS games since 2017, kicking out the results from the pandemic 2020 season. That leaves 4,230 games — enough to make a case on what numbers are most important to bet during the 2023 season.
Based on game log data since the 2000 season, there's been a shift in a few of the key numbers. A total of 55 continues to rule the sport, while 65 has taken over as the top number within its respective range.
Here are the most frequent game totals dating back to the 2017 season.
