Georgia State vs. Coastal Carolina: College Football Week 4 Odds & Picks (Thursday)
It’s Thursday night, and the NFL isn’t the only show in town! College football is back for another week of action. Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football with BettingPros! We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for Thursday’s game: Georgia State vs. Coastal Carolina.
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Top College Football Odds & Picks: Georgia State vs. Coastal Carolina
An undefeated Georgia State squad travels to Coastal Carolina to take on the Chanticleers, which will kick off Sun Belt play for both teams. This will be Coastal’s first real test since their week 1 matchup against UCLA (which they covered), as they have played FBS newcomer Jax State and FCS Duquesne since then. Group of 5 legend Grayson McCall is still under center for the Chants, but some key pieces from years previous have left the program, notably former HC Jamey Chadwell, who has led his new Liberty Flames squad to an impressive 3-0. Georgia State hasn’t faced the toughest of competition yet, but they do have an impressive 21-point win over a UConn team that went bowling last year. The Panthers offense has looked explosive under QB Darren Grainger, who has led the offense to 39.3 PPG and is fresh off a 466-yard performance. One interesting note about this matchup is that the road team has won every game in the 6-game history between these two, though that’s not exactly where I’m looking in this one. Instead, I’ll take the over in a game that should feature plenty of explosives between two teams that have scored 30+ points in 5 out of 6 combined games so far.
Pick: Over 62.5 (-110)
-Austin MacMillan
Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners
Game Total
Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that’s it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it’s called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.
ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42
tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.
Moneyline
The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That’s it. The moneyline doesn’t use favorites or underdogs, it’s totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they’re weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.
For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don’t matter, they just need to win the game. But because it’s safer to take them straight-up without points, you’ll have to risk more when you make the bet — remember, they’re seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it’s a riskier bet — they’re seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog — +220 on the moneyline. You’d win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.
ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)
tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.
Player Props
Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they’re also easy to understand. For major conferences, you’ll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It’s simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don’t vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.
ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California? Over 250 or Under 250
tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they’re going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.
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