Hidden Factors That Affect Betting Bowl Games

These hidden factors affect betting bowl games.

Key Points

– There are overlooked factors that can help bettors win more when betting bowl games.

– Betting bowl games is affected by factors the average fan doesn’t realize.

Hidden Factors That Affect Betting Bowl Games

There are a number of factors that can be used to handicap college football bowl games. Many of the factors are overrated. These include things like a coach’s bowl record, previous team meetings, a team’s bowl performance, and more.

There are other often overlooked factors that can help when betting bowl games. Here are a few of these hidden factors.

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The Strength of the Defensive Line

There may be no other single aspect of a football team’s play that is more important than its defensive line. A strong defensive line makes a team dominant up front. When you dominate the line of scrimmage, good things typically happen.

Good defensive lines stop the run, and they rush the passer and hinder opponents’ abilities to throw the ball successfully. When you give a defensive coordinator and his staff several weeks to prepare for a game, they frequently have the time to devise strategies that will increase the effectiveness of their defensive line. And remember, the defensive line is already good.

Yes, offenses have the same amount of time to prepare. They can be creative, but a strong defensive line trumps most offenses. You can find out how effective a defensive line is by looking at certain metrics. The best metrics to observe are negative pass play percentages, defensive yards per pass attempt, and third down percentage.

Before betting bowl games, the college football bettor can look at how well a team performed against similar defensive lines earlier in the season. Bettors should also make sure they have a trusted online sports bookmaker for the bowl season.

Betting Bowl Games Based on QB Play

Instead of looking at how an offense stacks up against its opponent’s defense, bettors should take a look at both quarterbacks and compare them. College football is very much dependent upon strong quarterback play. Watch for big line moves when a star quarterback gets hurt. That reveals the impact of quarterback play in college football.

The team with the superior quarterback typically has a significant advantage in the game. despite how oversimplified it may seem. Oftentimes, it’s a simple eye test that can reveal the better quarterback. However, bettors can look to some specific stats for help.

Looking at yards per attempt is the quickest  and easiest way to determine the relative quality of two quarterbacks. A quarterback with a YPA higher than seven is considered to be of rather high caliber.

If the difference between two opposing quarterback’s yards per attempt is greater than two, there is a significant mismatch in the quality of quarterback play. That can help a bettor when betting bowl games.

Bettors can also look at a quarterback’s yards per attempt by game. If a QB has been consistent with his YPA numbers and has an advantage greater than two in the overall numbers, it is a strong indicator for the college football bowl bettor.

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Special Teams

Because of the amount of time between the end of the regular season and the bowl season, teams will often have had a month between games. That can lead to sloppy play, especially on special teams.

It’s worth taking a look at how each team performed on special teams during the regular season. Were they sloppy at any point of the season?

Special teams often get overlooked in the grand scheme of things. It’s definitely overlooked when betting bowl games, but performance on punts and kicks will have an effect on the outcome of a game.

Bowl games are often won by the team that has performed better on special teams all season long. Look at special teams stats before betting bowl games. For all your stats, scores, odds, and other betting information, use a quality online wagering portal.

Conference Performance During Bowl Season

A final hidden factor to consider is the performance of the rest of a conference in bowl games. Whether Group of 5 or Power 5, each conference usually sends multiple teams to bowl games. College football betting trends within a conference can help you during the bowl season.

The performance of a conference’s teams in the bowl season has an overall effect on bowl performance. Now, this isn’t as helpful early in the bowl season. However, after three or four teams from a conference have played, bettors can get a good idea of how a conference’s teams are faring against the competition.

The strength of a conference is usually important. Teams from stronger conferences have played tougher opponents. That prepares them to face anyone in a bowl game. However, that doesn’t mean that teams from the Big Ten or SEC are automatically going to win all of their bowl games.

Teams from Group of 5 conferences are often more motivated to play in bowl games. Teams from a Power 5 conference that fall into what could be considered a lower-tier bowl game often aren’t motivated to play well. Keep that in mind as you bet bowl games.

It’s interesting though how a conference’s bowl performance affects other teams from the same conference. This is by no means a foolproof signal as to how to bet bowl games. There are still too many variables in play, but it makes for a good place to start.

Consider betting college football player props this bowl season!