Bet Smarter on College Football: Why Line Shopping Odds Matters

May 15, 2025 by Staff

If you’re going to be placing bets during the upcoming College Football season and you’re not already line shopping, we’re here to tell you why this is something you need to incorporate into your betting strategy. 

In North America, sportsbooks display odds in what is known as the American Odds Format (i.e. +100/-100). In most other countries, the decimal odds format is used, and fractional odds are used in the UK and several other regions. 

The questions being asked here are: what is line shopping, why does it matter, and how can shopping around for the best odds help you place smarter college football bets?

What is line shopping?

‘Line shopping’ is essentially the act of comparing sports betting odds for the same market/bet type across multiple sportsbooks (aka online bookmakers or sports betting sites). These days, it’s easy to compare sports betting odds to help you find the best possible price for any college football bets that you want to place with the help of some tools.

For example, globally renowned iGaming odds comparison sites like the Betstamp App have the most reliable sports bet tracking and odds comparison tools, making it easier for sports bettors to find the best price in a matter of seconds. And the best part is that it’s completely free to use.

Another way of looking at it is like this. If you were to go online looking for a holiday to Spain, the latest electronic gadget, such as a PC or mobile device, or anything else, it would be silly to purchase that item from the first website that you come across. 

You can often find a better price by shopping around for deals/bargains and comparing the prices for those same products or services. The same principle can be applied to sports betting and finding the safest apps with the best odds. 

Although the odds are typically similar, there are slight variations from one site to the next, which is why it’s always worth shopping around for the best odds. Some sites might offer a special ‘boosted odds’ or ‘odds enhancer’ promotion, meaning you would get more returns on your initial stake than on a site with worse odds. 

Examples of how line shopping can help you place smarter bets with your bankroll

Let’s just say that Notre Dame is about to play Arizona State. Every online sportsbook will have hundreds of different betting markets for this fixture. However, the odds may vary slightly, so it pays to look around and find the best odds to maximise your winnings: 

The odds may appear like this on three different sportsbooks:

• Sportsbook 1: Notre Dame (+125 odds) to beat Arizona State (-150 odds), meaning Notre Dame have a 44.40% implied probability rate of winning compared to Arizona State’s 60.0%
• Sportsbook 2: Notre Dame (+138 odds) to beat Arizona State (+160 odds), meaning Notre Dame have a 42.10% implied probability rate of winning compared to Arizona State’s 61.50%.
• Sportsbook 3: Notre Dame (-110 odds) to beat Arizona State (-110 odds), meaning both Notre Dame and Arizona State have a 52.40% implied probability rate.

All three sites have Notre Dame as the odds-on favourite to win, but if you bet $10 on sportsbook number 1, and they win with +125 odds, your total returns would be $22.50 (which includes a $12.50 profit + your initial $10 stake returned). 

If you bet $10 on sportsbook number 2, and they win, your total returns would be $23.75 (includes a $13.75 profit + your initial $10 stake returned), and if you bet $10 on sportsbook number 3, and they win, your total returns would be $19.09 (includes a $9.09 profit + your initial $10 stake returned). 

Therefore, you would get more winnings by betting on sportsbook number 2. 

Final thoughts

This is why it pays to shop around to try and find the best odds. Although the winning amounts may seem insignificant in this case, don’t forget that it all adds up over time, especially if you are betting much larger amounts.