We’re waiting for you NFL and NCAAF, you’re always welcome back football. It’s painful every year watching the final seconds tick away in the Super Bowl. The only reason is because when the final horn sounds it means that another football season is over.

Then, we have to wait another six months or so for another NFL season to kick off. Betting on football, and also following the stats gets us fans going. We get a huge dose of offseason happenings like who is signing with what team, OTAs, mini-camps, etc., but it isn’t quite the same as the regular season.

Now, it’s mid-June and the anticipation is building. Soon, it will be training camp time. It’s the appetizer before the big dinner. Finally, the main course will be served and we’ll be back in action.

That’s when fans and bettors alike will be ecstatic. Until then, we just keep waiting.

WHY ARE SPORTS SO HARD TO PREDICT?

College Football

While the NFL commands much of the attention of football bettors, don’t forget the college season. The regular season starts a bit earlier than the NFL with fans kicking back for games in late August.

The early preseason favorite to win the national championship is, not surprisingly, Alabama. The Crimson Tide lost a Heisman Trophy winner (DeVonta Smith), a first-round QB (Mac Jones), and a first-round RB (Najee Harris) from what was the best offense in college football last season.

Still, head coach Nick Saban will simply reload with another group of four- and five-star recruits. Familiar faces Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma will also be in the mix. College football bettors may want to look past the Big Four or Five to find teams to back.

Last year, the Big Ten’s Indiana was a bettor’s dream. The Hoosiers went 6-1 straight up with their only loss to conference champ Ohio State. Indiana covered in that game losing 42-35 as a 21-point underdog. The Hoosiers went 7-0 ATS for the season.

NFL Teams to Watch

Much of the NFL’s offseason hype has been centered on Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers, who was last year’s league MVP. Rodgers is unhappy in Green Bay and says he isn’t going to play there again. 

Kansas City, which lost to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl LV, is pegged as the favorite (+500) to win it all this season. The Bucs are listed just behind the Chiefs on NFL futures menus at +600. With Patrick Mahomes leading an outstanding Chiefs offense and the Bucs with Tom Brady, it’s hard not to consider both favorites.

Welcome Back Football – We Miss You

The team to keep an eye on is Miami. The Dolphins went 5-11 in 2019 and then were on the brink of a playoff berth up until the end of the 2020 regular season. Miami would finish 11-5 and miss out on the postseason, but the Dolphins drafted well getting QB Tua Tagovailoa, a true deep threat receiver in Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle.

The Dolphins were able to sneak up on a lot of people last year. Oddsmakers still saw Miami as a 5-11 team early in the season. The Dolphins were underdogs in their first five games of the season and in nine overall. Their record against the spread as an underdog? 7-2. Miami finished the season 11-5 ATS making them the most profitable NFL team in 2020. Will they be able to keep that title in 2021?

We won’t find out until football comes back to see us. Until then, we’ll be waiting, but know we are here to always welcome back football!

Last week we were thinking about all the bookies out there. We asked, is your pay per head working for you?