Football odds during the early part of the season are full of land mines since neither the bettor now the football maker has much of an idea of the strength of the teams. Many handicappers treat the early part of the football season as a testing ground to see which teams will be moneymakers for them throughout the season, and therefore, tread lightly. A few handicappers though, attack the early part of the football season as they see weakness in the college football odds and the NFL odds.
Football in the early season are very unpredictable. Many people like to see how the off-season has treated a team before jumping in with both feet and betting on them. They want to see how the returning starters mesh with the newcomers in college football and get a feel for how the team will play. Other gamblers that look at football odds will see the early part of the season as a great opportunity because it is a rare time when the bettors are on even footing with the books. Early in the season the football are based a great deal on last year’s information.
Linemakers and sportsbooks just don’t have anything else to go on. There is no preseason in college football and NFL odds in the exhibition games mean nothing. Football odds are made based on last year’s results, returning starters, and very little else. You as a bettor have just as much information as the football odds maker. You could have more. Very often you can get a handle on how the teams are coming along by reading the local newspapers, websites, etc. That little edge can prove valuable in the early part of the football season when football odds are weak.