Handicapping

Stadium: Sun Life Stadium 2000 – Present

Location: Miami Gardens, Florida 2000 – Present

Founded: January 1, 1935 – Present

Competitors: ACC/ BCS At Large v. BCS At Large

The Orange Bowl is the third oldest Bowl Championship Series Game in the history of the NCAA Division One. NCAA football betting fans have been able to wager on the Orange Bowl annually in the beginning of January for the last 75 years since January first 1935. College football betting handicappers could expect to see teams from three of the biggest conferences in the NCAA take part in the Orange Bowl annually up until 2000.

These three conferences were the Big Eight, Big East and presently the ACC. Also currently, when an ACC member qualifies for another bowl game, they are replaced by a BCS At Large team in the Orange Bowl.

From 1935 to 1937 Miami Field was the host of the Orange Bowl. In 1938, Miami Field was rebuilt and renamed as the Miami Orange Bowl Stadium. Teams in the BCS had played at Miami Orange Bowl Stadium from 1938 to 1999. In 2000, the Orange Bowl switched locations for a third time to its current location at Sun Life Stadium where it has resided for the last decade.

As well, the Orange Bowl was initially played by members of the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences before they merged to form the Big 12. The Orange Bowl is one of the only iconic games which have been broadcast on all five major American television networks. From 1964 to 1994 NBC broadcast the game, before giving way to CBS for four years from 1995 to 1998. CBS then gave way to ABC who broadcast the Orange Bowl from 1999 to 2006, before FOX took over for five years from 2006 to 2010. The Orange Bowl will now be broadcast for the foreseeable future on ESPN.

•    Bet The Favorites Early – One of the main appeals to football betting is that the lines are posted at least a week in advance. For fans that enjoy placing bets on the favorite we suggest you wager on them early in the week. The logic behind this is that the earlier you wager, the higher the payout is when the favorite wins. Wagering later in the week will still get you a cut of the profits but not as much as you could have had at the beginning. The line on the favorite moves lower as the week progresses, and getting your bet in early will see you make the biggest profit.

•   Prime Time Teams – The prime time teams are those that play either in the late game on Sunday night or are the two teams featured in the Monday Night game. Teams who have big performances in these games have always seen the point spread go against them in their next matchup. Placing your wager earlier in the week similar to betting favorites earlier, will see you make more money.

•   Predicting Public Patterns – This is one of the easier techniques when predicting when you should wager on a given game. The point spreads movement is intertwined with public opinion. Favorites are more likely to get attention as the week progresses so getting in early is the best move.

•   Weather – During the latter half of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs, the weather is the most crucial factor to the point spread. When the conditions are bad, the sportsbooks tend to move the lines toward a lower number since they feel the wind or cold temperatures will affect the outcome.