College Football Bye Week Systems
Betting enthusiast new to college football should know that it shares a few similarities to the NFL. For instance teams do receive bye weeks same as the professional game. Instead of taking the week off for television scheduling which results in an added week to the season, the college bye week is included in the 13 week schedule. Essentially the week is used for players to recover from injuries and the coaches to plan further for a future opponent.
Over the last decade, fans betting on ncaa football for the road team as the favorite have had little success. In this time frame, these teams have accumulated an abysmal record of 106-152-2 against the spread in the week after a bye. Moreover, college road favorites in the last decade have combined for an abysmal 33 percent winning percentage against the spread. It appears through these statistics that the bye week may be doing more harm than good.
As seen by the poor records for teams after a bye week, it may be wiser for both the teams and the fans betting on them to have the bye week be withdrawn. A couple reasons to consider this aside from the poor records include:
1. Routine Disruption – As much as the bye week is a nice get away for the players and allows the coaches to remodel their game plans, the routines they have preached in the weeks prior are being disrupted. By playing the season in 12 weeks instead of 13, teams that start the season in top form, have a chance at staying that way. As the records above prove, changing a routine for a week appears to be doing more harm than good.
Disadvantage On the Road – Teams who play on the road in the week after their bye have a much more difficult time when favored by 10 or more points as the 33 percent indicator above would suggest. Many teams on the two week vacation (end of game before bye to first game back) tend to look at tougher opponents and if they play teams they should beat on the road in the first week back, they struggle mightily.
