Spooky Express

One of the most popular things to cite when betting on football is betting trends. These are often used to justify a betting selection, as they are thought of as a good way to predict what is going to happen in upcoming games. But not all trends are created equal, as there are some trends that are more worth using than others.

Home and away trends are often the most important football betting trends that bettors can use while trying to win their wagers. Home-field advantage is so much more important in football than in other sports, as away teams can have trouble even snapping the ball when faced with a hostile crowd. Because of that, separating out home and away performance is extremely valuable when looking at football betting trends.

This applies to trends pertaining to both point spreads and totals. Teams are likely to have more trouble covering the spread on the road than they do at home, but trends pertaining to totals can go any number of directions based on home and away splits. It is up to bettors to look closely at the performance of teams based on their location to find any edges that exist based on where games are being played each week.

Football is the sport that is the most heavily impacted by weather, as other sports are typically held indoors or get canceled due to precipitation. Because of the impact weather can have on games, bettors must be sure to get an idea as to how teams perform in different types of weather. This is especially important late in the season, where cold weather can grip some parts of the United States and make it tougher for offenses and defenses to execute their game plans.

Weather trends can be especially valuable when dealing with teams that play their home games indoors. Some dome teams may still play well when they are forced to play road games outdoors, while others may struggle to do so. Understanding which teams fall into which categories throughout the season can open up value betting chances that less discerning bettors might not think to look for.

The most important thing to remember when betting on football using trends is the fact that long-term trends don’t hold water in all cases. Roster turnover is constant in both college and pro football, which means that trends dating back a decade rarely apply to a present-day football roster. Bettors have to refine their trends to fit a time period where the core of a roster was still there.

Also, important to remember is the fact that trends are not the be-all-end-all when handicapping football games. Analyzing individual matchups and line play is vastly more important than seeing what a team’s record is against the spread in road games over the last five years. Trends can be an interesting way to augment game analysis, but they are not as important as talking heads would have you believe.