If you're not crazy about betting on the spread, don't worry about it. When it comes to moneyline odds, they're a little easier to follow. No "juice" to be concerned with, nor scoring margin. A moneyline bet means you're simply selecting the outright winner of the game, regardless of the score.
Going this route is certainly a little less forgiving than picking the spread when you're betting on the underdog. If you feel really good that an upset is going to happen, though, go ahead and take the flier on the less favored team to win. Perhaps you'd consider hedging a bet on the spread if you go the underdog moneyline route. That way, there's some built-in insurance in case the outright win doesn't happen.
Moneylines are designed to reward bold underdog picks. Say there's a huge favorite, and the spread is something like -7.5 points. That'll usually translate to -300 moneyline odds — or even higher. To circle back to our spread bet example in relation to $100, you'd need to wager $300 to win a mere $100 in that scenario or $30 to win $10, and so on. It's a big risk for not such a great reward.
The phrase "any given Sunday" really does apply to the NFL, and does to the college level, albeit to a slightly lesser degree. Although the worst teams can beat the best in any given game, it's far less likely in, say, a cupcake opponent for a Power 5 conference program early in the season.
That said, it's hard to expect even heavy favorites to come out on top all the time, especially if it's a showdown between conference rivals. If you do go for a big favorite with -300 odds, it may be worth making that part of a larger parlay, or a betting ticket that features wagers on two or more games that all must hit in order for you to win. If you have a three-team parlay of heavy favorites, the odds will lengthen, although if you're going that route, it might be worth just picking one winner for a single contest.