Is Big 12 better for bettors?
Will bettors think Big 12 is better this weekend?
Three of the top five teams in the country reside in the Big 12, and all three are on the road as double-digit favorites this weekend. The top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners are in Waco to meet the Baylor Bears in an early contest while No. 3 Missouri travels to Lincoln to face the Nebrasks Cornhuskers at night. Sandwiched between is Vondrell McGee and the No. 5 Texas Longhorns at the Colorado Buffaloes.
The Big 12 is back, baby.
Look at what’s happening a little to the left of the SEC. The No. 1 team in the country is the Oklahoma Sooners at 4-0 SU and 3-0 ATS. And there’s more where that came from:
The SEC can’t touch that. The Big Ten and Pac-10 are small fry by comparison. You need to keep up with the times when you’re a handicapper – for all we know, the Big East could be the next big thing. It could happen. If it does, you’ll be one step ahead of the betting odds.
No. 1 Oklahoma at Baylor (+24½, 62½)
Saturday, Oct 4, 12:30 p.m. (ET)
Now that the Sooners are on top, all of a sudden the bandwagon is emptying. That’s not normal. Oklahoma opened as a 27-point chalk for this matchup before slipping to –24.5 at press time. The total is 62. It’s definitely a big enough total to leave plenty of wiggle room for the Sooners to cover a giant spread.
The trick is that the Bears (2-2 SU, 2-1 ATS) are a lot better than the team the public has grown to ignore the past decade or so. Art Briles has made an immediate impact with this program after five good years at Houston; he’s known for developing quarterbacks, and freshman Robert Griffin has been outstanding, throwing seven TDs with zero picks.
Baylor is also doing some good things on defense. There’s still an incredible gap in talent between these two programs, but that’s been the case for a while, and the Bears are 4-1 ATS against Oklahoma over the past five years.
No. 5 Texas at Colorado (+13, 56)
Saturday, Oct 4, 7:00 p.m. (ET)
The Colorado Buffaloes (3-1 SU, 2-1 ATS) are climbing that Big 12 mountain, improving steadily in their third year under former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins. The Buffs made the Independence Bowl last year, upsetting the Sooners (-23) and the Red Raiders (-13.5) along the way. Getting past the red-hot Longhorns would be just as remarkable.
Colorado will have to do it with a brand-new offensive line. Starters Max Tuioti-Mariner (knee) and tackle Ryan Miller (leg) are both out for the season, which will make life very difficult for QB Cody Hawkins against the awesome Texas defense.
The bigger story for Saturday’s matchup is the Longhorns offense. They’re cranking out 482 yards per game, No. 10 in the FBS, and none of their four games was even close as a result. The final score in three of those contests was 52-10, which is actually a bit spooky. It’s sort of like three of the first five U.S. Presidents dying on July 4. Speaking of dead Presidents, Texas is on a 6-0 ATS roll against the Buffaloes, but that was all before Coach Hawkins arrived.
No. 3 Missouri at Nebraska (+10½, 69)
Saturday, Oct 4, 9:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN
The team that used to rule the Big 12 is trying very hard to get back onto the national scene. It’s just not working. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS) finished their non-conference slate with a 35-30 loss to visiting Virginia Tech (+7). Now they’re double-digit dogs against a Tigers team with national title aspirations.
Time to give the Cornhuskers some credit. Bo Pelini is in his first year with these guys after winning a championship as LSU’s defensive coordinator – a post he held with Nebraska in 2003. There was optimism at the time of Pelini’s hiring, and we can already see results. Nebraska is No. 30 on the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI); Missouri is doing very well at No. 9, although perhaps not well enough to warrant this pointspread on the road.
Three of the top five teams in the country reside in the Big 12, and all three are on the road as double-digit favorites this weekend. The top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners are in Waco to meet the Baylor Bears in an early contest while No. 3 Missouri travels to Lincoln to face the Nebrasks Cornhuskers at night. Sandwiched between is Vondrell McGee and the No. 5 Texas Longhorns at the Colorado Buffaloes.
The Big 12 is back, baby.
Look at what’s happening a little to the left of the SEC. The No. 1 team in the country is the Oklahoma Sooners at 4-0 SU and 3-0 ATS. And there’s more where that came from:
- No. 3 Missouri 4-0 SU, 2-1 ATS
- No. 5 Texas 4-0 SU, 4-0 ATS
- No. 8 Texas Tech 4-0 SU, 1-0-1 ATS
- No. 16 Kansas 3-1 SU, 2-1 ATS
- No. 22 Okla. State 4-0 SU, 3-0 ATS
The SEC can’t touch that. The Big Ten and Pac-10 are small fry by comparison. You need to keep up with the times when you’re a handicapper – for all we know, the Big East could be the next big thing. It could happen. If it does, you’ll be one step ahead of the betting odds.
No. 1 Oklahoma at Baylor (+24½, 62½)
Saturday, Oct 4, 12:30 p.m. (ET)
Now that the Sooners are on top, all of a sudden the bandwagon is emptying. That’s not normal. Oklahoma opened as a 27-point chalk for this matchup before slipping to –24.5 at press time. The total is 62. It’s definitely a big enough total to leave plenty of wiggle room for the Sooners to cover a giant spread.
The trick is that the Bears (2-2 SU, 2-1 ATS) are a lot better than the team the public has grown to ignore the past decade or so. Art Briles has made an immediate impact with this program after five good years at Houston; he’s known for developing quarterbacks, and freshman Robert Griffin has been outstanding, throwing seven TDs with zero picks.
Baylor is also doing some good things on defense. There’s still an incredible gap in talent between these two programs, but that’s been the case for a while, and the Bears are 4-1 ATS against Oklahoma over the past five years.
No. 5 Texas at Colorado (+13, 56)
Saturday, Oct 4, 7:00 p.m. (ET)
The Colorado Buffaloes (3-1 SU, 2-1 ATS) are climbing that Big 12 mountain, improving steadily in their third year under former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins. The Buffs made the Independence Bowl last year, upsetting the Sooners (-23) and the Red Raiders (-13.5) along the way. Getting past the red-hot Longhorns would be just as remarkable.
Colorado will have to do it with a brand-new offensive line. Starters Max Tuioti-Mariner (knee) and tackle Ryan Miller (leg) are both out for the season, which will make life very difficult for QB Cody Hawkins against the awesome Texas defense.
The bigger story for Saturday’s matchup is the Longhorns offense. They’re cranking out 482 yards per game, No. 10 in the FBS, and none of their four games was even close as a result. The final score in three of those contests was 52-10, which is actually a bit spooky. It’s sort of like three of the first five U.S. Presidents dying on July 4. Speaking of dead Presidents, Texas is on a 6-0 ATS roll against the Buffaloes, but that was all before Coach Hawkins arrived.
No. 3 Missouri at Nebraska (+10½, 69)
Saturday, Oct 4, 9:00 p.m. (ET) ESPN
The team that used to rule the Big 12 is trying very hard to get back onto the national scene. It’s just not working. The Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1 SU, 2-2 ATS) finished their non-conference slate with a 35-30 loss to visiting Virginia Tech (+7). Now they’re double-digit dogs against a Tigers team with national title aspirations.
Time to give the Cornhuskers some credit. Bo Pelini is in his first year with these guys after winning a championship as LSU’s defensive coordinator – a post he held with Nebraska in 2003. There was optimism at the time of Pelini’s hiring, and we can already see results. Nebraska is No. 30 on the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI); Missouri is doing very well at No. 9, although perhaps not well enough to warrant this pointspread on the road.