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NCAA Football Betting
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Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners (@ Dallas)
Saturday, October 17
By Charles Jay

BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: TEXAS -1

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* TEX has won 13 of its last 14 games SU}
* TEX has covered two of its last six games
* TEX has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
* TEX has covered eight of its last 11 games as a favorite
* OKLA has won 12 of its last 14 games SU
* OKLA has covered six of its last seven games
* OKLA has played nine of its last ten games OVER the total
* OKLA has covered four of its last five games as an underdog

Also…

* OKLA has won six of the last nine meetings SU
* TEX has won three of the last four meetings SU
* TEX has covered each of the last four meetings
* Three of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total

You might think at first glance that Dallas as the venue would constitute a home game for Texas, but the reality is that Dallas is about halfway between Austin and Norman, so it is, in effect, “neutral,” and has been held at the Cotton Bowl since 1932, and is supposed to stay there for at least the next six seasons.

Last year, as you may be aware, Texas won the Red River Shootout by a 45-35 score, but even though both teams finished with identical conference records, and the ‘Horns won the head-to-head matchup, it was Oklahoma that went on to the Big 12 championship game, by virtue of their higher ranking in the polls, which resulted in part from their string of four straight 60-point games. That angered the Texas program, as you might imagine, because a win in that Big 12 title tilt led to a BCS championship opportunity.

As we sit here at this moment, we imagine that this game could go a long way toward determining the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, since Sam Bradford won last year, and Colt McCoy is considered a major challenger. It is hard to determine a definitive edge between McCoy, who completed 77% of his passes last year, and Bradford, who tossed 50 touchdowns.

Unquestionably the Sooners, who have two thousand-yard rushers coming back from last year, have the better backs, but the reconstruction of the offensive line is a major undertaking, and that will probably result in Bradford having a little less time. What makes this intriguing is that Texas would like to see someone be able to complement Sergio Kindle in the pass rush after Brian Orakpo went to the NFL.

This is a very close one to call, although it is worth mentioning that in the last eleven seasons, ten of these meetings have been decided by double digits. Oddly, last year it was Oklahoma who had problems running the ball (48 net yards) while Texas ran up 161 yards on the ground. I don’t know if that will hold here. McCoy likes to run with the ball – we know that, but this Sooner defense, with speed and experience, could keep him bottled up. I’ll give Bradford the edge in composure and the Sooners an advantage in offensive balance, so if someone pulls away, it will be the guys in Crimson and Cream.

We’re with Oklahoma, the one-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: OKLAHOMA +1 **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)