We've got a Big 12 clash here between the Kansas State Wildcats and the Oklahoma Sooners. These two ranked opponents have a chance to distinguish themselves. Will the favored Sooners cover the point spread?
As each week passes we have a
little more information to work with and our college football betting can be
done with a bit more confidence. It is always a good idea to tread lightly
early on because how teams looks on paper is one thing, but how they play on the
field is another.
Today I'm going to give out
my first pick of the week. Since it is early I don't have college football
line movements to go on just yet. However, I'm going to work with a general
figure of the Oklahoma Sooners laying somewhere in the vicinity of two
touchdowns in this one.
Last week I was able to
gain some momentum by winning all three of my college football picks so I'm looking to keep things rolling in the right
direction this week.
Kansas State Struggles
Against North Texas
The Kansas State Wildcats
went into their game against North Texas at home on September 15 having made a
statement after crushing Miami 52-13 the previous week. They were #15 in the
country entering the game and they went off as prohibitive 27 point favorites with
a total of 55 being posted as the over/under by the college football odds
makers.
That figure sounded fair
enough but this was an absolute trap game, a sandwich between Miami and
Oklahoma. Coach Bill Snyder could preach all week to his team about how important
it is not to let down. He could remind them that games against top-notch
opponents are like the Super Bowl to lightly regarded Sun Belt clubs like the
Mean Green of North Texas.
The fact is that the young
men that he coaches know full well that they have a talent edge in games like
this, and it can sometimes be impossible to generates the same level of
enthusiasm when you are expected to win the game by four touchdowns.
A letdown was inevitable, and
the Wildcats were able to escape with a 35-21 victory but nobody on the Kansas
State side felt satisfied with their performance. And clearly, college
football handicappers who supported the Wildcats were not pleased with the
outcome.
Oklahoma--Rested or Rusty?
While Kansas State was
battling it out with the Mean Green the Sooners were taking the weekend off and
looking ahead to some tough scheduling over the next few weeks. After they play
Kansas State they will have another week off in a weird scheduling quirk, but
after that they play Texas Tech and Texas in consecutive games.
In their opening game on
September 1 Oklahoma beat UTEP by a score of 24-7 on the road. They were 29.5
point favorites in that contest so they
sent their backers home disappointed. The following week they challenged
themselves (not) by playing Florida A&M at home and took that one 69-13,
barely covering the incredible 55 point spread.
College Football Pick
These two teams are both
ranked and this is a big contest for them. When you look at the trends you see
that the Wildcats are quick starters with a record of 4-1 ATS in their last
five games played in the month of September. They are 5-1 against the spread in
their last six road games, and they are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games against
squads with a winning home record.
If we can get at least two
touchdowns, we are adding the underdog Kansas
State Wildcats to our college football picks in this one.
Free College Football Pick: Kansas State Wildcats