Texas Tech
vs.
Oklahoma
College Football
Pick
Betting Trends
10/26/13
We’re halfway through the season and this is the first somewhat important Big 12 Game of the year. Up until now, the top teams in the Conference haven’t faced the other top teams. That includes Texas Tech and Oklahoma along with Baylor and Oklahoma State. That’s what makes this one so important. The undefeated, No. 10 team in the BCS, Texas Tech, travels to Oklahoma, who is No. 15 in the BCS Standings. The Sooners are -7 point favorites at 5 dimes sportsbook.
The Red Raiders have been the major surprise of the Conference sitting with a 7-0 record. Still, no one really knows how to take this team. Their best win was a 20-10 home Game over TCU, who now has a losing record. OUtside of that, a road win at West Virginia is their next biggest win and they are another team with a losing record. The same can be said about Oklahoma. OUtside of their win over Notre Dame, they’ve had very similar results to Texas Tech and even lost at a neutral site to Texas. Both teams still have Baylor and OK State on the Schedule so things are far from set in the Big 12.
The Sooners won this meeting last year on the road as they intercepted Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege three times. These teams have exchanged wins every year for the past nine Games.
With Seth Doege gone for the Red Raiders, they’ve turned to a couple freshmen early in the year at quarterback. Baker Mayfield started things off, but injured his knee and Davis Webb has come in to start the last two Games. The two have similar stats, so even if Mayfield comes back, it may not matter all that much. Webb has needed to make some big comebacks the last couple weeks, hence why he’s hit over 400 yards in two straight Games.
With coach Kliff Kingsbury at the helm, no one expects Texas Tech to be a running team. They’re yet to have a 100-yard rusher and in seven Games, their top two running backs Kenny Williams and DeAndre Washington, have combined for just 494 yards. While those two also help in the receiving Game, it’s the wide receivers that see the most attention. Jace Amaro leads the way (56 catches, 742 yards), but three other guys have at least 30 receptions, 390 yards and three touchdowns a piece.
Oklahoma’s defense has been stout to this point, allowing 17 points per Game, but the best offense they’ve played was Texas and they gave up 36 points in that loss. Not to mention, the Sooners had trouble beating Kansas last week, which isn’t saying much.
Without LAndry Jones, the Sooners offense is lacking. Blake Bell is in at quarterback, but he’s still a work in progress and has trouble completing passes down the field. He hasn’t surpassed 152 yards in three straight Games, while only going for two total touchdowns in those contests. Sterling Shepard and Jalen Saunders are solid receivers, but they haven’t helped down field for Bell. Brennan Clay (496 yards) and Damien Williams (315 yards) lead the running Game and will be leaned on along with Bell to move the ball against a susceptible defense.
The Red Raiders are 6-2 ATS in their last eight road Games, but only 1-4 ATS overall vs. a team with a winning record. The Sooners are only 2-6 ATS in their last eight home Games and have not covered in Four straight Conference Games. The home team is 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings between these schools.
Looking at the betting trends at 5dimes.com we see that 64% of the early action is on the Sooners. You can view the betting trends each week which includes all major sports, sides, totals and moneylines by opening an account at 5dimes.com