Big 12 Championship Game – Oklahoma Sooners vs. Missouri Tigers
The Oklahoma Sooners (11-1 SU, 9-2 ATS) take what they hope will be the final step on the road to the BCS national championship game when they take on the Missouri Tigers (9-3 SU, 5-6 ATS) with the Big 12 title on the line, in NCAA college football sports betting action that is slated to kick off at 8 PM ET on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium (natural turf) in Kansas City.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: OKLAHOMA -16.5, Total 79
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* MIZZ has covered two of its last seven games
* MIZZ has won four of its last five games SU
* OKLA has won its last six games SU
* OKLA has covered its last five games
* OKLA has played its last eight games OVER the total
Also….
* OKLA has won the last six meetings SU
* MIZZ has covered three of the last five meetings
Oklahoma has averaged 62 points a game over their last five, and right now they look like an unstoppable force. What’s more impressive is that two of those games came against legitimate Top 15 teams in Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. But an argument can be made that the Sooners were running up some scores to overcompensate for that October 11 loss to Texas, in which they allowed a season-high 45 points.
And guess what? It worked for them, allowing Bob Stoops’ team to overtake Texas, which only has one loss, for the #3 spot in the BCS rankings, and has positioned them to play for the national title if they come out of this game, in which they are more than a two-touchdown favorite, with a win. The Sooners have the horses. Sam Bradford has build up a lot of Heisman credibility, completing 68% of his throws, with 46 TDs and just six interceptions. Bradford is one of only three Division I quarterbacks with over 4000 yards passing.
DeMarco Murray has added a valuable infantry component, with 482 yards in his last five games. And if that wasn’t enough, Chris Brown has added 554 yards over that same period. And everyone knows about the receivers – wideouts Juaquin Iglesias, Manuel Johnson and Ryan Broyles, not to mention athletic tight end Jermaine Gresham. At this point Oklahoma is averaging over 53 points a game.
But there is evidence that Missouri may be able to launch a few grenades of their own here. The Tigers have topped the 50-point mark in six of their games, and their offensive line offers great protection for versatile, resourceful senior signal-caller Chase Daniel, who looked like an early front-runner for the Heisman, and still has 3880 yards, 34 touchdown passes, and a 75% accuracy rate. As far as a 1-2 punch at wide receiver and tight end, there are not many duos that compare with the extremely dangerous Jeremy Maclin (88 catches for 1175 yards) and Chase Coffman (79 receptions, 872 yards), both of whom will be first-round draft choices in the NFL, in all probability. Oklahoma has suffered from breakdowns on special teams from time to time, and this is where Maclin (855 yards on kick returns) becomes doubly dangerous.
Certainly Missouri, which ranks 116th nationally in pass defense, is going to give Bradford plenty of room to maneuver. But don’t underestimate Oklahoma’s willingness to take a punch to land two – the Sooners have surrendered 28 points or more in six of their last seven games, and most proficient attacks have found a way to move against them.
The Sooners may well prevail, and do so by a margin. But our preference here is to go OVER the 79 points, as that total is posted in the BetUS NCAA college football sports betting odds.
