The Big 12 was good straight up last week, losing two out of 10 games. The challenges weren’t many and the teams struggled against the spread.
This week it will get much more difficult and will feature a game with national implications.
Here’s our betting guide for week 2 in the Big 12.
Last week: 3-6-1 ATS
Oklahoma (-1) at Tennessee
Oklahoma and Tennessee were equally impressive in week 1. Neither team featured an opponent capable of keeping
up and the teams weren’t looking ahead to this match-up.
The Sooners have a new offensive strategy and if the Sooners can get past the Volunteers, then Oklahoma could be staring at an undefeated mark until the final three games of the season when it squares off against TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State.
But the Volunteers have plenty of hype and it is in Knoxville. The betting public is falling in love with the Volunteers already. The opening line had this spread at 3 points in favor of the Sooners. Now it’s down to one point and there’s no guarantee that this won’t move to an even-money spread by game-time.
Tennessee is still young so that could affect this game. However, we’re hopping on the SEC train for week 2 and going with the Volunteers. There’s a home field advantage and Oklahoma just hasn’t done enough in the past few years to generate much optimism in these marquee match-ups. – Go against the chalk with Tennessee
Iowa at Iowa State (+4)
Normally at this time of year, we would wonder why oddsmakers were making the Hawkeyes double-digit favorites
when this game necessitates a smaller spread.
That was supposed to be what happened this week, too, until oddsmakers did the unthinkable and kept this within a touchdown. Iowa looked good against a quality FCS opponent last week and Iowa State had its moments against a UNI team that isn’t as good as it has been in the last few years.
The Cyclones will get up for this game like they always do, but there was a lot to like from the Hawks in week 1, and they will be motivated. With a spread this small, something smells fishy from oddsmakers. It’s not everyday we take Iowa in this rivalry game, especially since the last four years the game has been decided by single digits and oddsmakers still choose to set two-touchdown spreads.
But this game is different. We’ll take the Hawks to win straight up and cover the spread. – Going chalk with Iowa
Other Big 12 games with a betting line
Odds provided by Oddsshark
Kansas State (-17.5) at Texas San Antonio
UTEP at Texas Tech (-21)
Memphis (-13.5) at Kansas
Rice at Texas (-15)
