Big spreads are going to once again be commonplace in the Big 12. And there’s plenty of reason for it.
Last week, the closest game was two touchdowns. The week before, the closest was 10 points. So with two of the four games with single-digit spreads this week, we’re looking forward to possibly seeing some closer games in the Big 12.
Once again, road favorites will rule the day, with all three Saturday games featuring road favorites.
Here are two games we’ll keep an eye on this weekend. Last week’s betting guide for each major conference went 5-5, with a 0-2 mark in the Big 12. Overall for the season, the betting guides have been 7-9 in the Big 12 and 40-38 overall in the power-five conferences.
Oklahoma State (-3) at Texas Tech
We’ve been talking about this game as a potential upset game. However, we were told by another college football fan and the betting public that we might be a little crazy.
This line opened at one point in favor of the Cowboys. The betting public has since moved it to a field goal. The Cowboys are undefeated, but they’ve done it by the skin of their teeth on occasion.
The Red Raiders, meanwhile, have only lost to TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma, three teams with one loss combined. But the more we got to thinking about this game, the more we liked the Cowboys.
Remember our love for Oklahoma State in the offseason? There was great reason to have incredible optimism for the Cowboys considering oddsmakers put their over/under at seven wins, which if the Cowboys win just one more game, they’ve achieved the over.
Not a bad play with the college football season still in October.
We haven’t always been impressed with the Cowboys this season, but Texas Tech’s defense is just too bad to ignore. We don’t see the Red Raiders making the necessary stop in the fourth quarter to cover this spread. — Go chalk with Oklahoma State
Texas at Iowa State (+6)
It’s time for Iowa State to show whatever fight it has left this season. And we believe the Cyclones will rally around their head coach and look to give one final fight.
Offensive coordinator Mark Mangino left this week and the Cylcones named a new quarterback. Coach Paul Rhoads is at a crossroads and he’s likely putting his Iowa State career on the line with Joel Lanning.
We’ve seen the major improvements with Texas and the media likely jumped ship from the Longhorns too early. That schedule was incredibly difficult to begin the season and any team would have difficulty navigating that schedule.
But we should see something more from the Cyclones in this game. The betting public agrees, as they’ve moved this spread by three points toward Iowa State. We agree with the movement and are backing the Cyclones. — Go against the chalk with Iowa State
Other Big 12 games
West Virginia at TCU (-13)
Oklahoma (-40) at Kansas
