The Baylor Bears have been moving through their opponents with ease thus far, and as a result they are still alive in their quest to play in the BCS Championship game. On Thursday they will face their first major hurdle of the season as they take on the Oklahoma Sooners in a Big 12 showdown that will get underway at 7:30 PM ET, with television provided by Fox Sports 1.
Currently Baylor is #6 in the BCS Standings. They might be higher if they had proven themselves against better competition. They are also #5 as ranked by the AP and #5 in the USA Today poll, which consists of coaches. Oklahoma is #8 in that poll; the Sooners are also #12 in the AP poll and #10 in the BCS. While they probably can’t rise high enough to get into a BCS title match, Oklahoma still has the ability to get to a BCS bowl, and they can upset the Baylor steamroller if they can beat the Bears for a second straight season.
This year’s game takes place at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, beginning at 7:30 PM ET. In the college football odds that have been posted on this game at Get That Bet, the Bears are a huge favorite:
Baylor Bears -16.5
Oklahoma Sooners +16.5
Over 73.5 Points -110
Under 73.5 Points -110
You may think that number is a bit inflated, and if it is, it is only because Baylor has come on like such a monster when playing at home. They have run up totals of 69, 70, 70, 73 and 71 points at home, as if in a deliberate attempt to impress the pollsters. Well, it’s worked, obviously. There are no ranked opponents on their list of victims, and that is why this game against Oklahoma is so intriguing to NCAA football bettors. So far Baylor’s biggest test has come against Kansas State on the road, and they did not look like such a juggernaut, winning a 35-25 decision. K-State, incidentally, is 4-4 and not even guaranteed to go to a bowl game. It is rather unusual that a team ranked so high would be so untested at this stage.
No one can deny that Baylor is in possession of weaponry. Bryce Petty has proven to be a much more capable quarterback than Nick Florence, who piloted the team last year in succession of Robert Griffin III and completed just 12 of 33 passes against the Sooners in Oklahoma’s 42-34 win. Petty has thrown 18 TD passes and been intercepted only once, and he has been effective to the point where some college football betting fans might tout him to be Baylor’s second Heisman Trophy winner in three seasons. Certainly he has the edge over Blake Bell, the Oklahoma quarterback, who has completed 64% of his throws, but is generally known as a much better runner.
Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk would like to consider himself a Heisman candidate, and indeed he’s got great numbers, including an average of 9.1 yards a carry. he is the biggest threat to an Oklahoma defense that ranks tenth overall in the nation. But Bell’s ability to run with the ball is going to be critical; some football bettors recall that he was called on in a lot of goal-line situations last year in place of Landry Jones, and on Thursday night he goes against a Baylor stop unit that leads the nation in red zone defense.
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