Oklahoma (10-1, 6-1 Big 12) at Oklahoma State (9-2, 5-2)
Perhaps none of this weekend’s rivalry games is bigger this year than the Bedlam Series, as the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State result could shape the national championship picture.
The No. 3 Sooners saw Texas easily handle Texas A&M on Thursday night, so they know they must be more than impressive in beating the No. 11 Cowboys in order to jump Texas in the BCS standings. If OU wins as does Texas Tech, as expected, over Baylor, the highest-ranked team in the BCS wins the Big 12 South and heads to the conference title game.
Either Texas or Oklahoma would be heavily favored to beat Mizzou in the Big 12 title game, so in fact Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State could be for all the marbles for the Sooners, who are 7-point favorites on WagerWeb.com.
You can expect one thing from this year’s version of the Bedlam Series: points.
The Sooners have been ridiculous since losing to Texas, topping 60 points in each of their last three games and averaging 59.2 points and 598.0 yards in their five-game winning streak since losing to the Longhorns. RBs DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown have been great despite splitting time. Murray has 164 carries for 959 yards and 13 touchdowns; Brown has run 149 times for 890 yards and 15 touchdowns. Both have gone over the 100-yard mark in each of the Sooners’ past two games. That duo leads the nation with 28 touchdowns
OU quarterback Sam Bradford has 19 TD passes and one INT since the Texas loss, and he enters the game with 3,710 yards and 42 touchdown passes. Bradford threw four TD passes in last year’s 49-17 win over Oklahoma State. Oklahoma’s offense has 15 scoring drives of one minute or less this season.
Oklahoma State is 4th in the conference in points allowed at 23.8, and it is allowing almost 102 yards per game on the ground while giving up 259 through the air. The Cowboys, whose only losses have been to Texas and Texas Tech, have been idle since a 30-17 victory at Colorado on Nov. 15.
OSU QB Zac Robinson has thrown 21 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions, and the Cowboys boast one of the nation’s top WRs in Dez Bryant, who ranks fourth overall and second among Big Six players with 1,222 receiving yards. Bryant’s 16 touchdown catches rank second in the nation to Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree. In addition, RB Kendall Hunter leads the Big 12 in rushing with 1,434 yards to go along with 14 TDs. Hunter and Keith Toston rank second nationally with 2,068 yards.
Upsets have happened before in this series. Seven years ago, Oklahoma’s hopes of winning a second consecutive national title disappeared when Rashaun Woods’ 14-yard touchdown catch with 1:36 left gave Oklahoma State a 16-13 victory over the fourth-ranked Sooners. Oklahoma State upset Oklahoma again in 2002, but hasn’t beaten the Sooners since.
The home team is 5-1 ATS in the past six meetings.
NCAA Betting at WagerWeb.com
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