Big 12 Football Easy Betting Pick’ems: Weekend Of September 7
By Dave Thoman
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Week two of college football season is here, and it’s apparent my crystal ball needs a little rust chiseled away, but not nearly as much as K-State’s rushing attack. Here’s how last week’s predictions went:
Straight Up: 7-2
Against The Spread: 6-3
Things I blame: FCS schools, and myself for going back and changing my Baylor prediction to under. Still, we’re money after one week. This week is a little interesting, though a whole lot of bland exists in the second week of play as far as Big 12 teams are concerned. Here’s what you need to know:
South Dakota at Kansas (-23)
South Dakota will look to continue the streak of FCS schools going into hostile FBS territory and emerging victorious. Yet unlike Northern Iowa and North Dakota State, South Dakota has the word ‘South’ in its name. Oh, and the Coyotes only had one victory last year. Granted, KU also had just one victory in 2012, but quarterback Jake Heaps is an upgrade for the Jayhawks and James Sims has his eyes on All-Big 12 first team honors at running back. Prediction: Kansas 32, South Dakota 6 (over)
SE Louisiana at TCU (-42.5)
TCU was supposed to be the Big 12’s great hope to assert itself as sharing an equal plane with the SEC last week against LSU. I didn’t really buy into it, but will say one thing about the Horned Frog’s offense – it got better every quarter that night. TCU’s offense isn’t going to scare anybody this year, and the defense is the only reason its in the conference championship conversation. Still, with Casey Pachall back and the coaching staff finding creative ways to utilize Trevone Boykin in a split-time quarterbacking situation, the Horned Frogs may put up points this year after failing to do so in its Big 12 conference debut year. Prediction: TCU 41, SE Louisiana 12 (under)
Oklahoma State (-26.5) at Texas San Antonio
Oklahoma State impressed the nation with its… defense last week? Yes, that’s exactly what happened in the 21-3 victory over Mississippi State after falling behind 3-0 in the first quarter. Eric Stonestreet, the Modern Family star and very publicly K-State loyalist, was on College Gameday last weekend and summarily mocked for predicting Oklahoma State in a defensive struggle against Miss State. He obviously knew something Lee Corso didn’t (actually, he probably knows a lot that Corso doesn’t). This is not a defensive struggle, the Cowboys offense comes alive, Texas San Antonio discovers that Mike Gundy may have put together a complete team in Stillwater. Prediction: Oklahoma State 41, UTSA 17 (over)
Buffalo at Baylor (-27.5)
Interestingly, Ohio State did not look that good in the Buckeyes’ win over Buffalo last week. The question is, did Buffalo make make Ohio State look bad, or was Urban Meyer’s squad just sloppy? The national consensus seems to point towards the latter. Baylor made Wofford look absolutely silly on Saturday, winning 69-3. And yes, you will be sick of me talking about FCS schools (e.g., Wofford) by the end of the week – if not by the end of this article. But that’s still a 66 point win. And Buffalo should really be an FCS school, because after living in the State of New York for three years, I’ve learned that college football does not exist within the state’s boundaries for all practical purposes despite its population of almost 20 million (and yes, that was a deliberate burn on Syracuse). Baylor remains the team that frightens me more than anyone else in the conference. Prediction: Baylor 45, Buffalo 10 (over)
West Virginia at Oklahoma (-21)
Sure, sure, K-State lost to an FCS program last week, but that was a two-time defending national champion returning 18 starters. West Virginia beat FCS William & Mary 24-17, and the Tribe finished 2-9 in 2012. The Mountaineers lost some personnel on a defense that was downright offensive last year, and I don’t care who Bob Stoops decides should be quarterback this Saturday – the Sooners are going to treat their fans to points by the boatload. Sure, Oklahoma beat Louisiana-Monroe 34-0 last week, I still don’t buy this offense against better defenses. The problem is, West Virginia will allow points. Lots of points. All season long. The question is, do the Mountaineers keep up after losing Geno Smith, Tavon Austin, and Stedman Bailey? That’s three players taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft, and you don’t just plug-and-play following those sorts of losses. Prediction: Oklahoma 42, West Virginia 18 (over)
Texas (-7) at BYU
BYU was not impressive last week against Virginia. Obviously the Cougars were not happy about having to play on Sunday. Texas, on the other hand, owned New Mexico State with a 56-7 win. I thought the BYU defense was going to be more impressive against the Cavaliers, but the Big 12 may be in trouble this year as the Longhorns actually have some semblance of an offense for the first time since I drove was an old Taurus (that was not recently, for the record. It also wasn’t a particularly proud moment). Interestingly, New Mexico State was the first team on the board with a touchdown following 13 minutes of scoreless play against Texas. Then David Ash started throwing bombs. Prediction: Texas 34, BYU 19 (Big Over)
Stephen F. Austin at Texas Tech (-38)
Texas Tech didn’t start particularly fast last week, but then again, the Red Raiders were starting a true freshman quarterback. Then Tech made an okay SMU team look absolutely silly in the second half last week. Stephen F. Austin isn’t okay talent-wise , and the Lumberjacks will assuredly not be ok by the end of this game. Prediction: Texas Tech 50, Stephen F. Austin 13 (under)
And now, for this week’s easy pick’em – the one sure thing you can bet the farm on, ’cause it ain’t gonna miss:
Louisiana Lafayette at K-State (-10.5)
Bill Snyder stated it. Center B.J. Finney stated it. Every pundit in the nation stated it – K-State lacked enthusiasm last Friday. There was no passion. Finney gave the best fodder, calling out his team and stating there was no celebration after big plays. Maybe that’s a chemistry issue, at least as far as the defense is concerned. Additionally, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a Bill Snyder team come out cocky and get humbled by a lesser opponent (although usually it happens later in the season). That situation usually gets resolved the following week. Prediction: K-State 31, LA Lafayette 17 (over)