Oklahoma-Texas
Saturday, Oct. 11
3:30 p.m. Eastern, 12:30 p.m. Pacific
ABC
The Red River Rivalry is a special event in college football. There aren’t many of these games left in the sport, and by “these games,” we mean neutral-site rivalry showdowns in which half the stadium is filled with fans from one team and the other half is filled by fans from the opposing side. This is a true college football treasure, consistently spicy and soap-operatic.
Texas limps into this game with two losses, having fallen to Florida a week ago. Texas will be out of the running for a College Football Playoff spot with a loss, something no one expected heading into this season and the big August 30 opener against Ohio State. Texas was the preseason No. 1 team. The Longhorns join Penn State and Clemson as preseason top-10 teams unlikely to make the playoff after Week 6. If Texas wants to make a real run, it has to catch fire and not lose a game going into Thanksgiving weekend.
Oklahoma is in much better position to make the playoff, but the Sooners know that a loss now reduces their margin for error in late October and throughout the month of November. There is plenty on the line in this game beyond the bragging rights associated with this annual duel in Dallas.
Oklahoma-Texas is a classic injury check game for bettors
John Mateer playing status demands total attention before and after kickoff
The whole focus of this game from a betting standpoint is the health and playing status of Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer. His status has been listed as questionable (before Friday), but it has been a source of constant speculation over the course of the week and has been hard to pin down with precision.
The obvious but necessary point to make is that even if Mateer plays, his level of effectiveness — how rusty he is, how he carries himself physically with a bothersome injury — is impossible to gauge until we see him go through a few possessions. There’s a lot which can’t be said about this game until a lot more clarity is attained relative to Mateer and his actual ability to perform on the field.
Oklahoma Sooners-Texas Longhorns Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the “3 Dog Thursday Podcast” by clicking Play below:
Spread: Oklahoma +1.5 (-110), Texas -1.5 (-110)
Total: 43.5 (Over -110, Under -115)
Underdog moneyline: Oklahoma -105
The fact that John Mateer’s playing status is unknown could lead bettors astray if they try to get a premature read on something which requires patience. However, one could look at this game and simply say, “Even if John Mateer plays, this is how the game will unfold.” The angle a lot of bettors are likely to take is the under 43.5. Texas could have tough sledding against a Brent Venables Oklahoma defense, and a Texas defense which did not play well against Florida might be a lot sharper this week versus OU. The under certainly makes sense on a broader level, but we would advise you to watch a few possessions in this game before jumping to any conclusions. This is a game in which pregame bets could look absolutely awful 10 minutes in. This is a wait-and-see game in which you want to bide your time and then pounce on a live in-game betting opportunity.