Saturday, Sept. 20
12:10 p.m. Eastern, 9:10 a.m. Pacific
FOX
The Big 12, ever since Texas and Oklahoma left, has become a lot harder to predict. Last season’s Big 12 race could have gone in any of several directions. The race for the Big 12 Championship Game and a chance to gain a spot in the College Football Playoff went down to the final weekend. Like roller derby, it was a crowded and cluttered competition. Iowa State and Arizona State won out, with ASU ultimately grabbing the Big 12’s playoff berth, but Colorado, Kansas State, and BYU were all in the mix in November. This season, the Big 12 seems similarly open and fluid. It’s why Texas Tech-Utah is such a pivotal game and a prime shaper of the conference season over the next several weeks.
Texas Tech-Utah will shape the Big 12 race
Texas Tech brings portal reinforcements into Salt Lake City for breakfast football
This game is intriguing enough in its own right, without any added context, just because these teams are viewed as conference title contenders and therefore have a lot to play for. However, the delicious backdrop to this game adds to the event and its sense of drama, mystery, and uncertainty.
This is a Fox Big Noon Saturday kickoff. You will recall that Fox Big Noon has visited Boulder, Colorado, in recent years to televise Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes in a 10:10 a.m. local (Mountain) time kickoff. Now Salt Lake City gets the breakfast football time slot. These teams aren’t used to playing football this early in the day. No teams are. Add the fact that this is an early-season game — a conference opener, no less — and you have a recipe for unpredictability.
The pregame meal will be earlier. The wakeup call will be earlier. It is easy to imagine a scenario in which one team is groggy and sleepy in the first quarter or half (or both). If that happens, will the sleepyhead team be able to regroup at halftime and mount a second-half rally?
From a pure betting standpoint, one could consider betting on one team in the first half and the other for the full game as a hedge and a chance to cash two tickets. The only question is: Which team would you want to bet on in this context?
Texas Tech Red Raiders-Utah Utes Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the 3Dog Thursday Podcast by clicking Play below:
Spread: Texas Tech +3 (-110), Utah -3 (-110)
Total: 56.5 (Over -115, Under -105)
Underdog moneyline: Texas Tech +125
One key point to mention before this game starts is that both teams have not played strong, robust competition to this point in the season. Oregon State is a bad team, so Texas Tech shouldn’t get that much credit for hammering the Beavers last week. UCLA is an absolute disaster, which might make analysts and fans express some degree of caution in praising Utah. A 43-10 win seems impressive enough on its face, but when New Mexico beats UCLA by 25, maybe Utah doesn’t really stand out from the crowd all that much.
Ultimately, you can get a not-outlandish price for Texas Tech +3.5 and for the Utah moneyline. If the Utes win by a field goal, you cash two tickets. It’s not the worst idea in the world. If we had to choose between sides, Texas Tech +3 would be the play, but with the early kickoff, maybe this is a game in which you focus on the second half, which might reflect how good these teams actually are.