The Oklahoma Sooners are huge home favorites against the Florida Atlantic Owls. Do you think top sportsbooks are overrating OU by making them 20.5-point faves? ESPN’s Greg McElroy seems to think so. “I haven’t seen a lot of growth on the defensive side of the ball, still concerned about that side,” McElroy said. “In an improved Big 12, I just don’t see Oklahoma sitting there at 11-1 or 12-1 as Big 12 champions this year.” McElroy seems to have inherited the crackpot naysayer mantle from Lee Corso, also of ESPN. Prior to the 2017 season, Corso said that the Sooners were “pretenders.” Oklahoma finished 12-2 (8-1 in conference play) last season. Additionally, they were selected as the 2nd seed to play in the 2017 College Football Playoff. Being a pretender is not such a bad thing. Just ask Chrissie Hynde.
Betting Oklahoma
McElroy may have a point in that the Sooners have lost starting QB Baker Mayfield. The current Cleveland Brown passed for 12005 yards with 117 TDs in three years in OU. Mayfield also rushed for 893 yards with 18 TDs. Moreover, he was a leader on the field as well as in the locker room. On the other hand, Mayfield’s heir apparent could be an even bigger threat to defenses, at least in one department. “Kyler Murray is a much greater threat as a pure runner than Mayfield,” SportsDay writer Chuck Carlton says. “One of the fastest quarterbacks in college football, Murray averaged 10.1 yards a rush last season in 14 carries. At this point in his career, Murray is probably more dangerous running than passing.”
As a matter of fact, Murray is such a great runner, he’s going to play baseball next year. He signed a $4.6 million contract with the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. “When you get drafted, you’ve got one year to play football and your time’s up,” Murray said. “I’ve been playing football my whole life. I don’t want to look at it like that. Obviously you’ve got to take it one day at a time, one play at a time. That’s how I’ve always played the game. Can’t get too ahead of ourselves.” And he certainly isn´t looking past the 2018 football season. “He’s a football player for the University of Oklahoma. That’s his focus and that’s our focus,” OU head coach Lincoln Riley said.
Betting Florida Atlantic
The Owls are big fish in the small pond that is the Conference USA. They finished 2017 11-3 (8–0 in C-USA play). FAU won the East Division championship. The Owls represented the East Division in the Conference USA Championship Game. They beat North Texas to become C-USA champions. They wrapped up the season by defeating Akron in the Boca Raton Bowl, where they defeated Akron. However, second-year head coach Lane Kiffin’s greatest achievement thus far is making the Sports Illustrated preseason poll. That’s FAU’s first ranking by any publication.
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Florida Atlantic Owls Betting Information
- Date: September 1st
- Time: 11:00 am CT
- Venue: Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
Best online sportsbooks odds from MyBookie.ag:
- FLORIDA ATLANTIC +20½ (-110)
- OKLAHOMA -20½ (-110)
Top sportsbooks betting trends
- The Sooners are 8-1 SU in their last nine games.
- The Sooners are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games.
- The total has gone under in three of the Sooners’ last five games.
- The Owls are 10-0 SU on their last 10 games.
- The Owls are 4-1 ATS in their last five games.
- The total has gone under in the Owls last three games.
Top sportsbooks pick: There is no doubt the Sooners will win straight-up. But the 20.5-point spread may be a bit too steep for Murray in his first start. If he does in deed start.
