NCAA Sportsbook – Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Game-day: 10/31/2009

Kick-off: 8:00 pm EST

The Texas Longhorns want that second spot in the BCS Rankings. After dropping to 3rd in the BCS after a sub par performance against a Sam Bradford less Oklahoma team, the Texas Longhorns responded with a fantastic victory over Missouri, 41 to 7, as 12 ½ point BetOnline college football betting favorites in the NCAA sportsbook.

The BCS Rankings weren’t impressed and have kept Texas at #3 going into the Longhorn’s Saturday matchup against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas is probably wondering what it has to do in order to get back into the good graces of the BCS. The Longhorns have already beaten Texas Tech, Colorado, Oklahoma and Missouri. The issue isn’t whether or not they’re winning; it’s the fact that they haven’t been overly impressive in any game this season save for the win over Missouri.

The Longhorns are 2-4-1 ATS. They didn’t cover the spread in their first three games of the season. And failed to cover against Colorado. Their lone push game was against Oklahoma. How good are the Longhorns really? That’s the question that a lot of college football fans have after watching them struggle against the spread versus Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State has bigger issues than covering spreads. The Cowboys still have not heard from the NCAA regarding the status of their best player, Dez Bryant. Bryant is an easy first round draft pick in the NFL should he decide to just go ahead and not return, but the Cowboys are hopeful that the NCAA will reinstate Bryant.

He definitely won’t play this week for the Cowboys who are trying to fight their way back into the BCS discussion after being upset by the Houston Cougars in Week 2 as 15 ½ point favorites. Actually, since the loss, the Cougars have been impressive winning 5 straight games and not scoring less than 30 in a single one of those victories.

Below are the college football odds on this game in the NCAA sports book.

Texas Longhorns -10 -110

Oklahoma State Cowboys +10 -110

Now, let’s take a look at a few BetOnline online betting trends.

The Texas Longhorns are 0 and 6 in their last 6 games as a favorite on the road of 3 ½ to 10 points.

The Texas Longhorns are 7 and 3 ATS in their last 10 meetings between these two teams
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games versus a team with a winning record.

The issue that gamblers have with this game is deciding which Longhorn team will show up. If the one that faced Oklahoma shows up, then the Cowboys have a shot at a big upset, but if the one that faced Missouri last week shows up then Oklahoma State is in trouble.

Texas has a terrific offense and their defense can be brilliant at times. More often then not, though, either the Longhorns’ defense will under perform like they did when allowing Louisiana-Monroe to put up 20 points, or Texas’s offense will flounder like it did against Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State is no slouch having beaten Georgia in Week 1 and also taking care of Missouri 33 to 17 as 6 ½ point favorites. If the bad Texas shows up, then the Cowboys will be looking good on the NCAA moneyline.

But there’s really no reason to bet that as Oklahoma State is receiving 10 points from Texas. Yes, the Longhorns look better on stats but the trends say that the Cowboys put up a fight in this. Getting 10 points is a huge advantage for the Cowboys. They’re the bet in this game.