Big 12 Report: Week 1

Big 12 Previews

Game: Tulsa vs. Oklahoma State
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Thursday, August 31st @ 6:30 p.m.
Location: Boone Pickens Stadium: Stillwater, OK
Television: FS1
Line: Oklahoma State -17
Expert Commentary: Tulsa vs. Oklahoma State: One of the stranger things that I think we’ll discover is how Philip Montgomery, one of the architects and offensive coordinator for Baylor during all of those rape-allegation-years has quietly become one of the hotter names in college football for Tulsa’s offensive production. Oklahoma State seemed to play down a bit to the non-conference portion of their schedule, especially Central Michigan. It would seem that OSU is wanting to really establish themselves for any sort of playoff push. I think Gundy will have the Cowboys ready to go, but the line is Oklahoma State at -17. That’s a lot of points. I’ll take those points. — Seth
Game: Liberty vs. Baylor
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Friday, September 1st @ 6:00 p.m.
Location: McLane Stadium; Waco, TX
Television: FS2
Line: Not available.
Expert Commentary: This is an incredibly yucky game, namely because the former AD at Baylor, Ian McCaw, is now the AD at Liberty and Liberty seems totally okay with the fact that McCaw oversaw a program that had serial rapists and no drug policy. In fact, with McCaw on board, Liberty is getting all on board with making a push to FBS football and someway, this guy and Liberty apparently has a clean conscious. Oh, and Liberty is coached by Turner Gill. Remember the ousted Kansas head coach? Yeah, he’s at Liberty now. The most interesting thing from Baylor’s perspective for me will be what the Bears will be on offense. I’m expecting Baylor to absolutely roll Liberty and we’ll see lots of #sicem all over the Twitter.com. — Seth
Game: Maryland vs. Texas
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Saturday, September 2nd @ 11:00 a.m.
Location: Royal Texas Memorial Stadium; Austin ,TX
Television: FS1
Line: Texas -17.5
Expert Commentary: So it begins. The Tom Herman era is finally upon the Big 12, and he’s starting with the Big 10 powerhouse. . . Maryland? Still getting used to that. After changing offensive coordinators like Tech changes DC’s (6 in 6 years), the Horns will see if the new regime finds the offensive spark that’s been missing. Sophomore Shane Buechele takes the reins again after a lackluster back half of 2016, while Chris Warren III returns at RB. The big matchup to watch is how the Texas defense, which featured spotty tackling last season, handles the Terp rushing attack, lead by Ty Johnson (1,004 yards rushing in 2016). — Brian
Game: UTEP vs. Oklahoma
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Saturday, September 2nd @ 2:30 p.m.
Location: Memorial Stadium; Norman, OK
Television: FOX
Line: Oklahoma -48
Expert Commentary: UTEP hasn’t been very good in a few years and this is what it looks like to have an offense that’s somewhat stuck in the mud. No quarterback and an offense that seems to be predicated off of a pro-style set, but doesn’t really have the pro-style athletes to make this thing hum. Aaron Jones was really good last year and the only offense for UTEP and now he’s gone. Meanwhile, in Norman, I’m expecting the Sooners to absolutely blow out the Miners. Mayfield is going to have a great senior season, so just get used to it. I’ll be interested to see who is making an impact running the ball and on all of those Mayfield passes. The line opened up Oklahoma at -44.5 and has moved to 48. That’s a lot of points, but the UTEP offense is pretty poor. I’ll take OU, but that’s a lot of flipping points. — Seth
Game: Southeast Missouri State vs. Kansas
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Saturday, September 2nd @ 6:00 p.m.
Location: Memorial Stadium; Lawrence, KS
Television: espn3
Line: Not available.
Expert Commentary: It’s year 3 of the David Beaty regime for Kansas, and expectations remain manageable. For them to remain that way, that means the Jayhawks must take advantage of the games they’re favored in, including this one. KU is also on their 3rd OC in 3 years, but this time in the form of known commodity Doug Meachum, formerly of TCU. There’s uncertainty at QB, including a former Washington State triggerman, but the Jayhawks sport decent depth at WR, including Steven Sims (859 yds receiving in 2016). The strength of this KU squad lies in their defense, particularly along the line. If they can break in a relatively new secondary, the Jayhawks stand a chance of keeping their offense in the game throughout the season. — Brian
Game: Central Arkansas vs. Kansas State
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Saturday, September 2nd @ 6:10 p.m.
Location: Bill Snyder Family Stadium; Manhattan, KS
Television: $K-StateHD.tv
Line: Kansas State
Expert Commentary: It’s 2017 and football is about to be played, which means that Bill Snyder is still coaching the Kansas State. The #20 Wildcats return dual threat Jesse Ertz at quarterback and 4 of their top 5 receivers. The defense lost a fair amount of the linebacking corp but returns a majority of the front 4 and some studs in the secondary in DJ Reed & Kendall Adams. Though KSU sports a 22-3 record on opening games under Snyder, Central Arkansas won’t necessarily be an easy out. The Bears went 10-3 in 2016 and return the entire offensive line, starting QB Hayden Hildebrand, and leading rusher Carlos Blackman. — Brian
Game: Northern Iowa vs. Iowa State
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Saturday, September 2nd @ 7:00 p.m.
Location: Jack Trice Stadium; Ames, IA
Television: Cyclones.tv
Line: Not available.
Expert Commentary: I tried to warn the Cyclones last year, but they didn’t heed my call. They stepped into the Panther den of Northern Iowa and came out with a big ol’ L. This year, Iowa State hosts UNI at Jack Trice, and I believe 2nd year HC Matt Campbell will have the Cyclones ready. QB Jacob Park returns along with his favorite target Allen Lazard, who is a 15th year senior, and RB Mike Warren. This iteration of the ISU offense should be pretty akin to what we saw in the INCREDIBLY SOUND DRUMMING they provided TTU in 2016. The defense, however, is a different story. ISU looked to JuCo transfers to fill out the ranks of the defensive line, and the linebacking corps is a pretty soft and cushy question mark as of right now. Look for the Cyclones to have some fight in 2017 and win at least one game they have no business taking. — Brian
Game: Jackson State vs. TCU
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Saturday, September 2nd @ 7:00 p.m.
Location: Amon G. Carter Stadium; Fort Worth, TX
Television: FSN Affiliates
Line: Not available.
Expert Commentary: 2016 didn’t turn out the way many Frogs fans hoped, but if there’s one thing Gary Patterson is good at, it’s producing double digit wins after having a losing season. 2017 is full of question marks for TCU. Will Kenny Hill live up to his potential? Can KaVonte Turpin stay healthy? Will they be able to completely rebuild the defensive line? Don’t expect too many answers to come from their season opener, but don’t bet against Patterson and the Frogs this season. — Brian
Game: West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech
Last Week: N/A
Date & Time: Sunday, September 3rd @ 6:30 p.m.
Location: FedEx Field; Landover, MD
Television: ABC
Line: Virginia Tech -4.0
Expert Commentary: This should be a great game so start the weekend. I’ll be interested to see how Will Grier performs against what should be a very good Virginia Tech team. Redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Jackson will start for Virginia Tech and with Bud Foster continuing to coach defense at Virginia Tech, I think I like the Hokies, but the interesting thing with this game is that West Virginia opened as a 2.5 point favorite and then the tides have turned and the Hokies are now 4.0 to 4.5 point favorites (this is per OddsShark). West Virginia is sorta moving to a new offense with Jake Spavital calling plays and I wonder how much of a running team WVU will continue to be under Spavital or if they’ll throw it around more.  — Seth

Place Your Bets

I normally pull all of the lines from OddsShark, but as of right now, they don’t have lines for a lot of these games. So I’ve pulled some lines from 5Dimes. I’ll do my best to report to you the stats from the week before and we’re about to find out, collectively, how good you guys/gals are at betting.

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