Oklahoma Sooners: College Football TV Schedule & Gambling Picks - Week 8

It’s back, y’all! After a one-week hiatus, my GAMBLIN’ article returns to provide you with questionable picks for college football’s biggest games.

As usual, you can find the Saturday schedule down at the bottom.

West Virginia at Oklahoma (-32.5) - I’m rooting for Austin Kendall to succeed in Morgantown, but when looking at his lack of mobility and his proclivity for throwing questionable balls, his chances of success are quite low against a defense that appears dead set on creating chaos. It’s also quite easy to picture a bounce-back game for Jalen Hurts against this valiant, yet thoroughly outmatched, Mountaineer defense. Having said all of this, the spread is enormous, and while I don’t think this will ever resemble a legitimate contest, Neal Brown’s team will probably put up enough of a fight to pull out the cover. Additionally, there’s a non-zero chance that Oklahoma will experience a bit of an emotional letdown after a rewarding weekend in Dallas. Gambling pick: I went 55-24 in favor of the Oklahoma Sooners on this week’s podcast, but I’m going to dial it down to 48-17 after a bit more thought. That, of course, would equal a West Virginia cover. Over 63

Clemson (-24.5) at Louisville - When considering how bad this year’s (and last year’s) Free Shoes University team is capable of playing on any given Saturday, it’s hard to put too much stock in Clemson’s lopsided victory over the ‘Noles this past week. However, it’s apparent that this Clemson team can return to being dominant once things begin to truly click again for Trevor Lawrence. It just hasn’t quite happened yet, but will it happen this week? Gambling pick: I like the chances of Clemson finally making a statement on the road against a very well-coached Scott Satterfield team. Over 62

Florida (-5.5) at South Carolina - In the words of Spencer Hall on this week’s episode of the Shutdown Fullcast, last week’s South Carolina-Georgia game was “one long warning about having people from rural Georgia manage a football game”. The upset was much less about the Gamecocks seizing the opportunity as it was Georgia seemingly refusing to seize it. In other words, don’t buy into any sort of hype pertaining to South Carolina turning its season around or anything like that. Florida isn’t as good as its record or ranking, but give me Dan Mullen over Will Muschamp any day of the week. Gambling pick: Florida covers in Columbia, which is a clone of Tallahassee. Under 47

Baylor at Oklahoma State (-4) - This one will probably just come down to whether or not Spencer Sanders can take care of the football. He has all the upside in the world, and if he makes sound decisions, I don’t think Baylor’s offense will be able to hang with OSU’s. However, the redshirt freshman has thrown eight INTs in the past four games (including three against Texas Tech), so it’s a big ‘if’ against a much-improved Baylor defense. Gambling pick: Sanders has a cleaner game, leading to an Oklahoma State cover. Over 68

Arizona State at Utah (-14) - Remember what I said about South Carolina’s win over Georgia? That’s essentially what Herm Edwards and Arizona State have been doing for the past two years. Did you watch this year’s game against Michigan State? It was the Cheez-It Bowl, but Cheez-It Bowl-ier. To Herm’s credit, he really seems to have instilled a winning culture that’s been absent in Tempe for quite some time, which was the reason he was hired in the first place. Add in the fact that his team’s defense is above average (No. 26 in defensive SP+), and I like the chances of the Sun Devils at least being competitive in SLC. Gambling pick: Arizona State beats the spread and loses a close one. Under 46.5

Kansas at Texas (-21) - There really is no rest for the weary, as Texas is forced to rebound this week against the mighty Jayhawks.

Kansas obviously hasn’t been an offensive juggernaut in 2019, but the Jayhawks have shown enough flashes to lead one to believe that they can do something against this wounded Texas defense. Will it be enough to make this one respectable? By KU’s standards, yes, but that might not be enough to cover the 21. Gambling pick: Texas struggles but eventually wears Kansas down for a cover. Over 62.5

Michigan State at Penn State (-9) - Few things are more satisfying for a college football fan than watching a Jim Harbaugh-coached Michigan team shit the bed on the national stage, and I think we’re all in for a real treat Saturday night. Michigan’s No. 53 SP+ offense (which has turned it over 13 times in six games) going up against Penn State’s No. 10 defense in front of the white-out crowd in prime time? Yeah, I’ll take the Nittany Lions big. Gambling pick: Penn State covers with relative ease. Under 46.5