This is your father’s Baylor Bears. After a brief respite, the Bears are once again one of the worst teams in the Big 12 and are big home underdogs to the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday evening. Baylor has yet to win a game this season, but at least showed a pulse when it went on the road and hung with Duke for a little bit before bowing out. For Oklahoma, this is its last game before a bye week and the Sooners are looking forward to a little rest and relaxation.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 4 game is set for Saturday, September 23, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. ET at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas. This game will be broadcast on FS1.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Oklahoma -25.5
Baylor +25.5
Odds Analysis
Oklahoma might have the best offense in the country. The Sooners dropped 56 points on two Group of Five opponents and could have scored a lot more against Ohio State, but blew some opportunities early on. Still, this team is looking as good as it has in a long time and has covered all three of its games so far this season.
It hasn’t been a good start by any stretch for Baylor. The Bears had bad losses to Liberty and UTSA to start the season and the team might not bounce back from that this year. Baylor has yet to cover a game and fell short of the number despite getting double digits against Duke. It is starting to feel like this season and the tail end of last are comeuppance for the malfeasance of the Art Briles era.
Coaching Angle
Matt Rhule signed a big iron clad contract to pull him away from Temple and make him the head man at Baylor. The head job in Waco was considered so toxic that he got an unheard of seven year deal in order to clean up Briles mess and turn things around. Everyone knew it was going to take time, especially since he is installing a pro-style system at a school that has only recruited players that ran the spread this decade, but these results aren’t encouraging.
Losing to teams like Liberty and UTSA show how Baylor has fallen very far, very fast. To be fair to Rhule, he found the cupboard pretty bare as a lot of talent fled the campus in the wake of one of the worst scandals you will ever find in collegiate sports. Still, even though he doesn’t have the players he wants yet, losing to those teams won’t make the fanbase happy.
Oklahoma’s new coach has engendered the opposite reaction. Lincoln Riley is everyone’s new favorite head coach after taking over for Bob Stoops after Stoops abruptly resigned in May. Riley is an offensive genius and everyone knew he would eventually get a shot somewhere, but what he’s done is incredible.
His offense was phenomenal against Ohio State and he used his players’ strengths to pick apart a Buckeyes defense that looked overwhelmed. Sooners fans are giddy and think he can repeat Stoops feat of winning the national championship in his first season on campus.
Player to Watch
You have to watch Baker Mayfield in this one. He should be able to carve up the Bears secondary and continue to put up big numbers. Mayfield is probably the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy at the moment following Lamar Jackson’s performance against Clemson and has a shot at setting the record for quarterback rating in a season. He has yet to throw an interception and has thrown for at least three touchdowns in each game.
Free ATS Pick
Baylor’s not going to win, we know that. But will they cover? The Bears are playing at home but that hasn’t helped them out so far. Until it does, we can’t back this team and will be taking the Sooners.
College Football Odds: Sooners 52, Bears 14
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