Former Big 12 foes take to the gridiron for the first time in eight years when the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Texas AM Aggies hook up in the Texas Bowl. AM’s departure to the SEC left a number of hated rivalries in limbo over the years. While this matchup doesn’t fall into that category, it’s still a good one that OSU had the better of before the move, winning the last four encounters. Current college football odds have the Aggies pegged as a 6.5-point favorite. The 2019 Texas Bowl is slated for Friday, December 27, at 6:45 p.m. ET from NRG Stadium in Houston. The game will air on ESPN.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Oklahoma State Cowboys +6.5
Texas AM Aggies -6.5
Over/Under 54.5
Oklahoma State vs. Texas AM Odds Analysis
This former conference matchup appeared to be close in the eyes of oddsmakers, who slotted Texas AM as a 4-point favorite on the opening line. Despite having a worse record, the brutal SEC slate was enough for the betting public to jump on the Aggies causing a bump in the line to Texas AM -6.5. Unless something drastic happens I don’t see the spread going any higher and in all likelihood it will settle around the 5-6 point range. Both teams were good against the spread this season with the Pokes going 8-3-1 and the Aggies 7-5. Squares are buying the over forcing a half-point spike in the total to 54.5.
Oklahoma State Odds
The Cowboys entered their season-ending Bedlam matchup with Oklahoma riding a four-game winning streak while going 3-0-1 ATS. They were embarrassed by the Sooners losing 34-16 as a 14-point dog to finish the regular season 8-4 SU and 8-3-1 ATS. OSU stretched its consecutive bowl streak to 14 seasons going 9-4 in the previous 13 postseason tilts. The Cowboys won each of their last three bowls covering the closing line each time.
Big 12 games typically produce massive totals, and the Cowboys fell victim over the final month of the season by cashing the under in each of their last three games. Overall the under was 5-7. Even the presence of national rushing leader Chuba Hubbard couldn’t help in that area. Hubbard ran for 1,936 by eclipsing the 100-yard mark 11 times in 12 games and four times amassing more than 200 yards. He also added 21 touchdowns and will be a key component for the Cowboys as they look to keep a few streaks alive.
Texas AM Odds
You can cut Jimbo Fisher some slack this year, but at some point he’s going to have win more games than the seven his Aggies currently have. Those seven victories came against unranked teams with the Aggies at 7-0 SU and 5-2 ATS. When playing teams ranked in the top-10, it was a different story. And Fisher isn’t getting paid a boatload of money to beat Texas State, Lamar and Arkansas. Nope, he’s getting the big bucks to knock off the big boys, and that didn’t happen. The Aggies went 0-5 SU and 2-3 ATS against top-10 competition.
Oklahoma State isn’t LSU and the Aggies need a rebound effort after getting plastered 50-7 by the Tigers. Kellen Mond has been around the program for a few years and probably never experienced a worse day than against LSU when he was just 10 of 30 passing for 92 yards and three picks. And trying to stop Hubbard without Justin Madubuike plugging up the middle is going to be tough.
Key Trends
The Aggies could claim that they had the toughest schedule this season, and they probably wouldn’t get much of an argument. All five losses came against teams ranked in the top-10 at the time of the game with two against a different No. 1. The Aggies hung tight in a 24-10 loss to No. 1 Clemson, and lost by one score to No. 8 Auburn and No. 4 Georgia. They were gutted by No. 1 Alabama and ended the year with a 50-7 thrashing by No. 2 LSU. Oklahoma State represents a different opponent. The Cowboys aren’t in the elite category, but they are better than the seven teams AM beat. That alone should make this closer than the 6.5-points on the college football betting line.
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