Big 12 Betting – Can Sooners Get Back On Top In Big 12?
It’s going to be a delightful season of Big 12 football this fall – if you love meanness, nastiness and bloodshed.
Nebraska and Colorado can’t get out of this conference quickly enough after bolting for the Big Ten and the Pac-10, respectively. Missouri will also find life in this conference very uncomfortable after wanting to go to the Big Ten but getting rebuffed by Commissioner Jim Delany. In one year, this will be a 10-member conference (if it’s still alive), but for now, the Big 12 will carry 12 teams for one last football go-round. This should not be ignored in the larger calculus of the 2010 season, and sports betting students are certainly mindful of this emotionally-charged dynamic.
Team On The Rise
Given their flirtation with the SEC in recent weeks, the Texas A&M Aggies have only become that much more embittered toward the Texas Longhorns, who have asserted their political control over the rest of the Big 12. A&M’s coaches and players will be freshly motivated to perform well in 2010 after muddling through much of 2009. Quarterback Jerrod Johnson is a dynamic athlete who – if he can make better decisions and understand the game on a consistent basis – will make the Aggies’ offense hum. Just a modest amount of defense will enable A&M to produce an upper-division finish in a Big 12 South where some teams might fall on hard times. The people who study NCAA football betting for a living are keeping their eyes trained on these Aggies, and with good reason.
Team On The Decline
The team that will indeed fall on hard times in the Big 12 South is Texas Tech. For a solid decade, former coach Mike Leach oversaw the unorthodox, convention-busting aerial attack which enabled the Red Raiders to become a respectable program in a cutthroat division. Tech got the recruits Oklahoma and Texas didn’t want, but still managed to go bowling on an annual basis. With Leach gone due to the ugly Adam (and Craig) James controversy that exhausted his remaining political capital in Lubbock, Tech must now rebuild under new boss Tommy Tuberville. It needs to be said that Tuberville is a quality coach, but the former Auburn leader likes to pound the ball between the tackles. Tech simply isn’t equipped to run the ball in 2010; it will take a year for the Red Raiders to adjust to Tuberville’s style. The boys in Lubbock will endure quite a bit of pain this fall as a result; online betting professionals would probably not refute such a contention.
Best Player In The Conference:
Oklahoma outside linebacker Travis Lewis. Two years ago, Lewis was flagged for a pair of highly questionable personal foul calls in Oklahoma’s ballyhooed and highly significant Red River Rivalry game against the Texas Longhorns. Lewis might have crossed a line that day, but this outside backer wouldn’t have been able to commit those penalties if he hadn’t arrived at the point of impact in the first place. Lewis gets to spots on a football field, and his lateral movement is exceptional. OU’s defense won’t slip with Lewis on the prowl this season
Who Will Win The Conference:
When Nebraska leaves for the Big Ten in 2011, the only game that will matter in this conference is Texas-Oklahoma in Dallas on the second Saturday of October. This year, the Texas-Oklahoma winner should get a very tough game from Nebraska in what is shaping up to be the final Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington, Texas. Nebraska’s defense should be fabulous and formidable, even without 2009 Heisman Trophy finalist Ndamukong Suh. However, OU and Texas should have too many offensive weapons while also boasting a defense that should keep the Huskers off the scoreboard. OU, if it doesn’t get devastated by injuries the way it did last year, should be able to bump off a Texas team that will miss the leadership of graduated quarterback Colt McCoy. Give the 2010 Big 12 crown to Oklahoma.
