NCAA Football: Who’s on top of the Big 12?

Last year’s greatest conference was a logjam of Top 10 teams by the last half of the season. Sure, Missouri fell away, Texas Tech was a pretender and Texas A&M ran out of steam, but the two remaining giants are back again, and the question is who’s going to make it to the title game this year – Texas or Oklahoma?

Who cares? You do. Every college football gambler will be taking odds into account and making their bets in the weeks ahead. At last look at the futures, these two teams are neck-in-neck, with OU showing a college football odds of 9/2 payoff, and Texas at 5:1.

The answer varies depending on who you ask, but my pick is still the Sooners. I don’t buy the loss of four starters as an earth-shaking reason to lose confidence in Oklahoma. If that really were the case, then why have them as such a pre-season favorite to being with (second nationwide only to Florida’s 2:1)? Why change the rules just for the matchup against Big 12 brother Texas?

Also, last year is last year, and you can’t look to there to get a sense of what to expect when this season starts, especially in the college game. Everyone starts out 0-0.

Texas can make a case, though. Colt McCoy is ready to explode, and regardless of how pumped up OU’s defense is for the matchup, McCoy’s drive may be too much to overcome.
Oklahoma fished the season last year 12-2, but I don’t expect anything more than a single loss this season. This big matchup against the Longhorns is Oct. 17, but it’s at home. If they can stay focused, you might even be looking at an undefeated season.

Some “experts” even have Oklahoma below USC, but since this is a Big 12 discussion, I won’t dwell on that any further.

I mentioned McCoy, but do you think Sam Bradford isn’t eying that Heisman trophy this year? In fact, many believe the Sooners have much more to prove this year than the Longhorns, although I admit both teams will as hungry as ever over their storied histories.

Last year Bradford threw for 50 TD and 4,700 yards, I can see him reaching and surpassing that again in 2009. Pair that with upperclassman RB Chris Brown and you’ve got an explosive tandem that’ll be hard to beat.

My advice? Bet the Sooners to take the season matchup, the Big 12 championship game and the higher spot in the BCS standings when all is said and done.