The undefeated Baylor Bears are heading to Texas as the NCAA football betting favorites against the sketchy Longhorns on Saturday, October 29th at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. These are the sportsbook odds for that game:
Baylor Bears -3 (-120) 69 (-110) -165
Texas Longhorns +3 (EV) 69 (-110) +145
The No. 8 Bears (6-0) trounced the Kansas Jayhawks 49-7 on October 15th before going on a week off. Baylor QB Seth Russell played only one half but still threw for 144 yards with two TDs and ran for 68 yards on seven carries for another pair of scores. On defense, CB Ryan Reid had two interceptions; he returned one 64 yards for a touchdown, and the other 52 yards to the Kansas 109, which resulted in one of the Bears’ three missed field goals. Baylor is now eligible for a bowl appearance for the seventh straight season, and is the only Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team that is 6-0 for the fourth consecutive year. However, of all of their opponents – or victims – none have been ranked and only one had a winning record.
How to best describe the Leghorns’ 3-4 record? How about, “That’s a joke, ah say, that’s a joke, son”? Texas has only itself to blame for losing 21-24 on Saturday to a Kansas State Wildcats team that epitomizes the word “inconsistent.” The Longhorns took advantage of three Wildcats TOs to get within 24-14 in the third quarter, but missed a 35-yard field goal with four minutes left in the quarter. Texas got the ball back but wasted valuable time with running plays before QB Shane Buechele connected with wide receiver Dorian Leonard from 6 yards out with 46 seconds remaining. The Longhorns knocked the subsequent onside kick out of bounds, missing on the chance to kick a tying field goal. Texas had a season-worst 344 yards and was penalized 10 times for 72 yards.
Halfway through the regular season, NCAA football betting fans have more questions than answers about the Bears. And the Longhorns don’t look like the kind of team that will help us elucidate matters. Baylor averages 44 points per game, has the league’s top scoring defense, lead the Big 12 conference in pass efficiency defense and rank 3rd in the country in yards per play allowed. Then again, Cosmo Kramer was class champion at his dojo, but he was fighting nine year old children.
To further the analogy, Texas is nine years old so Baylor doesn’t even need karate; they can just wring its neck. Plus, the Bears have a more experienced QB, more depth at skill spots, lethal returners, a strong punt kicker, and have had an extra week of rest – as well as the extra motivation to avenge last season’s loss to the Longhorns (Texas beat Baylor 23-17 in December). All of that is what makes and keeps the Horns the NCAA football betting odds this Saturday – and most likely the one after that – until further notice.