The No. 10 undefeated West Virginia Mountaineers head toward Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater as the NCAA football betting favorite to defeat the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday, October 29th. Here are the online sportsbook odds:
West Virginia -3½ (-110) 65 (-110) -175
Oklahoma State +3½ (-110) 65 (-110) +155
The Mountaineers (6-0) routed the TCU Horned Frogs 34-10 on Saturday. WV quarterback Skyler Howard threw 16 of 23 for 231 yards with four TD passes, including including 10, 22 and 11-yarders to three different receivers, as WV scored touchdowns in the first six minutes of the game and built up a 21-10 lead by halftime. Meanwhile, the defense kept TCU scoreless in the second half and CB Rasul Douglas had an interception to set up a touchdown. “We owed them,” Douglas said, referring to last year’s 10-40 loss to the Horned Frogs.
The Mountaineers are off to their best start since going 7-0 in the 2006 season. The Cowboys (5-2) have won three games in a row, including a 44-20 blowout of the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. Oklahoma State have “become the lateral kings,” according to head coach Mike Gundy, referring to a play in which safety Jordan Sterns got hold of the ball after an incomplete pass, ran 21 yards with it, and then lateraled the ball to defensive tackle Vincent Taylor, who in turn lateraled it to defensive end Jarrell Owens. So there you go; the Lateral Kings. Not as cool as the Mambo Kings, or the Gypsy Kings, but it’s good to be king nonetheless.
Elsewhere, OSU quarterback Mason Rudolph threw 16 of 24 for 220 yards with one touchdown, wide receiver Jalen McCleskey had 129 yards on six receptions, and running back Justice Hill (a name which should be accompanied by the words “new on Fox this season”) ran for 162 yards on 22 carries. Four of West Virginia’s last five losses have come on the road, but the road team has won the last two encounters between the Mountaineers and the Oklahoma State Cowboys. As far as NCAA football betting goes, the Mountaineers are 2-6 against the spread in their past eight games on the road and 5-2 against the spread in their last seven Big 12 conference games. The Cowboys are 2-5 against the spread facing a team with a winning record and 26-10-1 against the spread in their previous 37 games in the month of October.
The Mountaineers have come a long way from being unranked at the start of the season to making the top 10, and while they have played one true road game this year, it is going to take more than a hostile environment at Boone Pickens Stadium for the Cowboys to derail WV. OSU relies heavily on the passing game, but the Mountaineers are No. 12 in the country in pass efficiency defense. The Cowboys has scored at least 38 points in all except two games this season, but WV has allowed more than 21 points to only one opponent. Thus, the NCAA football betting advantage goes to West Virginia.