Vegas oddsmakers apparently like a lukewarm Oklahoma team more than a red-hot South Carolina squad.
Less than 24 hours after beating Mississippi State 23-15 to hopefully get back on track, the Sooners opened as 3.5-point favorites, according to FanDuel, over South Carolina. OU will host the Gamecocks at 3:15 p.m. CT Saturday, and being at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium definitely boosted OU as the early favorite.
Opening odds for Oklahoma vs. South Carolina
Spread
-3.5 Oklahoma
+3.5 South Carolina
Moneyline
-156 Oklahoma
+130 South Carolina
Total (over/under)
+/- 44.5 points
Odds are courtesy of FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
This game week is starting from the opposite trajectory of the last. A week ago, OU and Mississippi State were both coming off disappointing losses and looking to be the one to recover instead of prompting a losing streak.
The Sooners and Gamecocks, though, just notched impressive victories, especially South Carolina. The Gamecocks upset then-No. 11 Tennessee 27-24 in Columbia with a last-second field goal.
Shane Beamer suddenly has maybe the hottest team in the SEC, as the Gamecocks have won back-to-back games to cool Beamer’s seat. Many wondered if he’d even still have his job for a return trip to Oklahoma, where he was an assistant under Lincoln Riley for three seasons.
South Carolina hammered then-No. 16 Florida 38-19 in The Swamp two weeks ago. The week before that, the Gamecocks lost in overtime to Kentucky, which beat OU 21-13. Still, Vegas is favoring the Sooners’ home-field advantage and recent impressive showing over South Carolina’s momentum.
The Sooners’ defense was stellar as usual against Mississippi State, but the offense finally showed life. Offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle committed to the run, and quarterback John Mateer was efficient with no turnovers. That resulted in the most yards the Sooners have ever had in an SEC matchup in three years in the conference, with 467 yards.
Yes, 23 points isn’t much for a team to beat its chest over, but even Vegas realizes that OU’s offense doesn’t need to do much to compete with any team in college football thanks to its elite defense, no matter how hot they seem to be.
Beating South Carolina, which Vegas predicts, would put the Sooners at 5-3, while needing to reach six wins to reach a bowl game. At least one more win would have to come against either Florida, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, or Missouri. That would extend the Sooners' bowl streak to 27 seasons.
How intriguing that bowl matchup is and whether it’s worth drawing the attention of Sooner Nation depends on how many of those remaining games the Sooners win and who they beat. Vegas will likely favor OU against Texas A&M at home, but it’s still too early to predict the others.
We knew before the season even kicked off that the schedule set up for the Sooners to put together a nice run late. We just hoped it would be to sneak into the College Football Playoff. But back-to-back wins would finally show OU might achieve some sort of preseason expectation, even if it’s too late.
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