Bedlam has more at stake than college football playoff in Oklahoma
With no conference championship game and sustaining its lone loss of the season in late November, Oklahoma State's chances of gaining a spot in college football's four-team playoff essentially ended last Saturday on the floor of Boone Pickens Stadium.
Baylor, which was down to its third-string quarterback after injuries to Seth Russell and Jarrett Stidham, strolled into Stillwater and handed the Cowboys their first loss, 45-35.
Oklahoma State was slotted at No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday. With only Saturday's home game against third-ranked Oklahoma remaining on the regular season schedule, the Cowboys and coach Mike Gundy would need a minor miracle to sneak in the back door and make the playoff.
Regardless of the stakes, however, the game known simply as "Bedlam" in this two-horse state brings out the best in competitors on both sides.
The Sooners and Cowboys are both 7-1 in Big 12 play, with the winner laying claim to the outright conference championship. A victory by visiting Oklahoma would likely propel the Sooners, who inexplicably lost to Texas in mid-October, into the four-team playoff.
The Sooners kept their playoff hopes alive last week by escaping at home with a 30-29 victory over a TCU squad missing its top two players, quarterback Trevone Boykin and wide receiver Josh Doctson. The Horned Frogs scored a late touchdown to pull within a point, but opted to go for two points and the victory rather than try to send the game to overtime.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Sooners' top two backs, Semaje Perine and Joe Mixon, are expected to play after being slowed this week by various ailments.
The underdog in Bedlam has covered the past three games in the series, with straight-up victories the past two years - Oklahoma won 33-24 as a 10-point 'dog in 2013 and Oklahoma State won 38-35 last season as a 21-point 'dog.
Look for the recent trend to continue. Take the Cowboys and the 7 points.
Six more plays for today (home team in CAPS):
* Ohio State-MICHIGAN (Under 47): Weather played a factor and it was only a single game, but last week's offensive showing by Ohio State should provide a blueprint for coach Jim Harbaugh and Michigan for slowing the Buckeyes.
In a 17-14 loss at the hands of Michigan State, Ohio State only mustered five first downs and 132 total yards and lacked any semblance of a passing threat. Both teams allow fewer than 15 points per game (Ohio State 14.1 and Michigan 14.9), so points figure to be at a premium in Ann Arbor.
* Duke (-4) over WAKE FOREST: The Blue Devils are stumbling to the finish line, with coach David Cutcliffe's team having lost four games in a row.
Wake Forest, however, just might be the tonic to cure what ails Duke. The Demon Deacons' three victories this season have come against the likes of Elon, Army and Boston College. Duke has won 12 of its past 15 road games straight up.
* LOUISIANA TECH (-5½) over Southern Mississippi: The teams in this Conference USA West showdown enter on different trajectories. Starting to hit their stride in Todd Monken's third year as coach, the Golden Eagles have averaged 46.2 points per game over their past five contests. Louisiana Tech, meanwhile, is off perhaps its worst outing of the season, a 17-15 road victory over lowly Texas-El Paso.
The Bulldogs are 11-3 ATS over their past 14 games as single-digit conference favorite.
* STANFORD (-3½) over Notre Dame: The injury bug started biting Notre Dame during summer workouts and has not slowed much throughout the season as the Fighting Irish have lost four starters on both sides of the ball and that attrition has to have a cumulative effect at some point.
Do-everything Stanford sophomore Christian McCaffrey set a school record last week with 389 all-purpose yards in a win over Cal and has almost 2,800 all-purpose yards on the season.
Last week: 5-2 against the spread
Season: 34-31-6
Paul Stone of VegasSportsAuthority.com provides college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
