The Texas Longhorns (2-1) face the Oklahoma Sooners (1-2) in the Red River Showdown Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas at noon ET (on Fox). Below, we analyze the Texas-Oklahoma college football betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
The Longhorns are ranked 22nd in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Texas vs. Oklahoma: Betting odds and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Texas +105 (bet $100 to win $105) | Oklahoma -129 (bet $129 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: Texas +2.5 (-110) | Oklahoma -2.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 72.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Texas vs. Oklahoma: Three things to know
- The Sooners have won four of the previous five Red River Showdowns but Texas covered the spread in seven of the past eight.
- Texas head coach Tom Herman and Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley have met four times since 2017: Oklahoma is 3-1 straight up but 1-3 against the spread.
- Oklahoma is coming into the Red River Showdown unranked for the first time in 15 seasons.
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Texas vs. Oklahoma: Odds, betting lines and picks
Prediction
Texas 38, Oklahoma 30
Money line (ML)
Oklahoma (-129) gave up a 21-point lead in the second half of its loss to Kansas State Sept. 26 and an 11-point first-half lead in last week’s loss to Iowa State.
Texas (+105) lost a heartbreaker 33-31 last week to the TCU Horned Frogs. RB Keaontay Ingram fumbled the ball at the goal line with 2:32 left in the game.
Riley is a quarterback whisperer and Sooners sophomore QB Spencer Rattler is a five-star recruit who’s sixth in the nation in yards per attempt and seventh QB rating.
Longhorns senior QB Sam Ehlinger is leading the country in passing touchdowns (14) and is eighth in QB rating. Texas has a more balanced offensive attack and ranks 23rd in rushing yards per game, whereas Oklahoma is 58th in yards per game (122.7), averaging just 3.6 yards per carry.
The Sooners start games hot (16 points per game in the first quarter) and cool off by the final whistle (5.7 points per game in the fourth quarter). The Sooners are unable to salt away games because of their weak rushing attack.
In this game, the Longhorns will come out as the hotter team and their run game can put away this contest. If that fails, Oklahoma’s defense and run game will leave the door open for any Longhorns comebacks.
BET TEXAS (+105).
Against the spread (ATS)
There are a few ways to go about betting the Texas-Oklahoma line but I am going to PASS on the spread. Texas +2.5 (-110) has been a great ATS versus Oklahoma -2.5 (-110) in the Herman-and-Riley-era but it’s not enough points given the offenses for me to buy the insurance.
That being said, you could certainly put $40 on the Longhorns’ money line and insure it with $110 on Texas +2.5 (-110).
Over/Under (O/U)
Texas has a 3-0 O/U record and Oklahoma is 2-1 O/U this season so we are getting a fat total (72.5). The previous two meetings also had monster totals and each went Under the number by at least two touchdowns. Both teams could try to hide their defenses by controlling the pace of play, leading to long drives.
TAKE UNDER 72.5 (-110).
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