College Football Odds and Preview -- Upsets Possible in SEC and Big 12 Title Games

  • In Charles Jay
  • Sat, Dec 1st, 2018 6:25:16 am
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


Can Texas complete the sweep of Oklahoma? And will Georgia get revenge over Alabama? We'll get our answers in the Big 12 and SEC championship games.

Betting preview for the Big 12, SEC and Conference USA Championships

We are at the time of the year when the various conference, in both the "Power 5" and "Group of 5," decide their champions. In some of these title games, there is a lot at stake in terms of placement in bowl games. And it even goes to another level when you consider that some of these teams also have aspirations of getting into the four-team college football playoff.

For example, the Georgia Bulldogs will put themselves in with a victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC championship game. And Alabama, even if it loses, could be part of that four-team field. That would be bad news for the Oklahoma Sooners, even if they beat Texas in the Big 12 title game.

Remember that for all these games, you can get reduced juice for better odds at BetAnySports, and also real-time wagering through Live Betting Ultra.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

Oklahoma vs. Texas (@ Arlington) -- Noon ET
Line at BetAnySports: Oklahoma -8, Total 78

BIG 12 Championship free pickWhen these teams met previously, in another installment of the "Red River Rivalry," Oklahoma made some costly mistakes and Texas took a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter, but then Kyrie Murray, a Heisman contender, came to life and the Sooners tied the score before Texas came back with a winning field goal with time running out.

That's Oklahoma's only loss, and it puts them in a spot where winning this game may not be enough. They need to win, probably impressively, and hope that Alabama knocks Georgia out of the picture completely. So yes, they would run up the score if they had the chance. The problem is being able to put some distance between themselves and the opposition, and they haven't been able to do that because of a substandard defense that has surrendered 47.5 ppg over the last four. So even as they explode offensively (they are #1 in the nation in yards per game), they experience life-and-death struggles. And a switch from Mike Stoops to Ruffin McNeil at the defensive coordinator position just seems to have exacerbated the situation.

The one thing you just can't ignore is the record of Texas coach Tom Herman when getting points. Going back to his tenure as coach at Houston, he has covered twelve of his last 13 in that situation. There is enough room in this line for the Longhorns.

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

Alabama vs. Georgia (@ Atlanta)
Line at BetAnySports: Alabama -13, Total 64

SEC Championship PreviewOne thing that has to loom large here is that you know what Alabama is capable of doing. LSU was supposed to be the big challenge for them, having actually beaten Georgia by 20 points. And at the end it was a 29-0 shutout. The Tide has won all of its games by at least 20 points, which is rather incredible. And Tua Tagvailoa has played out of his mind, with 36 TD passes and just two interceptions.

Georgia has a lot of the components to make this a real contest - the quarterback on Jake Fromm, a brand new running back combination ( D'Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield) and a defense that has allowed just 17.2 points a game. And of course, they went toe-to-toe with 'Bama in last year's title game.

One of the factors that has to be looked at closely is the ability of Georgia to limit the explosive plays on the part of opponents. Alabama, for example, has a defense with a "Success Rate" that is tops in the nation, but just 76th in preventing explosive plays. Georgia, on the other hand, playing about the same strength of schedule, is the very best in the country in defending explosiveness. So perhaps there is some value in the number with the Bulldogs.

CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP

UAB at Middle Tennessee - 1:30 PM ET
Line at BetAnySports: Middle Tenn. -1, Total 44.5

This is a bit of a tricky one, as UAB could have knocked Middle Tennessee out of the title picture last week if they had been able to beat them. But instead, they just kind of laid down, in a very big way, with just 89 yards of offense, yielding seven sacks of AJ Erdely. So were the Blazers just playing possum? Look, this is a program for which that is out of character. Coach Bill Clark brought this school up from the ashes after having dropped football; in the first year back they went to a bowl game, and this season they got into the Top 25 of the Coaches' poll (if for only a week). But they're going to be tough this week, and the numbers back that up, as they rank in the top ten in a lot of categories, including sacks, third down defense (25.5% allowed) and total defense as well.

Conference USA football championship previewThere is something to be said about MTSU and the experience Brent Stockstil brings to the table at the quarterback spot. He's actually in his sixth year with the program (there were a couple redshirt seasons in there), but one of his handicaps is that he is not one of those "down the field" guys, averaging just 10.5 yards per completion, which is extremely low. So the effect is that UAB might not have to worry about having their secondary stretched, and they can get a lot of pressure on Stockstill with a great pass rush (41 sacks) against an offensive line that has been fair-to-middling, giving up 34 sacks.

So unless UAB has really run out of gas, we'll expect them to bounce back and show that last week's embarrassment was a dog-and-pony show.

BetAnySports gives you the best value when it comes to placing wagers on the conference title games, when you access reduced juice. And Live Betting Ultra gives you a lot of chances to stay very much in the action.............. Remember that you can open up your account very easy, using your Visa card, person-to-person transfers (like Western Union) or the virtual currency of Bitcoin, which is fast and easy with their automated system, and NEVER incurs a transaction fee!


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