RCT Bets the Big 12: Week 1

Welcome to the first edition of what I hope will be a weekly feature here at RCT. Yes, this is a blatant ripoff of the WRNL series, but it looked fun so I thought I’d give it a try. I don’t gamble in real life, so it’s possible that I may stumble into a future as a handicapping expert – but most likely not.

This actually is for entertainment purposes only.

Each week I’ll run down the slate of Big 12 games. I may not bet every game, and I may not bet the same amount on each game. A friend of mine will also offer up to five “Top Plays of the Week” at the end of each column which I will pass on to you and, of course, I will also keep track of as the year goes along. His real name may or may not be “Brad” and his RCT handle, on the off-chance he ever comments, is DrCrushALot.

For the most part, FCS foes are generally not featured on Las Vegas sportsbooks, and therefore will be off the board. For all other games, I’ll use the odds posted at Yahoo (since I can actually access that page from work). Odds will be as of the day before publication, as lines can and do change. I will take the most common line offered, for example, if four books show -10 and one shows -9.5, I’ll go with -10.

I’ll start with 500 virtual dollars and see if I can turn a profit over the course of the year.

Let’s roll.

Northwestern State at Baylor

Line: OFF

O/U: OFF

My bet: I hope Baylor loses this one 65-14. Although that’s unlikely, what I do know is this - Baylor fans better enjoy this season, because mediocrity (or worse) is on its way. But what do I know, I’m just jealous.

Kansas State at Stanford

Line: Stanford -14.5

O/U: 47.5

I can’t decide if K-State’s offense is going to be good enough to stay close to whatever Christian McCaffrey does or not. The Wildcats definitely have a way of frustrating me when I watch them, because how did you let that guy get so wide open AGAIN!?!? But then they do three quarterback draws in a row and punt. So I dunno.

I think I’m gonna go with a philosophy I heard from an old lady when she called in to a local talk radio show many years ago. She said, “I always bet against the Royals. That way if they win, I’m happy, because I love the Royals. But if they lose, I’m still happy, because I won money.” She paused and finished with, “I’ve won a lot of money of over the years.” This was long before the Royals were good, btw.

So if I bet K-State, I’ll be happy if they cover, because I’ll have won (fake) money. And if they don’t cover, I’ll be happy because they embarrassed themselves on national television.

My bet: $20 Kansas State +14.5

Oklahoma at Houston

Line: Oklahoma -11.5

O/U: 68

I suppose it’s not technically a home game for Houston, as they’re hosting this event at Reliant Stadium. Since it won’t be on campus, that means more OU fans in the stands and less of an advantage for the home team. How will that affect the Cougars? I personally don’t think it will matter that much. Houston has an explosive offense and I think they’ll be able to keep up with the Sooners long enough to make it interesting in the end.

My bet: $20 Houston +11

Missouruh at West Virginia

Line: West Virginia -10

O/U: 50.5

It won’t be too much longer now and Missouruh will be slumming it with Vanderbilt in the SEC East cellar. Yeah, I’ve been saying that since 2012 but now, now it will finally come to fruition. I honestly haven’t been paying any attention to Missouruh since they left the Big 12. Did they even make a bowl game last year?

Meh, whatever, I don’t even care enough to Google it. I know there was some fracas about players weren’t going to play in a game and Pinkel “supported his guys” and some teacher yelled at a reporter... I dunno what’s going on. I also don’t care. All I know is that the Tigers really struggled on offense last year, and I’m guessing hoping they haven’t fixed that issue.

My bet: $10 West Virginia -10

Southeastern Louisiana at Oklahoma State

OFF

My bet: Mike Gundy is a man.

Rhode Island at Kansas

Technically off the board, but since I ran this article last week, I’ll go ahead and “bet” it here. My official prediction is coming out later this week in our picks article, so I’ll just leave you with the following wager.

My bet: $40 Kansas -29

Northern Iowa at Iowa State

OFF

I wonder if Northern Iowa is any good this year. God I hope so.

My bet: Matt Campbell gets a not-so-warm welcome to the state from the purple Panthers.

South Dakota State at TCU

OFF

My bet: The Frogs have Jackrabbit stew for dinner.

Stephen F. Austin at Texas Tech

OFF

My bet: Many “one guy versus eleven” jokes will be attempted. None will succeed.

Notre Dame at Texas

Line: Notre Dame -3

O/U: 60

I know the Irish are having some disciplinary issues, but this line seems low and Texas hasn’t had a winning season since … I dunno when, but it’s been too long for a program like UT. I obviously don’t follow Texas closely, but I assume they’ve been recruiting well all these years. Although the Irish seem to have a tendency to play down to their opponent under Brian Kelly, he has been on a pretty good run lately with Notre Dame and I just don’t think Charlie Strong has what it takes to win a game like this, even at home.

My bet: $40 Notre Dame -3

DrCrushALot’s Picks of the Week

I am all over taking Notre Dame -3. If this game were in South Bend the Irish would be favored by 8 or 10.

I am taking K-State +14.5. Snyder will figure out a way to lose by 3.

I am taking Michigan -40 vs Hawaii. Hawaii just lost by 20 to Cal and it was played in Australia; now they travel to Michigan immediately. How little does Vegas feel about Hawaii in this game? The line is 40, but the O/U is only 54.

Finally, I'll take Kentucky -6 over Southern Miss.