NCAA Football Odds – Top Ranked Sooners Travel To Missouri For Prime Time Match Up Saturday

When the initial Bowl Championship Series standings were released on Sunday, it was neither Oregon or Boise State ranked number-one, but instead Oklahoma. The Sooners were awarded for their 6-0 start, including 2-0 in the big 12, with the top seed in the country, despite not being ranked in the top-five in the AP poll heading in to last weekend. Oklahoma will open its defense of the top spot with a huge Big 12 showdown this Saturday on the road, when they take on number-11 Missouri.

Oklahoma Sooners @ Missouri Tigers

Saturday October 23, 2010 – 8:00 PM ET

Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri

Online Sports Betting Odds: n/a

The Tigers are also 6-0 so far this season including 2-0 in the Big 12, and will represent the Sooner’s toughest challenge this college football betting season. Missouri has yet to face a ranked opponent this year, but will get three over their next four games with clashes against number-16 Nebraska and number-22 Kansas State still to come.

NCAA Football Betting Preview: Oklahoma

After opening up at number-one, the Sooners have a relatively easy road to the national title game as long as they can maintain their consistency. Oklahoma will get number-11 Missouri in their toughest match up of the season this week, with an end of season in-state showdown against number-14 Oklahoma State the only other game against a ranked opponent. Led by sophomore quarterback Landry Jones, the Sooners have the 12th-best passing attack in the country. Jones will have to have his best game of the season this weekend against a Tigers’ defense that ranks second in the country in points against. Oklahoma outgained Iowa 672-183 in their return from a bye week last Saturday, and will need another solid effort this week in their biggest game of the season.

NCAA Football Betting Preview: Missouri

The Tigers represent the best chance for Oklahoma to be knocked out of the top spot this year, and will take that role seriously with the chance to establish themselves as the best team in the Big 12. Big wins over Colorado and Texas A&M in consecutive weeks has Missouri at number-11 in the nation, but those wins will mean little if the Tigers can’t show up against the best. Missouri last opened 6-0 back in 2006, and the last time they won seven in a row to open a season was in 1960, when they went undefeated.

The Match Up: Oklahoma @ Missouri

This will be the first time these teams meet since the 2008 Big 12 championship game, as the new number-one team in the nation gets its toughest test right out of the gate. Oklahoma has won seven straight over Missouri, and 19 of 20, and there is little reason to think that streak won’t continue this Northbet weekend. Head coach Bob Stoops’ understands its still a long way for the Sooners to get to the championship game, and will prepare his team for this game with the mindset that this game is their ticket.

NCAA Football Betting Pick: Oklahoma

NFL Betting Picks: Cleveland Browns vs. New Orleans Saints (-14 ½)

The Cleveland Browns could not have picked a worse time to go to New Orleans and play the defending Super Bowl champion Saints. Well, the betting world knows that the Browns did not choose this game, it was put on the schedule by the league. But he NFL betting experts foresee doom for the Cleveland Browns in this game, and there is very little reason to expect otherwise.

Last year the Cleveland Browns were the trendy pick to make the playoffs. They had two fairly well-known quarterbacks in Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson, and it just looked like Eric Mangini may give the Browns the direction they needed. Mangini wound up turning the Browns into a bad circus, and the team fell off the cliff finishing 5-11.

As the NFL scores keep rolling in for the 2010 season, Browns fans will need to be patient. New team president Mike Holgren is never afraid to admit when his teams are rebuilding and the Cleveland Browns are rebuilding. The 2010 season could be worse than the 2009 season, but Holgren will deliver a winner in Cleveland in the next few years. Along the way, Cleveland fans will have to endure some pretty depressing beatings.

One of those depressing beatings for the Cleveland Browns will come in week seven against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. The optimistic fan can say that Cleveland has a chance to hold its own in this game, but in their week six thrashing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Saints found their offense. That is not a good thing for the Cleveland Browns.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees found that touch he is famous for and threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns in week six against a good Tampa Bay defense. On the ground, with Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas injured, the Saints went to rookie Chris Ivory who ran for 158 yards. Ivory did not score a touchdown but, then again, he didn’t need to.

The Browns are in the bottom half of the league in all defensive categories. The NFL predictions prior to the season had the Browns with a less than adequate defense, and so far the Browns are living up to that expectation. But Cleveland fans need to relax. Mike Holgren is an offensive expert, so he is going to focus on the offense first. For Holgren, a good offense starts with the quarterback.

Cleveland rookie quarterback Colt McCoy actually had a good Northbet game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in his pro debut last week. He threw for 281 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Considering the fact that he was facing one of the best defenses in football, the kid held up okay. It looks like the Browns may have found their quarterback of the future in McCoy.

In this game, McCoy will not get much of a chance to play as Brees and the Saints offense will spend the majority of the game on the field. It is doubtful that the Browns will cover the points in this game, but it is also expected that McCoy will show more steps toward his development as a future NFL star.

Pick: New Orleans Saints 35-10