Betting the Red River Rivalry
The Red River rivalry game has been played between Texas and Oklahoma since 1900 and is one of the great annual grudge matches in college football betting.
The Longhorns have won three of the last four games in Dallas and will be slight favorites to win again in 2009.
At Bodog, we?ll be keeping a close eye on all the news before this game, but none more so than any information regarding the health of Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford.
Bradford returned to action last week against Baylor after sustaining a third-degree sprained shoulder in the Sooners' season-opening loss to BYU. He completed 27 of 49 passes for 389 yards and a touchdown in Oklahoma?s 33-7 victory, and if not for a number of dropped passes, his numbers would have been even better.
"If I had not been told or known that Sam was hurt, watching him play, I wouldn't have thought he's hurt," Texas coach Mack Brown said after watching the game on TV. "He walked out there and threw it just like he did it before he got hurt. He?s back at 100 percent and ready to go."
What else is he supposed to say though? We know that any tidbit of information to the contrary will be acted upon, and quickly, by bettors.
We?re certainly used to monitoring the action while bettors determine how much faith to put in a college quarterback that has injury concerns. The Tim Tebow will-he-or-won?t-he-play watch peaked last week before the Florida Gators suffocated LSU 13-3 at Tiger Stadium.
Florida hosts Arkansas on Saturday in a game that even Tebow admits could trip up the Gators if they?re not prepared.
"Arkansas could definitely beat us,'' said Tebow, "they've got a lot of great players, a great coach. They could definitely beat us.''
Tebow was 11-of-16 passing for 134 yards and a touchdown and one interception against the Tigers, carrying the ball 17 times for 38 yards on the ground.
It?ll be interesting to see if Florida coach Urban Meyer tips his hand during the week on how much he?ll use Tebow against the Razorbacks, particularly if the Gators are leading big at halftime. If Tebow goes out, could a late Arkansas cover follow?
As for the rest of the college football betting action last week, the Purdue- Minnesota game got solid handle as the line opened Purdue +3.5 and early bettors took the dog down to +3. Not surprisingly, that?s when people jumped on the favored Gophers, pushing the line back to 3.5. In retrospect, we would?ve been wise to let bettors pound the dog, seeing as Minnesota won easily, 35-20.
Another line mover was Georgia, which opened +1.5 at Tennessee and closed at -1. Good news for the book, considering the Bulldogs went on to get hammered by the Vols, 45-19.
The Red River rivalry game has been played between Texas and Oklahoma since 1900 and is one of the great annual grudge matches in college football betting.
The Longhorns have won three of the last four games in Dallas and will be slight favorites to win again in 2009.
At Bodog, we?ll be keeping a close eye on all the news before this game, but none more so than any information regarding the health of Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford.
Bradford returned to action last week against Baylor after sustaining a third-degree sprained shoulder in the Sooners' season-opening loss to BYU. He completed 27 of 49 passes for 389 yards and a touchdown in Oklahoma?s 33-7 victory, and if not for a number of dropped passes, his numbers would have been even better.
"If I had not been told or known that Sam was hurt, watching him play, I wouldn't have thought he's hurt," Texas coach Mack Brown said after watching the game on TV. "He walked out there and threw it just like he did it before he got hurt. He?s back at 100 percent and ready to go."
What else is he supposed to say though? We know that any tidbit of information to the contrary will be acted upon, and quickly, by bettors.
We?re certainly used to monitoring the action while bettors determine how much faith to put in a college quarterback that has injury concerns. The Tim Tebow will-he-or-won?t-he-play watch peaked last week before the Florida Gators suffocated LSU 13-3 at Tiger Stadium.
Florida hosts Arkansas on Saturday in a game that even Tebow admits could trip up the Gators if they?re not prepared.
"Arkansas could definitely beat us,'' said Tebow, "they've got a lot of great players, a great coach. They could definitely beat us.''
Tebow was 11-of-16 passing for 134 yards and a touchdown and one interception against the Tigers, carrying the ball 17 times for 38 yards on the ground.
It?ll be interesting to see if Florida coach Urban Meyer tips his hand during the week on how much he?ll use Tebow against the Razorbacks, particularly if the Gators are leading big at halftime. If Tebow goes out, could a late Arkansas cover follow?
As for the rest of the college football betting action last week, the Purdue- Minnesota game got solid handle as the line opened Purdue +3.5 and early bettors took the dog down to +3. Not surprisingly, that?s when people jumped on the favored Gophers, pushing the line back to 3.5. In retrospect, we would?ve been wise to let bettors pound the dog, seeing as Minnesota won easily, 35-20.
Another line mover was Georgia, which opened +1.5 at Tennessee and closed at -1. Good news for the book, considering the Bulldogs went on to get hammered by the Vols, 45-19.
