NCAA Football Betting – BCS Game Depends on Pair of Conference Contests
The biggest BetUS Sportsbook college game of the year is in Georgia, but doesn’t feature the Yellow Jackets or the Bulldogs.
The contenders are from neighboring states, top-ranked undefeated Alabama and once-beaten Florida, winners of the West and East divisions respectively, in the Southeastern Conference.
The Crimson Tide risks its No. 1 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) ranking against the Gators, which many experts say are playing the best sports betting football of any college team. The winner advances to the BCS title game in the Orange Bowl.
Saturday’s match-up pits the SEC’s top offense, Florida, against the league’s best defense, Alabama. The Gators and Tide also rank first and second in SEC rushing.
Florida is fifth nationwide in passing and third in scoring, averaging 46.3 yards per game. The Gators aren’t bad defensively, ranked fourth holding foes to 12.3 points a game, just behind Alabama giving up 11.5. The Gators are second picking off passes with 23 interceptions.
While the Tide goes into the Georgia Dome with no serious injuries, Florida could be without three players. Defensive tackle Matt Patchan is out for the season with a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Defensive tackle Brandon Antwine, who missed the first five games while recovering from back surgery, is doubtful with a sprained knee.
In addition, receiver Percy Harvin is questionable and day-to-day. The junior, who sprained his right ankle in the first half of the 45-15 hammering of Florida State and didn’t return, has scored touchdowns in 16 straight games.
Saturday’s Big 12 championship most likely will decide the other team that will play for the national championship on Jan. 8.
Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech finished in a three-way tie atop the Big 12 South, but the Sooners get the nod to play North champ Missouri because of the BSC tiebreaker.
Oklahoma vaulted over Texas in the BSC standings to second behind Alabama after crushing Oklahoma State, 61-41. The Longhorns dropped to third despite defeating Oklahoma earlier in the season, 45-35, and demolishing Texas A&M on Thanksgiving, 49-9.
There’s still an outside chance Texas could make it to Miami, but two-touchdown underdog Missouri would have to upset Oklahoma Saturday evening at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Texas is in the same boat as the University of Miami was in 2000. The Hurricanes defeated Florida State, but lost to Washington early in the season and finished third in the BCS standings. The Seminoles played Oklahoma in the title game and fell, 13-2.
The Sooners do have one key injury: quarterback Sam Bradford tore ligaments in his non-throwing hand on the third series of the victory over the Red Raiders. But that didn’t hamper his performance – he passed for 370 yards and four touchdowns, and he also scored on a run.
Bradford is the third rated passer in the nation and leads all quarterbacks with 46 TDs while the Sooners rank No. 1 in scoring, averaging 53.3 points a game.
