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NCAA Football

Baylor Bears vs Oklahoma State Cowboys Free Pick & Preview

Venue/Stadium: Boone Pickens Stadium

Time/Date: 3:35 p.m. Eastern, October 29
College Football Odds from Bodog
Moneyline: Oklahoma State -550
Spread (ATS): Oklahoma State -14.5
Over/Under: 70.5

The Oklahoma State Cowboys shouldn’t sweat bullets this weekend. They’ve already shown what they can do when they host the Baylor Bears, even a Baylor team with playmaking quarterback Robert Griffin III. Because of the Big 12 Conference’s shift from 12 teams to 10, the conference slate has shifted this season. A lot of the conference games played within the league’s 2010 division format (in the six-team Big 12 North Division and the six-team Big 12 South) are being replicated this season. Teams that hosted an in-division rival last year are once again being given the right to play in their own backyard. This is what will kill Baylor in the 2011 renewal of what used to be a Big 12 South game.

Last year, Baylor went to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to tackle Oklahoma State, and the results were one-sided. The Cowboys dismantled the Bears by a 55-28 score. Oklahoma State rang up 725 yards, 435 in the air and an equally-imposing (if not numerically identical) 290 yards rushing. Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden hit 34 of 42 passes for three touchdowns without an interception. Two Oklahoma State receivers, Justin Blackmon and Bo Bowling, both exceeded 100 receiving yards. The Cowboys scored at least 10 points in all four quarters and at least 14 points in the final three stanzas. OSU led by a 41-7 score late in the third quarter before Baylor’s thoroughly pulverized offense produced three entirely cosmetic and utterly meaningless touchdowns. Oklahoma State’s lead was never lower than 27 points for the game’s final 29 minutes and 39 seconds. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

With all of that as prelude, is there any realistic chance that Baylor can create a truly dramatic and competitive game that is still undecided with six to eight minutes left in the fourth quarter? It’s doubtful. It’s true that Griffin, Baylor’s gifted quarterback, has receiver Kendall Wright in the fold. Wright has been enjoying a dynamic year on the edges, catching 55 passes for 757 yards. He’s on pace to exceed 1,000 receiving yards in the midst of a stellar senior season. He should make his fair share of plays. However, once you get past Wright, there’s the small matter of a running game – Baylor doesn’t have one – and this other nagging thing called defense. Baylor doesn’t have that, either. Baylor got smoked 55-28 by Texas A&M last week, the same score as last year’s game at Oklahoma State. This is just not a team that can stop a veteran OSU offense, which brings its primary playmakers (Weeden at quarterback, Blackmon at receiver) back to the dance for this duel. Take the Cowboys in a rout.

College Football Betting Pick: Oklahoma State

By Dave Golokhov AKA Vegas Dave

Dave Golokhov has written for Playboy.com, BETUS Sportsbook, Sportsfanmagazine.com, FOX, Askmen.com, Sports-central, and the FOXSports.com Funhouse.