NCAAF Week 14 Picks - Baylor Bears at Texas Tech Red Raiders
by Charles Jay
The sports betting action that is set to begin at 3:30 PM ET at Jones AT&T Stadium (artificial turf) in Lubbock, TX.
Saturday, November 29
Football Odds: TEXAS TECH -21.5
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* BAY has covered five of its last six games
* BAY has lost four of its last five games SU
* BAY has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
* BAY has covered four of its last five road games
* BAY has lost its last five road games SU
* BAY has played five of its last seven road games OVER the total
* TT has played its last seven games OVER the total
* TT has won its last seven home games SU
Also....
* TT has covered eight of the last nine meetings
* TT has won the last 12 meetings SU
* TT has covered four of the last six meetings as the home team
* TT has won the last six meetings SU as the home team
The psychology for Texas Tech is a bit dicey here. Will they come out angry and lay one on out-gunned Baylor, or will they get caught looking back at their 65-21 pasting against they are still alive for a Big 12 championship berth.
Art Briles, who is trying to bring back the Baylor program, was once a member of Mike Leach's staff, coaching the running backs from 2000-2002. He recruited himself a pretty good quarterback in freshman Robert Griffin, who's completed only 58% of his passes but has tossed only two interceptions (with 14 TD's) and run for 744 yards.
Texas Tech gathered some steam in the season's second half, blowing away the likes of Texas A&M by 18, and Eastern Washington by 25. So will the killer instinct really kick in?
Recent history indicates that it will. Baylor has dropped the last five meetings to the Red Raiders by an average of 33 points a game. And the Bears have been leveled by several quality programs, including Texas (45-21), keeping things very close with Missouri (31-28). Griffin's actually had five games where he's thrown for over 200 yards, but to put things in perspective, Graham Harrell (39 TD's, 6 INT's) has not thrown for less than 284 in any game yet. Baylor is 91st nationally in pass efficiency defense, so how can they put the brakes on Mike Leach's attack?
The answer is that it's not likely they will. Texas Tech has covered eight of the last nine meetings, and sitting 7th in the AP and BCS, and 8th in the coaches' rankings, they will be poll-conscious. Let's lay the points with Texas Tech, the 21.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: TEXAS TECH -21.5 ***
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
(Charles Jay of http://www.ebookies.com gives it more than the old college try as a contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)
