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Oklahoma Sooners Football 2020 Betting Preview

What are the odds that the Oklahoma Sooners win the Big 12 and/or the National Championship in 2020? We break it all down and tell you the best bets.

Frankie Taddeo

The Oklahoma Sooners are currently on a historic run of five consecutive Big 12 championships, making four appearances in the College Football Playoff in the process. After a three-year run of having two Heisman Trophy winners and a runner-up at quarterback, the Sooners will start the 2020 season with questions under center as the pre-season No. 4 team in many polls behind only Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State.

Back on May 5 we highlighted that redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler has drawn the attention of sharp bettors in Vegas in Heisman Trophy wagering. Rattler was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country. AllSooners reporter John E. Hoover recently highlighted that if Rattler beats out third-year sophomore Tanner Mordecai it’s because: “Rattler’s electric arm and fleet feet seem to be the kind of weapons that Lincoln Riley favors to run his offense. His last two QBs, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts, had varying combinations of those and exploded.”

According to PointsBet Sportsbook, Oklahoma’s season win total projection stands at 10 wins, moderately juiced at odds of -145 to the under.

2020 Oklahoma Sooners Win Total Odds

Odds courtesy of PointsBet
Odds courtesy of PointsBet

2020 Oklahoma Sooners Schedule

Week 1 - Sept. 5 vs Missouri State

Week 2 - Sept. 12 vs Tennessee

Week 3 - BYE

Week 4 - Sept. 26 at Army

Week 5 - Oct. 3 vs Baylor

Week 6 - Oct. 10 vs Texas (Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX)

Week 7 - Oct. 17 at Iowa State

Week 8 - Oct. 24 vs Oklahoma State

Week 9 - Oct. 31 at TCU

Week 10 - Nov. 7 at West Virginia

Week 11 - Nov. 14 vs Kansas State

Week 12 - Nov. 21 vs Kansas

Week 13 - Nov. 28 at Texas Tech

The Sooners start the season with a game that should give Rattler a perfect opportunity to get his feet wet. Oklahoma goes against an FBS opponent in Missouri State that went 1-10 SU last season. Let’s just say the numbers the highly touted signal caller could conceivably put up here starts the Heisman talk. The oddsmakers do not envision any hiccups in Week 2, listing the Sooners as 8.5-point home favorites over Tennessee. The experts in Vegas don’t expect much trouble for their first Big 12 test of 2020, posting the Sooners as 14-point home favorites over the Baylor Bears in Week 5.

Their first real test of the season comes in Week 6 in the Red River Showdown game with the Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. The Sooners are 2.5-point favorites in a game that is sure to light up the scoreboard with Sam Ehlinger slinging it for Texas on the other sideline. This has all the potential to be one of the games-of-the-year.

Coming off back-to-back showdowns with Baylor and Texas, Iowa State will not be an easy win with Brock Purdy calling the signals for the Cyclones in Week 7. The oddsmakers have the Sooners listed as 6.5-point road favorites in a game that screams “trap.”

The oddsmakers list Oklahoma as 9-point home favorites in Week 8 against Mike Gundy and the Cowboys. Oklahoma State will be pumped to take out the Sooners, but it should be noted that Oklahoma has won five straight meetings and will have the advantage of this game played in Norman.

The Sooners are 8-point road favorites to take down TCU on Halloween in Week 9 and 15.5 point road favorites to roll past West Virginia in Morgantown in Week 10. In Week 12, the Sooners are expected to crush the Kansas Jayhawks in the eyes of the oddsmakers with an early line of 28.5-point home favorites. There is another “trap” game in the regular season finale when the Sooners will travel to Lubbock to take on the Red Raiders in a game that could very well be another scoring fest. The last seven times Oklahoma has played Texas Tech, the Sooners have averaged 44.7 points per game. Get ready to fire away on the over on November 28.

Oklahoma Sooners Odds to Win Big 12 Conference

Odds courtesy of PointsBet
Odds courtesy of PointsBet

With projections that envision a potential two-loss regular season, the sportsbooks are offering Oklahoma as the favorites in this market at odds of -120 to emerge as Big 12 Champions for the sixth straight season. All bettors who believe in the Sooners to win the Big 12 Championship Game will need to lay $120 to win $100.

Odds for Oklahoma Players to Win 2020 Heisman Trophy

As we have previously highlighted here at SI Gambling, Oklahoma currently has only one player listed in the Heisman Trophy odds at William Hill: quarterback Spencer Rattler (12/1). Oklahoma University has had seven Heisman winners in school history: quarterbacks Kyler Murray (2018), Baker Mayfield (2017), Sam Bradford (2008), Jason White (2003) and running backs Billy Sims (1978), Steve Ownes (RB) and Billy Vessels (1952). Oklahoma was just the fourth school with back-to-back Heisman winners with Murray and Mayfield. The others include: Ohio State (Archie Griffin in 1974 and '75), Army (Felix "Doc" Blanchard and Glenn Davis in 1945 and '46) and Yale (Larry Kelley and Clinton Frank in 1936 and '37).

Oklahoma Sooners Odds to Win 2020-21 College Football Playoff

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook

The 2020 season marks Lincoln Riley’s fourth year on the sidelines. Since replacing Bob Stoops and using three different starting quarterbacks, Riley has led the Sooners to three Big 12 titles and three trips to the College Football Playoff.

As usual, the annual Red River showdown versus in-state rival Texas in Dallas could determine the winner of the Big 12 Conference. The Sooners have to hit the road to play Iowa State and Texas Tech in two huge potential trap games. Oklahoma State, Baylor and Tennessee all come to The Palace in Norman in 2020.

I love the potential of Rattler learning Riley’s system, but I believe a double-digit season is too much to expect from the redshirt freshman who has just 11 collegiate attempts under his belt. I believe the juice (-145) is headed in the right direction. The play is on the under (10) for the Sooners projected season win total.

The Plays: UNDER 10 wins (-145)

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Frankie Taddeo
FRANKIE TADDEO

Frankie Taddeo is a successful high-stakes fantasy football player who created the first-ever DFS program offered in a Las Vegas sportsbook. Besides contributing NFL fantasy analysis with a Vegas slant, Frankie primarily performs as Sports Illustrated's Senior Betting Analyst providing his significant experience and resources in the sports betting scene. 

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