Whiny, weakened Big 12 drops ball by dismissing expansion
In 2014, the Big 12 Conference was snubbed by the College Football Playoff committee, with Baylor and Texas Christian getting the cold shoulder.
Ohio State went on to win the national championship, but the schools in the Big 12 were infuriated. The the season. The Sooners and coach Bob Stoops were then eliminated from the playoff picture in a blowout loss to Ohio State.
The bottom line is the Big 12 is down this season, and the conference has only itself to blame.
Baylor, minus former coach Art Briles, is surprisingly in the Top 10, but the Bears don’t deserve to be there. Baylor will fall to Oklahoma in November, and the Big 12 will be out of the College Football Playoff again.
I wish I could make a case for West Virginia, but I can’t. The Mountaineers (5-0) look improved, but I’m not buying the hype even after last week’s beatdown of Texas Tech.
Texas and coach Charlie Strong had a big win to start the season over Notre Dame, which is now 2-5, meaning that win no longer is impressive. TCU is included with Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech as the mediocre middle group, and the remaining teams are not worth discussing.
As of now, there are only four power conferences. The Big 12 had an opportunity to step up to the poker table and make its conference great again, but it folded a potentially winning hand. HOTTIE THREESOME
Each week, I recommend three underdogs that are live to win outright (home team in CAPS):
ARIZONA STATE (+7½, +265) over Washington State: The Cougars are a little overhyped and laying too many points on the road. The Sun Devils are 9-3 against the spread in their past 12 as home underdogs.
Middle Tennessee (+7, +220) over MISSOURI: The Blue Raiders are 4-2 straight up in their past six road games. Middle Tennessee lost by one point last week at Western Kentucky, but I expect a rebound against a weak Southeastern Conference team.
Arkansas (+10, +310) over AUBURN: Tigers coach Gus Malzahn was on the hot seat a few weeks ago. Expect him to be there again after a loss to the Razorbacks, who upset Mississippi a week ago. NFL BEST BET
Vikings (-2½) over EAGLES: A mentor once told me, “You won’t get rich betting road chalk in the NFL.” I’ve since made it a personal rule. It’s a rarity to see me do it, but sometimes rules are meant to be broken. The Vikings are 18-2 ATS in their past 20 regular-season games, and coach Mike Zimmer is 29-9 ATS since his arrival in Minnesota.
Philadelphia has dropped two in a row. I’m hoping the Vikings’ early bye week helped some of their injuries heal and did not kill their momentum. Kelly Stewart of kellyinvegas.com is a sports betting contributor for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Follow @kellyinvegas on Twitter.