No. 7 Sooners seek entry into 800-win club

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/03/2010 -

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -The pictures on the walls and the old videos Bob Stoops shows to his players serve as a reminder that Oklahoma's program has been thriving for decades, since long before any of them were around.

On Saturday night, Oklahoma can add to its storied history with a win against Utah State in the season opener for both teams.

By beating the Aggies, the Sooners can become only the seventh Division I team in college football history to make it to 800 wins. The others are Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State.

``It just shows how much tradition we have here and all of the hard work and the blood, sweat and tears that the past players have put into this,'' running back DeMarco Murray said. ``We're trying to continue that tradition.

``It's Oklahoma and we expect to win a lot of games here.''

The Sooners' 560 wins since the end of World War II are the most by any school, though Michigan is far ahead with a Division I-leading 877.

``This is ... one of the more special schools in college football. You look at our tradition and history and you don't go back just a few years, you go back decades. There's not many like it,'' Stoops said. ``We're excited to be here as a team and proud to be a part of that history and tradition. Hopefully, we can keep adding to it.''

To do that, Oklahoma will need to avoid starting a second straight season with an unexpected loss to a Utah team. Last season, BYU beat the Sooners 14-13 in a game best remembered for 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford's shoulder injury.

The shocking loss came only eight months after their appearance in the BCS championship game. Oklahoma wound up 8-5, matching the most losses in Stoops' 11 years as head coach.

``The first game is a big game. You saw what happened in our first game last year,'' tight end Trent Ratterree said. ``We don't want to do something like we did last year. We want to completely change the way we played and in essence become a new team.''

Utah State has tried to reinvent itself since its last visit to Owen Field, a 54-3 Oklahoma blowout in 2007. Gary Andersen put together the 12th-best offense in the nation last season and went 4-8 in his first year in charge of the Aggies, the team's best win total since 2002.

That included giving an early-season scare to Texas A&M, losing 38-30 but having a chance to tie the game after recovering a late onside kick. That's the game that caught Stoops' eye as he told his team not to overlook the Aggies.

``What we have to do is walk in there with a mindset that we can tackle well and we can protect the quarterback,'' Andersen said. ``Those are two big glaring things. Those are two things we have to do to be able to have a chance in this football game.

``If we can't do those two things, it is going to be a long day.''

Unlike last year, the Sooners haven't been ravaged by injuries heading into their opener. Middle linebacker Austin Box (back) is out and defensive linemen Adrian Taylor and Frank Alexander may not play because of ankle injuries. That's nothing compared to the chaos that preceded last year's opener, with a late injury to NFL-bound tight end Jermaine Gresham compounding issues on the offensive line.

``We have something to prove. We didn't play Oklahoma football last year,'' receiver Ryan Broyles said. ``We know we have a tough schedule, but we wouldn't be here at this university if we weren't going to play great teams. We want to play like champions game in and game out.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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