When Baylor faces Oklahoma State on Saturday in their Big 12 finales, bettors will see the highest Over/Under number that anyone can remember.
The total was sitting at 87 on Thursday at Sportsbook which would be the highest total since OddsShark.com’s database began tracking data in 1995. [ See preview and matchup report and latest lines ]
The line opened at 81.5 but has been consistently bet up. Even at that lofty number, 65 per cent of the NCAA football betting consensus was on the OVER.
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Baylor was also the culprit earlier this season in the second-highest Over/Under on record; their September 29 game against West Virginia closed at 85. Even at that crazy higher number, the total was demolished as Baylor lost 70-63.
Baylor’s game last week against Texas Tech also closed over 80 and the 52-45 final easily made Sportsbooks of OVER bettors.
It was not the biggest Sportsbook total, however. That honor goes to the Big 12 title game back in 2008 between Missouri and Sam Bradford-led Oklahoma. That game opened at 84 but closed at 79. The Sooners won 62-21, just clipping OVER the total.
“There may have been some early-season games where random sportsbooks posted a crazy total on a major school and some tiny school, but nothing that we have tracked here at OddsShark.com as a credible, industry value,” said Mike Pickett.
But why so high when Baylor and Oklahoma State meet? The Bears average a Big 12-best 575.5 yards per game, with Oklahoma State right behind them at 547.9 YPG. And the Baylor defense? It’s not great, as evidenced by their conference-worst 510 yards per game allowed.
In one four-game stretch, they gave up 222 points. By contrast, Alabama has allowed 116 points all season long. The 70 points allowed against West Virginia was more than the Crimson Tide allowed all of September and October combined.
Suffice to say, Baylor is not Alabama, but they did pull off a BCS-altering upset of Kansas State.
