Oklahoma’s season hasn’t been packed full of incredible moments and clutch wins but with only one game remaining of the regular season the Sooners have the opportunity to finish with some much needed momentum. The Big 12 Conference title is going to come down to TCU, Kansas State, or Texas with Horned Frogs still in the College Football Playoff hunt with an undefeated record. Obviously the Sooners won’t make an appearance in Arlington for the second year in a row but that doesn’t change the value of this final road trip. A win at Texas Tech would allow OU to head into the bowl season having won two games in a row and winners in four of the final six.
Odds are just releasing but if you want to get NCAAF odds or advice for the coming weekend, we have created a mini preview of the last weekend of Big 12 action for the Sooners. Here’s a quick initial breakdown of Oklahoma at Texas Tech, considering season trends.
Conference Standings
Before we delve into the matchup itself, it’s important to take a look at the current conference standings. All of the Big 12 teams have played 11 games with the Horned Frogs, Wildcats, and Longhorns as the only three teams remaining in the title hunt.
| Team | Conference Record | Overall |
| TCU | 8-0 | 11-0 |
| Kansas State | 6-2 | 8-3 |
| Texas | 5-3 | 7-4 |
| Oklahoma State | 4-4 | 7-4 |
| Baylor | 4-4 | 6-5 |
| Texas Tech | 4-4 | 6-5 |
| Oklahoma | 3-5 | 6-5 |
| Kansas | 3-5 | 6-5 |
| West Virginia | 2-6 | 4-7 |
| Iowa State | 1-7 | 4-7 |
Eight of the ten conference schools are bowl eligible but exactly where each of them ends up for the postseason will depend heavily on this coming weekend’s action. The Sooners could end up as low as eighth in the conference or locked into a tie for fourth place depending on how things shake out.
Texas Tech – A better conference record
The Red Raiders are sitting at 500 in conference with a 4-4 record but are 6-5 overall on the year backed by strong performances at home.
- Conference: 4-4
- Overall: 6-5
- Home: 5-1
- Away: 1-4
As we can see, Texas Tech has been pretty impressive at home and it’s clear that they gain confidence from the Red Raider crowd. However, when they go on the road, and step away from their comfort zone, the results are not as impressive. Tech picked up it’s first win away from Lubbock last Saturday at Iowa State.
That said, the Red Raiders are a different monster at home. Even with a 45-17 loss to Baylor as their only blemish on the home record this season, they are beating opponents by an average margin of 40-26. That’s a big reason to have confidence as the Sooners roll into town on Saturday night.
Oklahoma – better against against non-conference opponents
Oklahoma’s 3-0 start to the season gave credence to high expectations. A three-game slide to start conference play brought those expectations crashing down. However, Saturday’s win over Oklahoma State was the third win in the last five games and sets the stage for the Sooners to ride out the end of the season on a wave of momentum.
- Conference: 3-5
- Overall: 6-5
- Home: 4-2
- Away: 2-2
Back-to-back three-point loses to Baylor and at West Virginia were the daggers that eliminated the Sooners from Big 12 title contention and put them on the brink of not qualifying for a bowl game. However, it also shows just how close OU was to competing for yet another 10-win season.
What we can expect on Saturday
The last matchup between these two Big 12 teams was October 2021, when Oklahoma gave Texas Tech a resounding 52-21 thumping at home. Caleb Williams scored six touchdowns and put on an incredible performance with 402 yards gained. Now, Williams is in Los Angeles and the Sooners have Dillon Gabriel at quarterback. He may not have the star power that Williams possessed but Gabriel’s 62% completion percentage show that he’s also hasn’t been as bad as his hate club might suggest.
Texas Tech, on the other hand, has been using several different quarterbacks this season, including Tyler Shough, Donovan Smith and Behren Morton. Each player has seen varying success and there hasn’t really been one standout performer. After their close call with TCU and subsequent wins over Kansas and Iowa State, expectations should be high against Gabriel and the Sooners.
As mentioned above, Texas Tech has a 5-2 home record (third best in the country) and this may play into their hands as they get to play the Sooners in Jones AT&T Stadium. Texas Tech has the slight edge here, but find themselves as 1.5 point underdogs in the opening lines which means, just as in the Bedlam game, you can never count Oklahoma out.
Undoubtedly this is a critical game for each of the teams and should deliver another thrilling…and yet still frustrating matchup in Prime Time for the Sooners. We’ll have more previews for this game as the week moves on.
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