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NCAA football betting: Connecticut Huskies vs. Oklahoma Sooners

Online Betting Odds: Oklahoma -17

Why To Bet On Connecticut

The Oklahoma Sooners are 0-3 in January Fiesta Bowls. Yes, Oklahoma won the Fiesta Bowl once upon a time, but that was in 1976, when the game was played in December and the Fiesta Bowl was a third-tier bowl game. Ever since the Fiesta Bowl moved to New Year’s Day (or in general, the month of January) in 1982, Oklahoma has floundered and flopped on this big stage. The Sooners fell to Arizona State in the 1983 Fiesta Bowl. Then, under current coach Bob Stoops, Oklahoma experienced a pair of egg-on-the-face moments in Glendale, Arizona. In the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the Sooners lost as a heavy favorite to then-unheralded Boise State, 43-42, in one of college football’s biggest New Year’s Day bowl upsets. One year later, on January 2 of 2008, the Sooners came back to the Westside suburb of Phoenix and got destroyed by West Virginia, 48-28, in yet another Fiesta Bowl debacle. Oklahoma has not won a BCS bowl since the 2003 Rose Bowl against Washington State. The Sooners, even as a commanding favorite, have not handled this particular kind of event with any distinction or consistency. Connecticut might not be a particularly formidable team, but the Huskies are at least lucky in that they’re facing a program that has not delivered the goods in prime-time bowl games. This is far from Oklahoma’s best team under Bob Stoops; the Sooners were embarrassed in double-digit losses at Missouri and Texas A&M. They were also fortunate to escape Utah State and Air Force by one-score margins at home. Connecticut could make this game close enough to beat the number.

Why To Bet On Oklahoma

The Sooners, for all their inconsistencies this past season, still won their seventh Big 12 championship in the past 11 years. Oklahoma captured its fourth Big 12 crown over the past five seasons. The Sooners continue to establish a track record of remarkable consistency. Even when they’re far from their best, they’re still very, very good. Moreover, they’re going up against a Connecticut team with a thin resume.

The Huskies from New England got roughed up this year by teams that aren’t very distinguished. Connecticut got run out of the building by a 7-5 Michigan team, and coach Randy Edsall’s UConn crew also got whacked by a Temple team that didn’t even make a bowl game in 2010. Connecticut’s best Big East win was a two-point squeaker over Pittsburgh; UConn’s other huge conference win was a 16-13 overtime triumph over West Virginia. In that game, UConn needed seven West Virginia fumbles just to stay alive and then win in the extra period. UConn has four losses, easily the most for a BCS bowl representative… not only this season, but all time. Oklahoma is facing a very mediocre opponent.

How The Game Will Play Out

Oklahoma’s Fiesta Bowl struggles would have continued against an elite opponent such as Stanford or Ohio State, but not against Connecticut. The Huskies have no firepower and will not be able to throw the ball against the Sooners’ secondary. This will be a bloodbath; don’t seek an upset in this contest.

Connecticut Oklahoma Betting Pick: Oklahoma -17