This week, both West Virginia and Marshall have big college football games on tap that could decide their conference’s titles. Here’s a look at the games from a sports betting perspective.
Oklahoma at West Virginia betting
Line: Pick
West Virginia (8-2) and Oklahoma (10-1) meet in Morgantown on Friday night in a game that will likely determine a spot in the Big 12 championship game against Texas. The Longhorns just need to beat lowly Kansas to advance to the title game, leaving one spot left for the winner of West Virginia/Oklahoma.
Oklahoma opened as a 2.5-point favorite on the road but that line quickly went to pick. West Virginia is even favored by a point at some sports books as of Monday. The Mountaineers are a perfect 5-0 at home this season, going 4-1 against the spread (ATS) in those games. Oklahoma is 3-0 on the road but just 1-2 ATS. The Sooners also lost straight up and ATS to Texas on a neutral field this year.
West Virginia is coming off a gut-wrenching loss to Oklahoma State last week. The Mountaineers blew a 41-31 fourth-quarter lead, allowing Oklahoma State to score two touchdowns in the final 4:47. The game-winner was an 11-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Cornelius to Tylan Wallace with 42 seconds remaining. Cornelius finished with 338 yards and five touchdowns.
Will Grier led West Virginia down the field but his pass to David Sills V in the end zone on the final play of the game was broken up. West Virginia failed to cover as a five-point favorite. The game went OVER 73.5 points.
The Mountaineers can still capture the Big 12 crown though with a victory at home on Saturday followed by a win in the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma has dominated the series with West Virginia recently, winning six straight and going 5-1 ATS over that span.
Marshall at Florida International betting
Line: FIU -1.5
Marshall (7-3) and FIU (8-3) face off on Saturday in a game that could decide the Conference USA East champion. FIU is tied with Middle Tennessee at 6-1 in the C-USA East division, while Marshall is just one game back at 5-2.
The Panthers are a small 1.5-point favorite over the Thundering Herd. FIU is 4-2 at home this season but just 3-3 ATS. The Panthers got blown out 49-14 by rival Florida Atlantic in their last home game as a two-point favorite.
Marshall has been a good road team this year going 3-1 SU (2-2 ATS). The Thundering Herd enter the game winners of four of their last five with the only setback being a 26-24 loss at Southern Miss.
The Thundering Herd dominated UTSA last week in a 23-0 shutout. Marshall outgained the struggling Roadrunners 505 yards to 137. Despite the impressive performance, Marshall failed to cover as 27-point favorites. The Thundering Herd have held three of their last four opponents to 13 points or fewer.
FIU has won and covered the last two games in this series. Prior to that, Marshall had a four-game winning streak, both straight up and ATS. The Thundering Herd have topped 30 points in four of the last six meetings.
