2005 Oklahoma State Cowboys Handicapping Review

 

By Tom Wilkinson

 

Oklahoma State’s 2004 season was a sort of microcosm to their overall sports handicapping performance and value over the past few seasons. The story begins in 2001 when the Cowboys finished with three wins against the odds in their final four games, including two straight covers to end the year. They then went 8-4 against the odds in 2002 with six payoffs in their final seven games. In 2003 OSU got the cash in four of their first five games against the sports betting line before a long overdue sports handicapping market correction took place as they failed sports bettors that had them on their lists of football picks in five of their final seven games. Okie State thus entered the 2004 season as somewhat of a sports handicapping value question mark, though respected as a legitimate bowl contender. One of Oklahoma State’s biggest advantages against the odds is the undeniable fact that they serve as Oklahoma’s “little brother” as the intra-state rival Sooners are one of college football’s ultimate “name brand” teams and this causes the Cowboys to often get overlooked by the general sports betting public and sports betting bloggers.

A bright and shining example of Oklahoma State’s great value against “name brand” teams occurred in their 2004 season opener at UCLA as they were installed as 1-point dogs by the sports betting odds makers, despite being the clearly superior team as demonstrated in their 31-20 win. Oklahoma State bolted out of the gate with a record of 5-0 straight up and 4-1 against the odds with the highlight being a stunning 42-14 win as 6.5-point chalks at Colorado. By this time, the “secret” was out and more sports handicapping money was beginning to flow in on the Cowboys.

In their next game as 7-point home chalks against resurgent Texas A&M, the spots handicapping market correction began as the Cowboys were wiped out 20-36. In the IMMEDIATE, this brought back some value in Okie State’s very next game at Missouri, who at the time appeared to be an up and coming team that was favored to win the Big 12 North as was installed as 3.5-point home chalks. The Cowboys prevailed 20-17 and the very next week as well with a 35-38 cover as 13.5-point dogs against Oklahoma. At this point, however, the Cowboys would offer no more bargains for sports bettors as they dropped three of their final four games against the odds to finish in the black at 7-5 against the line. It was OSU’s third straight season of avoiding sports handicapping red ink.