Texas Longhorns (5-5 SU, 6-3 ATS) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (7-3 SU, 5-4 ATS)
College Football Week 12
Date and Time: Saturday, November 18th, 2017 12:00 PM ET
Where: Milan Puskar Stadium – Morgantown, WV
TV: ESPN
by Keith F., Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: TEX +3.5/WVU -3.5
Over/Under Total: 55.5
This Texas Longhorns will hit the road to face off with the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. This contest is one that will interest many parties and it will be televised for regional audiences on ESPN. The kick-off time is scheduled for an early start of 12:00 PM ET. For both participants, this contest will directly impact bowl implications for both sides. Neither franchise can secure any form of a prestigious bowl bid but a win here sets the tone for the post-season build-up and impacts where each will go. For Texas, they still need a win to make a bowl game but it can be inferred that the Horns have a good chance of securing a bid given the fact their season finale is at home against a weaker opponent in Texas Tech. Nevertheless, a win at West Virginia is a resume builder for Tom Herman and can spark momentum that carries over into the next season. These two teams started meeting in 2012 when West Virginia joined the Big 12. Since then, the series has been 3-2 West Virginia with the Mountaineers winning the last two overall. In 2016, WVU defeated Texas 24-20 in Austin.
The Longhorns come in off a nice bounce-back win when they defeated Kansas 42-27 in Austin. In the week previous, the Horns were absconded by TCU in Fort Worth where they fell 24-7. After a nasty home loss to open their season against Maryland, the Longhorns put together a slew of performances that defied expectations. The Longhorns lost two games in overtime by a margin of three points in each contest, the victors of which being a then undefeated USC and Oklahoma State. The Longhorns also had Oklahoma on the ropes as well before they would come undone down the backstretch. Very simply, this football team is far better than the record indicates and every essence of the word battle-tested.
The Mountaineers enter on the heels of another climatic win at Kansas State where West Virginia barely escaped with the victory. The Mountaineers were involved in several climactic affairs this season. The Mountaineers in the week before were forced to hold off the pesky Iowa State Cyclones in Morgantown in a 20-16 clash. The Cyclones have been influential in the Big 12 race as they have defeated the likes of Oklahoma and TCU, nearly defeating Oklahoma State last weekend. where they beat the Bears in Waco, Texas by a score of 38-36. West Virginias losses this season came against Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, and TCU. They have yet to secure a true hallmark win that supports some of the pulp surrounding this program in the pre-season.
In the early going we have seen a majority of the money has come in with West Virginia. Across the board, the consensus love the Mountaineers in this spot. As a result, we have seen this market raise by half of a point to confirm the action on West Virginia. In the Over/Under, the number has remained idle in the early going. Generally speaking, these numbers are often quite higher in games involving West Virginia. This is because the Mountaineers are known as a prolific offensive team. However, Texas has a rugged defense and the market is aware that they can indeed control the ebb and flow of this contest.
Not only can Texas cover here, they can win outright and do so convincingly. The body of works of both teams are quite misleading compared to their win and loss record. Very easily, the wins and losses could have been reversed and in that case, Texas would be a road favorite likely by considerable margins. There is no doubt that Bevo is headed in the right direction. With the meat and potatoes of their Big 12 conference out of the way, Texas has a chance to finish strong, secure a bowl berth, and perhaps hit the eight-win mark in 2017. The Longhorns are likely worth a gander in Money Line markets as well, this week.
Keiths Pick to Cover the Point Spread: TEXAS +3.5. Move the line on this game up to 20 points by inserting it into a 20 point football teaser at the web’s best sportsbook: 5dimes!