West Virginia Mountaineers Vs Oklahoma Sooners 

1/2/08

The high flying West Virginia Mountaineers take on the Oklahoma Sooners this Wednesday in the annual Fiesta Bowl, to be held in the University of Phoenix Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.  This is the third BCS game of the bowl season, and as the statistics and the matchup show, it should be a fun and entertaining game.  Oddsmakers made the Sooners an opening 7-point favorite with the total set at 63.  At the time of writing, neither line has changed. 

The West Virginia Mountaineers will be without the head coach that got them here to this bowl game.  Coach Rich Rodriguez decided to forego coaching his last game as a Mountaineer when he decided to take the head coach position at the University of Michigan following his team’s loss against heated-rival Pittsburgh Panthers.  The author feels that although the Mountaineers will suffer from his guidance, all is not lost.  Stud quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton and company will still be able to run their offense as usual, and with the extra rest, this squad should be fully up for the challenge.  West Virginia won the Big East title and is 10-2 on the year, but merely going 6-6 against the number.  On the road, they are 5-1 straight up and 3-3 against the number. 

The Oklahoma Sooners had a great chance to go to the National Championship game this year, but despite the snub, head coach Bob Stoops will fire up his troops for their matchup against the Mountaineers.  They are coming off a great 38-17 victory against the Missouri Tigers in the Big 12 championship, while also covering the slim 3-point favorite spread.  The Sooners’ passing attack is led by star quarterback Sam Bradford, who is completing 70.1% of his passes and has an impressive 34:7 touchdown to interception ratio.  On the season, they are 11-2 straight up with a 7-6 against the spread record.  Away from home they are 3-2 straight up and 1-4 against the number. 

The author recommends putting equal units on West Virginia plus the points and the over. 

Game prediction:  45-41 Oklahoma.