Cotton Bowl Preview: Two Old Foes Get Together in Big D
A win over Oklahoma would’ve sent Oklahoma State to the Fiesta Bowl.
The Cotton Bowl game in Dallas will be a very interesting match-up between the Missouri Tigers of the SEC and the Oklahoma State Cowboys of the Big 12. These two teams know each other well as the Tigers were part of the Big 12 up until two seasons ago. Missouri and Oklahoma State both come in as the conference runner-up, both having a shot to win their conference in the last week of the season on December 7th. The Tigers lost a shootout to the Auburn Tigers that sent Auburn to play for the BCS National Championship on Monday against the Florida State Seminoles. Had they won, that likely would have been them making the trip to Pasadena.
The Cowboys looked to be on their way to the Big 12 Championship when they took the lead with less than 2:00 to play against their arch rival, the Oklahoma Sooners. But as is so often the case in the Bedlam Series, the Sooners pulled the game out at the end and it is them and the Baylor Bears who went to the BCS instead of the Cowboys. But, as non-BCS games go, this one is about as big as they come. In fact, the Cotton Bowl is one of the traditional “Major Bowls” form back in the days of the old SWC. Many times, this game decided the National Championship. This game, along with the Capital One Bowl is a huge game even though it is not technically a “BCS Bowl”.
The team that gets itself motivated to play in this game is the one that should win. Since the Tigers are not accustomed to playing in bowls of this magnitude and they did not exactly get their hearts ripped out in the SEC title game, (Auburn ran away from them in that game down the stretch), they should have no problem getting jacked up to play this game. Oklahoma State however, did get their hearts ripped out. They will also have spent the last two nights watching the Bears and Sooners play in BCS games. It may be a little tougher for them to get motivated.
So far, the two conferences are starkly different in bowl results as well. The SEC is tearing it up at 5-1 going into the Sugar Bowl, which is also a Big 12 vs SEC game between the Sooners and the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Big 12 has been so-so in the bowls so far with the Bears losing to the UCF Knights in the Fiesta Bowl, the Texas Longhorns losing to the Oregon Ducks in the Alamo Bowl. They did get wins from the Kansas State Wildcats and the Texas Tech Red Raiders though. The Cats beat the Michigan Wolverines and the the Raiders upset the Arizona State Sun Devils in bowl games.
Bovada has the Tigers +1 -105 and the Cowboys -1 -115 ATS. Over/under is 61 with over -115 and under -105.
We are going to go with the Tigers +1 -105 and the over -115 in this one because we think the tigers have had the tougher schedule and will be more motivated. Of course, we ‘ll know a little more after watching the Tide and Sooners tonight. If the Sooners hang with Alabama this might be good news for the Cowboys.
