So the oddsmakers are placing Texas as the underdog for its two biggest games of the football season.

Tom Herman's Horns opened up as a seven-point underdog against the LSU Tigers in March but that spread has gone down to three points for the Sept. 7 matchup.

So let me get this straight: A team playing in a packed Royal-Memorial Stadium of 100,000-plus after finishing 10-4 and whupping up on Georgia at the Sugar Bowl can't get any love at the sports book? Didn't those prognosticators hear quarterback Sam Ehlinger say the Horns were “baaaaaack”? Didn't they see the way the Horns handled the Bulldogs in the trenches? Didn't they see Bevo attempt to pancake Uga and several photographers pregame?

And in case you're wondering about that rival on the other side of the Red River, Oklahoma is a four-point favorite for the annual Red River Rivalry mathchup on Oct. 12. That's four points. with graduate transfer Jalen Hurts expected to take over for Kyler Murray at quarterback.

Two marquee opponents and two projected losses, according to the prognosticators. I'm not condoning gambling, but if you Texas fans who partake feel good about this 2019 squad, those spreads could present a profitable opportunity.

For the record, the Horns came in at No. 9 in the American-Statesman's annual preseason Top 25 poll, behind the No. 6 Tigers and No. 4 Sooners. LSU beat Georgia and Auburn en route to a 10-3 season and a Fiesta Bowl win over Central Florida while OU went 12-2, won a fourth straight Big 12 title at Texas' expense and made it to the national semifinals for the second straight season starting a Heisman Trophy-winning transfer quarterback.

All things considered, I would make Texas the underdog against both the Tigers and Sooners, especially after losing eight starters off Todd Orlando's defense.

I guess the Horns still have some convincing to do outside of their circle. And that, friends, is why they play the games.

Tulowitzki's a hit: Recently retired Troy Tulowitzki doesn't have any real coaching experience, but he sure could hit a baseball. And that makes David Pierce's newest staff addition an intriguing one for Texas.

Here's where next spring will be a season to watch. Tulo was one of baseball's most consistent during his heyday with the Colorado Rockies, hitting .287 or better in eight of his 10 seasons there, including 2015, when he played 87 games before being traded to Toronto.

The five-time all-star arrives at a program that has gone nine straight years of hitting .271 or worse, with the understanding that his new team plays half its games in pitcher-friendly UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Tulo, who just retired from the New York Yankees after an injury-plagued season, is jumping out of the batter's box and into the coaching box after getting high recommendations to Pierce from former Colorado teammates/Longhorns stars Huston Street and Drew Stubbs.

His job? Find the next Keith Moreland, the next Stubbs, the next Brandon Belt. Basically, a big-time talent who can raise the level of play among the others in the clubhouse.

"Anybody who knows me knows I'm up for a challenge," Tulowitzki said Monday on a conference call. "I wouldn't want to be nowhere where there wasn't a challenge. That's what brought me to Texas. I want to be part of it, and I want to help the kids along the way."

Tulowitzki said he would often have his younger Colorado teammates up to his house before the season to talk the game and work out with that idea of coaching them to become better players. That experience should help as he joins up with Pierce, who he said has a similar competitive gene.

"It's something that attracted me to him right away," Tulowitzki said.

Big-money gamers: There has been a recent push to make esports an Olympic event, and while I'm totally against that idea, I can't hate on the popularity of gaming internationally. Did you hear that a 16-year-old kid named Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf just pocketed $3 million for winning something called the Fortnite World Cup?

Giersdorf, who hails from Pennsylvannia, is one of 250 million registered users of what is commonly known as the world's most addictive video game. The finals, sponsored by Epic Games, reportedly pulled in more than 2 million livestreaming viewers.

As for the winner, he isn't planning any extravagant spending sprees.

Editor's note: The original version of this story was edited to correct betting line and date for the Texas-Oklahoma game.



"I definitely want to get a new desk," Giersdorf said on ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

I bet he's an oak man.