And what about the Ohio State game in Norman?

“The Ohio State game is perfect in that they are taking the least-experienced team in college football. Ohio State ranks 128 out of 128 in my experience rankings. It’s their first road game. You take a young team and put them on the road against a team that’s 55-6 at home with a veteran squad. I like the Sooners’ chances there. I think in Vegas, (OU is) already over a touchdown favorite in that game and they should be. If they were playing at the end of the year, I’d have more questions about them. The third game of the season, I like it.”

***

Finally, the Big 12 season starts for the Sooners with games against TCU and Texas, marking four emotion-packed games out of their first five contests.

“It’s nice to have a bye the very next week (after the Ohio State game) because maybe the most important game of the top five may be that TCU game. TCU is a team that I’m picking second in the Big 12 this year. They also have a young offense with three returning starters coming back on that offense. It will be early enough in the season where they may still be trying to work things out and it could be an advantage for Oklahoma. I think they are able to go in there and get a win.

“Texas is my No. 1 improved team in the country. But I think they may have looked past Texas a little bit and they tend to do that when they are favored big over Texas. They aren’t going to be favored big over Texas this year and I think we’ll see Oklahoma’s ‘A’ game. It will be a very interesting five-game stretch – a very tough five-game stretch – but one where I have the Sooners favored in all five games.”

Eric Bailey 918-581-8391 eric.bailey@tulsaworld.com

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