Texas Can Ruin Rival TCU’s Big 12 and College Football Playoff Dreams

Thursday, Nov. 27, is Thanksgiving Day in the United States and that means turkey and football. There are two college games, both kicking off at 7:30 p.m.: LSU at Texas A&M on ESPN and TCU at Texas on Fox Sports 1. With all due respect to the Tigers and Aggies, their game doesn’t mean a whole lot in the national stage or in the SEC. However, Frogs-Horns is vital for surprising TCU.

The No. 4 Horned Frogs are +650 on WagerWeb’s odds to win the national championship. At 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12, TCU also still is in good shape to win the conference title for the first time. This is TCU’s final road game and the Frogs will be big-time favorites for their regular-season finale at home against Iowa State. There is no conference title game in the 10-team Big 12. To win the conference, the Frogs will have to win out and hope Baylor loses once as the Bears hold the head-to-head tiebreaker via a 61-58 come-from-behind win against TCU on Oct. 11. Baylor does still have to face Kansas State on Dec. 6 in Waco. TCU handled K-State 41-20 on Nov. 8.

TCU is among the national scoring and passing leaders behind star quarterback Trevone Boykin, who may get an invitation to New York as a Heisman finalist. He has thrown for 3,021 yards, 24 touchdowns and just five interceptions. TCU was a below-average offense last season so the fact the school is putting up crazy offensive numbers this year is a shock. TCU was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Big 12.

It’s the regular-season finale for Texas, which has been rather inconsistent under first-year coach Charlie Strong. The Longhorns (6-5) are bowl eligible, however, and have won three straight games. UT has been pretty solid defensively, holding UCLA to 20 points and Baylor to 28. However, Texas is also just 1-4 against ranked clubs, beating then-No. 23 West Virginia 33-16 on Nov. 8.

Last year this game wasn’t on Thanksgiving but in late October. Texas was a 3-point underdog in Fort Worth but romped 30-7 in a game that featured a three-hour and six-minute weather delay with 6:08 remaining in the second quarter. Boykin was 3-for-4 for 24 yards in that one. Texas took the lead for good on a 3-yard Malcom Brown touchdown run with 7:48 left in the first quarter after a Boykin fumble and Boykin wouldn’t play again. That’s unthinkable this year.

Texas leads the all-time matchup (62-21-1) with most of TCU’s wins coming in the 1930s. TCU is 9-28-0 versus Texas in Fort Worth and 12-34-1 in Austin. But TCU is a better program at the moment. Bet now at Wagerweb.ag