Big 12 Championship Game – Cowboys Stadium – Arlington, TX

Kickoff: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. EDT

Line History:

Opening: Oklahoma -2.5, Total: 54

Mid Week: Oklahoma -6.5, Total: 54 (as of Wednesday)

Current: Oklahoma -4.5, Total 53 (Friday Night)

The Big 12 Championship features two college football betting options with contrasting styles when the Oklahoma Sooners square off against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska is still unsure about their quarterback as freshman Taylor Martinez missed last week’s game due to a sprained ankle and a turf toe injury. No one really knows Martinez or sophomore Cody Green will start for Nebraska. Coach Bo Pelini said on Monday that Martinez is “day-to-day” and that both quarterbacks might play on Saturday night.

Quarterback Martinez is a better rusher, but he may not be as effective with ankle and toe injuries. Green had a great game last week against Colorado, completing 10-of-13 passes for 80 yards, two touchdowns and no picks. Green also ran for 23 yards and a touchdown. For his college football career, Green is 63-for-110 for 612 yards, 5 TD and 3 INT with 256 rushing yards (3.9 YPC) and three scores on the ground. Also relating to the ground game, Roy Helu Jr. and Rex Burkhead have been a solid combination with 17 rushing TD between them. Helu Jr. leads the team with 1,120 yards while Burkhead has 822 to add to Nebraska’s 8th-best rushing total in the nation (269 YPG). Helu Jr. ran for 138 yards on just 20 carries in last year’s 10-3 win over the Sooners.

The Cornhuskers rank fourth in the nation with 336 passing YPG, but Oklahoma boast the second-best pass defense (145 YPG) among FBS schools. OU quarterback Landry Jones would like to forget last year’s loss at Nebraska when he threw five interceptions. Jones has improved a ton since that meeting, with 34 TD and 10 INT this 2010 college football season. His favorite receiver has been Ryan Broyles, who leads the nation in catches (9.6 per game) and is third in receiving yards (116 YPG). RB DeMarco Murray has also had a monster year (1,053 rushing yards, 535 receiving yards, 19 total TD), and he also scored three times against Nebraska in 2008 before being held to 47 rushing yards in last year’s loss.

Nebraska is 8-5 (SU and ATS) in the past 13 meetings between the schools, and with such a fantastic defense the Cornhuskers should get the Big 12 title that eluded them last season when they lost to Texas on a last-second field goal. YouWager.com line makers also like Nebraska for this game:

NEBRASKA is 7-0 ATS (+7.0 Units) in road games in games played on turf over the last 3 seasons.

The average score was NEBRASKA 40.7, OPPONENT 24.3 – (Rating = 2*).

Online sports betting experts lean towards the Over in this game based on this four-star trend:

OKLAHOMA is 9-0 OVER (+9.0 Units) after covering the spread in 4 or 5 out of their last 6 games over the last 3 seasons. The average score was OKLAHOMA 57.7, OPPONENT 30.0 – (Rating = 4*).

Story Update: Friday – Taylor Martinez is expected to play in this game.

Free Pick: Nebraska +4.5, Nebraska +160 on the moneyline

Written in tandem with professionals from BetOnline