Big 12 Trap Games: Kansas State vs Iowa State
Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud (4) gets past Kansas State linebacker Alex Hrebec (47) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Manhattan, Kan., Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
2 thoughts on “Big 12 Trap Games: Kansas State vs Iowa State”
Leave a Reply
MAXIMIZE YOUR EDGE
I can see this one. K-State has absolutely riddled Kansas the last two years, but they will still have the intensity for the reasons you have listed.
I really like Iowa State going on the road to play Oklahoma better for Iowa State. You know Iowa State is going to play hard against Oklahoma. They played hard against all the teams better than themselves last season. They look at themselves as giant-killers and they believe they can do it. Oklahoma, on the other hand, will be coming off a huge game against Notre Dame. You know it’s big, Patrick, because fans and media have been talking about this game ever since they got it scheduled. The Iowa State game is going to be a big let-down after ND and with a revenge spot against Baylor on deck.
Denny, two teams in the Big 12 that I’m probably going to pick on this season a little more than the others are Okie St. and K-State. For one reason because they both beat the spread last year. And it’s hard to repeat those kinds of seasons. And for another, in KSU’s case there are some subtle differences in their schedule that is going to make it much more difficult for them.
Last year KSU went on the road 5 times. They were a dog in every one of those games except in-state against Kansas. This year I can see two games where they’ll go on the road as favorites. And that is ISU and probably Baylor. And TCU will probably just be a short favorite against them. It’s a much different feeling going into another team’s house as a favorite than the dog.
Iowa State on the other hand won’t be getting much respect on the spreads. So they are always a team I look to play on. They went 6-7 last year, but they were 7-5 ATS. When I see more ATS wins than SU wins, it tells me we’ve got a well coached fighter on our hands who also gets disrespected on the line. The best thing as bettors we could ask for. Paul Rhoads is 20-16 ATS in his 3 years there. And he’s never had a winning season! That’s pretty remarkable.
I agree with you about OU/Iowa State. This is also a game on my radar. Something else to consider here is OU will not only more than likely be a little emotionally spent for this game, but also physically spent. Notre Dame is built more like a Big 10 team. Very physical in the trenches. Especially this season. So it will be interesting to see how OU holds up against them.Hopefully we’ll get a good number the next week with ISU.