What IS Vegas thinking?

[JXC]

The line is set that way because it will bring in the most money... eventually Ohio State will be favored... that's the way the lines work.

Exactly. I see this line closing with Ohio State being 2.5 point favorites. I don't like betting on OOC games. They are a lot less predictable with very few common opponents. I'd give tOSU the edge though because they finished strong and Okie State finished pretty weak. Plus Tressel has shown that he knows how to win a bowl game. Since 2001, his first experience with it, he really has shown he knows how to get a team ready. I think the fact that tOSU has a lot of young starters will help their cause, since they will be playing in their first bowl game. Troy Smith and TG2 are going to be ready to have big games. Seems as though Okie State gets most of their yards on the ground, and Snyder and Tucker have really gotten that tOSU defense to focus on stopping the run in the second half of the season. As far as the over being a good bet? I agree. I think tOSU will score 49 easy :)

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

...Since 2001, his first experience with it...

Uh, the 2001 Outback Bowl is not his "first experience" at post season play. He had 25 division I-AA playoff games in the '90s, including six national title games. Trust me, those six title games were far more pressure-packed than that Outback Bowl...the loss wasn't caused by Tressel being a "newbie" in the post season.

 

[WangHo]

So, OkState fans, what you're betting is who shows up. The team that lost to Northwestern or the guys that ripped UM. We'd like to think the latter. We'd like to think that the team has grown and "finally clicked". On the other hand, maybe it WAS just a high for UM and our offense still sucks.

Same here......Is it going to be the team that had a 28-point lead on Texas in the first half, or the team that let Texas score 49 unanswered points in the second. Or is it going to be the team that stayed within a field goal against #2 ou or the team that got manhandled by Playstation Tech. Is it going to be Jekyll or Hyde

 

[OilerBuck]

So do you guys have any thoughts about the line coming out at OkState -1.5?

Based on what has happened so far this season, OK State is a better team. I feel that if both teams play to their maximum capabilities, we win in a fairly close one. It's a crapshoot because you don't know which team will show for us (Iowa or scUM?) and for you (first half vs Texas or second).

I agree with the line, and am truthfully surprised it is that small.

 

[CowboyJD]

As far as the over being a good bet? I agree. I think tOSU will score 49 easy :)

Right then,

tOSU 49
OkState 52 it is!

 

[Jaxbuck]

Uh, the 2001 Outback Bowl is not his "first experience" at post season play. He had 25 division I-AA playoff games in the '90s, including six national title games. Trust me, those six title games were far more pressure-packed than that Outback Bowl...the loss wasn't caused by Tressel being a "newbie" in the post season.

I think he was probably referring to JT's first experience in dealing with the long layoff and other intangibles that make it different from what he was used to in 1-AA. Not strictly gameplanning or dealing with a big game environment.

Everything I have ever read from coaches talking about Bowl games they mention how hard it is to find the right balance of hard work time and let up time in order to get a team to play at their peak 4-6 weeks from the last regular season game.

Kirk Ferentz got his ass handed to him the first Bowl go around in Iowa and said he learned a lot of lessons from it then came out and shit stomped Florida last year. Lou Holtz and Paterno were masters at it, Coop was a case study in what not to do. There are millions of examples but there is definitly something to learning how to get a team ready over that long layoff period.