The BCS Championship game betting odds opened at Florida Gators -3 and heading into game day Thursday, nearly all the books had this one at Florida Gators -5 vs. the Oklahoma Sooners. Sportingbet.com was one lone exception, offering Florida at -4 ½ for our European and Canadian readers.
The two teams earned their spots in the title game by dominating college football over the final two months. Second-ranked Oklahoma (12-1) scored at least 58 points in each of its last six games, winning by an average of 33.3 points. The Sooners, winners of seven in a row overall, pounded then-unbeaten and No. 2 Texas Tech 65-21 on Nov. 22, and followed that with blowouts of then-No. 11 Oklahoma State and then-No. 19 Missouri in the Big 12 title game.
Oklahoma's current stretch of four straight 60-point games is the longest in the Football Bowl Subdivision since Tulsa had five in a row in 1919.
Top-ranked Florida (12-1), meanwhile, won its final nine games and knocked off then-No. 1 Alabama in the SEC championship game as it earned a chance to play for its second BCS title in three seasons.
"I'm just really honored and excited to be here," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "Everybody involved with this bowl game is just first-class and coming to the city of Miami is always a fantastic experience. We're excited about it ... it's exciting for the competition and challenge of it."
For the online sportsbooks, the BCS Championship concludes a successful College Bowl betting season.
"This is definitely high season for the North America facing bookmakers," said Don Shapiro, sports writer for the Gambling911.com website. "Thursday's game should be the most bet on of the Bowl season."
Florida was already the most bet on team of any sport heading into Thursday at Bookmaker.com, traditionally the largest sportsbooks in terms of professional betting action.
And just how much action was coming Florida's way?
"Nearly 85 percent of the betting public was on the Gators in this one," Shapiro disclosed.
The Connecticut Post staff advises to keep an eye on Gators linebacker Brandon Spikes. The Sooners have thrown on everybody, but they haven't seen anything like the defensive speed of Florida. Can Bradford continue his eye-popping numbers?
Analysts at BetUS.com see this being a potential high scoring affair.
"Oklahoma was the highest-scoring team in the nation this season, averaging a whopping 54 points per game, while Florida was third overall, averaging 45.2 points per game," the online betting firm reveals. "It's no wonder the total for the championship was set high at 70 on the college football odds.
"This game also features a tremendous battle at quarterback between the last two Heisman Trophy winners. The reigning Heisman winner, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, goes head-to-head with last year's Heisman recipient, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Bradford had a monster season for Oklahoma, passing for 4,464 yards with 48 touchdown strikes, the most in college football this season. Tebow was unable to match his stats from his Heisman-winning campaign, but he still put up solid numbers, passing for 2,515 yards with 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions and also rushing for 564 yards and 12 scores."
Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
