It’s Big XII Championship time in Arlington. That means we get Oklahoma vs Baylor round two.\u00a0 The Sooners are playing in a fourth consecutive Big XII title game and a fifth straight conference championship.\u00a0 The Bears are looking for a third conference championship and the first Big XII championship game victory.<\/p>\n
Baylor is a second-half collapse against the Sooners away from being undefeated going into this Saturday\u2019s conference championship game. The Bears have steadily improved week by week this season.\u00a0 Only a very weak non-conference schedule and the loss to Oklahoma from being in the top four of the CFB playoff rankings.<\/p>\n
On the negative side, Baylor has had several close games with inferior opponents.\u00a0 Among those wins would be an eight-point win against Rice.\u00a0 The lack of game control is a big negative for the Bears playoff resume\u2019. With all this in mind, Baylor will be a tough opponent for the Sooners.\u00a0 It\u2019s always difficult to beat a team a second time in the same season.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma has an advantage in experience playing in the Big XII Championship game.\u00a0 The Sooners are playing for a fifth consecutive Big XII championship.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma\u2019s defense has stepped up the last two and a half games.\u00a0 Since the second half of the earlier meeting against Baylor, the Sooner defense has only allowed three touchdowns in the last two games against TCU and Oklahoma State.\u00a0 The Sooners defense allowed a touchdown on Oklahoma State\u2019s opening drive.\u00a0 The Sooners defense allowed only three field goals the remainder of the game. \u00a0Oklahoma’s defense allowed a season-low 65 yards passing against TCU.\u00a0 The defense has forced three turnovers in the last two games as well.\u00a0 The defense limited national rushing leader Chuba Hubbard<\/a><\/strong> to 104 yards on 24 carries.<\/p>\n The Sooners offense has been somewhat inconsistent in recent weeks.\u00a0 Last Saturday the offense played well against Oklahoma State. The offense did not turn the ball over, however, the Sooners still committed nine penalties. There is no way Oklahoma should still be committing so many penalties this late in the season. On a positive note, Jalen Hurts<\/a><\/strong> did a good job taking care of the football and running the offense.\u00a0 The running game seems to have hit high gear and operating on all cylinders.<\/p>\n The young players seem to have settled into their roles on offense as well. The Sooners have a new punter and placekicker this season.\u00a0 Surprisingly, the punting has been adequately handled by Reeves Mundschau<\/a><\/strong>. As for placekicking, Gabe Brkic<\/a> <\/strong>has been incredible this season going 15-15 in field goal attempts.\u00a0 You can\u2019t do better than 100%!<\/p>\n In respect to the betting experts, Oklahoma opened up a 9 \u00bd point favorite. Then, the line went down to eight due to \u201cexperts\u201d betting on Baylor. As of Thursday, December 5th,<\/sup> the line has leveled out at nine points.<\/p>\nOffense<\/h3>\n
The Final Word<\/h3>\n