We'll be treated to one of college football's best rivalries here, with the Red River Showdown on deck Saturday.
For the 117th time, Oklahoma and Texas will clash, with the latest meeting coming at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The atmosphere will be made all the better by both teams' competitive records, with the Sooners 5-0 and Longhorns 4-1.
Can the Sooners make it four in a row in the Red River Showdown? Check out our picks and predictions for Oklahoma vs. Texas on October 9.
Oklahoma vs Texas odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Oklahoma opened as 3.5-point favorites before dipping down to 3, only to return to the opening line as of Wednesday morning. The total has remained steady at 63.5 at most books.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Oklahoma vs Texas picks
Picks made on 10/5/2021 at 10:20 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Oklahoma vs Texas game info
• Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX
• Date: Saturday, October 9, 2021
• Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
• TV: ABC
Oklahoma vs Texas betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Oklahoma: Theo Wease WR (Out), Jalen Redmond DL (Out), Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge DL (Questionable), Delarrin Turner-Yell DB (Questionable), Woodi Washington DB (Questionable)
Texas: Troy Omeire WR (Out), Joshua Moore WR (Questionable), Denzel Okafor OL (Questionable), Josh Thompson DB (Questionable), Jahdae Barron DB (Questionable)
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Oklahoma is 5-1 straight up in the last six games against Texas. Find more NCAA betting trends for Oklahoma vs. Texas.
Oklahoma vs Texas predictions
Oklahoma -3.5 (-110)
For a team that was supposed to run away with the Big 12 heading into the season, the Oklahoma Sooners have looked very mortal to start 2021. All four of their wins against FBS teams have come by single digits — hardly the dominance that was anticipated.
Still, let’s give credit where credit is due — the Sooners remain undefeated and are looking to extend their recent dominance over Texas in this series. They’ve had Texas’s number, going 15-7 against the Longhorns since 2000 and winning three straight.
Fans can only hope that this game will be half as exciting as last year’s 53-45 thriller that took quadruple overtime to decide a winner.
Steve Sarkisian’s Texas offense has mostly looked great in the first year under his watch. Bijan Robinson, arguably the top running back in the country, has 480 rushing yards in his last three games. The switch to Casey Thompson at quarterback has paid dividends, as they’re averaging 558 total yards of offense in the three games he’s been under center.
Those numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt, however. The lone time they played a defense of any caliber, against Arkansas in Week 2, the Razorbacks completely shut down the Longhorns’ offense to the tune of only 256 total yards. Sarkisian had no answer when his initial game plan didn’t work and had no adjustments to offer.
What will happen here if Sarkisian fails to make adjustments against a solid Oklahoma defense allowing only 19 points per game, 325 yards per game, and 4.9 yards per play? This will be the toughest defense Texas has played since Arkansas, and we saw how it failed in that matchup. If the offense is anything less than stellar, the Horns will struggle to keep the game close against a dangerous Sooners offense averaging 437 yards per game and 6.4 yards per play.
We’re going to lay the points with the Sooners as a small favorite — they’re the more well-rounded team and have demonstrated their superiority over the Longhorns in the recent past.
Over 63.5 (-110)
Lincoln Riley offenses generally don’t stay down for long. Has the offense struggled more this year than anticipated? Yes. Spencer Rattler has not looked quite like the Heisman front-runner that he was hyped up to be during the offseason. Has the offense still been good despite the setbacks? Yes, actually — they’re averaging 6.4 yards per play.
The Texas defense hasn’t shown much to make us believe that it'll shut down a Riley offense. They’re allowing 6.1 yards per play on the season overall and have allowed 34 points per game in their three contests against Power 5 teams. If there ever was a spot for Rattler and this offense to get rolling, this would be it.
While we mentioned previously how this Texas offense had few answers against Arkansas’s defense, they still managed 21 points in that contest. The offense is too talented with players like Bijan Robinson and Jordan Whittington at their disposal to be completely shut off the scoreboard, so we can believe that both teams will contribute to the Over.
Give us the Over in the Red River Showdown.
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