College Football Odds: SMU vs Texas Tech Picks

A potential major upset in college football odds is not out of the question nor is a Texas shootout as the Texas Tech Red Raiders host the SMU Mustangs on Sunday. Kickoff is at 3:30pm EST for the game that can be seen on ESPN. Online sportsbooks have opened with of Texas Tech -13.5 favorites with a betting total of 58. SMU made a huge leap in head coach June Jones’ second year on the job as they went from 1-11 in college football picks to an 8-5 bowl team that defeated Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl 45-10 for their first post season appearance since returning to action in 1989 after the NCAA” Death Penalty.”

Heading into week 1 college football betting odds, SMU has 8 starters back on offense led by sophomore QB Kyle Padron, who passed for 1922 yards and 10 TD’s last year. Padron passed for a school record 460 yards in the bowl victory. The offense averaged 29 points per game but loses the top RB and WR. The defense returns 7 starters to a unit that allowed 27 PPG last year. SMU has dropped 13 straight games to Tech and lost the last meeting 43-7 in 2008 as 36.6-point underdogs in college football odds. Jones has momentum building for this program and it’s a different Mustang team for 2010. It’s also a different Texas Tech team this year as head coach Mike Leach was run off despite the most successful run in school history.

Leach will be replaced by Tommy Tuberville, who had a highly successful run at Auburn that ended badly as he grew stale just as Nick Saban arrived at Alabama. While 8 starters and senior QB Taylor Potts return to the offense Tuberville is not the same style of coach as Leach, try as he might to promise to maintain the wide open style. Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeil is also gone after his unit allowed 22 PPG last year. The defense returns 6 starters. To some Tuberville seems like an odd fit as a SEC coach and as one with a much more conservative style than his predecessor.