College Football Serving Post-Thanksgiving Smorgasbord, No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No 9. WVU Headlines Friday Action

Posted on: November 23, 2018, 07:00h. 

Last updated on: November 23, 2018, 07:05h.

Thanksgiving is over, and now college football has a Black Friday feast for fans.

college football odds Oklahoma West Virginia
The Oklahoma Sooners look to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive today in West Virginia. (Image: CBS Sports)

There are 15 college football games on the slate today, with seven ranked teams donning pads. And two games come with potential College Football Playoff (CFP) implications.

No. 6 Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) travels to Morgantown to play No. 9 West Virginia (8-2, 6-2 Big 12). The visiting Sooners are favored in Las Vegas, with the general consensus among oddsmakers being the Mountaineers receiving three points.

Oklahoma’s lone loss, a three-point defeat at home to Texas, has their odds of making the CFP long. The Sooners will need to beat WVU presumably twice (today and in the Big 12 Championship), and hope Notre Dame falters out of the four-team playoff.

ESPN’s Playoff Predictor, an analytical program that produces results based on tens of thousands of computer simulations, gives Oklahoma a 25.9 percent chance of reaching the CFP.

West Virginia is coming off a devastating 45-41 loss at Oklahoma State that all but ended the Mountaineers’ shot of CFP inclusion.

No. 18 Washington vs. No. 8 Washington State

The other Black Friday game that comes with a bit of potential CFP implications is Washington (8-3, 6-2 Pac-12) playing at in-state rival Washington State (10-1, 7-1 Pac12). The Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas has the home team the favorites at -2.5 points.

The Cougars are enjoying their best season since they went to the Rose Bowl in 2002. But they’ll need college football to erupt into chaos to reach the CFP.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich explains, “There would have to be some sort of combination of the following: The Big 12 champ finishes with two losses, Notre Dame loses, and there is an upset in either the ACC or Big Ten championship games (or both).”

All losses are costly, but Washington State’s three-point defeat to USC in September will likely keep the Pac-12 out of the CFP. The Playoff Predictor gives WSU a three percent chance.

Other Football Odds

Aside from the two marquee ranked vs. ranked games, three other top 25 programs are in action today.

No. 15 Texas (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) travels to play unranked Kansas (3-8, 1-7 Big 12). The Longhorns are 15.5-point favorites. The Jayhawks might already be looking to next year, as veteran coach Les Miles, who has a national championship on his resume from his tenure at LSU, will become the school’s coach next year.

No. 24 Cincinnati (9-2, 5-2 American) hosts East Carolina (3-7, 1-6 American). The Bearcats are spotting the Pirates 17 points.

No. 11 UCF (10-0, 7-0 American), one of just four remaining unbeaten teams with No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson, and No. 3 Notre Dame, plays away at in-state rival South Florida (7-4, 3-4 American). The Knights are favored by two touchdowns.