Oklahoma vs. Nebraska odds, spread, lines: Week 3 college football picks, predictions by computer model
Oklahoma and Nebraska both have first year coaches on the sideline for Saturday's Week 3 matchup, but it's for entirely different reasons.
OU is hoping Brent Venables is the answer after having to replace Lincoln Riley on short notice, while the Huskers just pulled the plug on Scott Frost and will debut interim Mickey Joseph in his first game.
What do the experts think of the matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.
Oklahoma vs. Nebraska football picks, predictions
Week 2 college football schedule: Oklahoma vs. Nebraska
Football Power Index is going with Oklahoma, which has a 75.3 percent chance to defeat Nebraska in Saturday's road opener.
By contrast, the Cornhuskers have a 24.7 percent shot to upset the Sooners.
Oddsmakers are going with OU, which opens as 13.5 point favorites in the game, according to Caesars Sportsbook, which set the O/U at 65 points.
The computer actually knocked Oklahoma down 4 spots in its latest college football rankings to the No. 15 slot nationally. That's despite AP top 25 voters bumping OU up one spot to the No. 6 national ranking in the latest poll.
OU is projected to win 8.8 games this season by the index computer, which estimates the Sooners will be 14.1 points better on average than the teams on their schedule.
That's in addition to a 17.4 percent chance to win the Big 12 and a 4.5 percent shot at making the College Football Playoff.
Nebraska checks in at No. 59 nationally on the index, down 10 spots after the loss to Georgia Southern and projected to win 4.4 games on the year.
College Football Power Index
ESPN Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.
College football top 25 rankings
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
- USC
- Oklahoma State
- Kentucky
- Arkansas
- Michigan State
- BYU
- Miami
- Utah
- Tennessee
- NC State
- Baylor
- Florida
- Wake Forest
- Ole Miss
- Texas
- Penn State
- Pittsburgh
- Texas A&M
- Oregon