It's been four months since we last saw a college football game and still another three-plus months until another will be played. So, when the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas released over/under win totals for some college football teams earlier this week, we jumped right on it. 

 

Let's have a look at the numbers. 

 

No surprise, Oklahoma leads the way in the Big 12 with the over/under set at 10 wins for 2016. Last season, OU won 11 games and made it to the college football playoffs. The Sooners are not only one of the favorites to win the Big 12, but many believe they will find themselves back in the college football playoffs again.  

 

In addition to the nine Big 12 conference games the Sooners will play this season, they face Houston in Houston (at the Texans' stadium), Louisiana-Monroe and Ohio State. Even though Ohio State lost about 94 guys* to the NFL draft in late April, it’s not exactly a Bayloresque, cream puff non-conference schedule is it?

 

Speaking of Baylor, the Golden Nugget has the Bears’ over/under win total at nine. In keeping with the program’s philosophy of playing absolutely no one in the non-conference portion of the season, the Bears will play Northwestern State, SMU and Rice. 

 

Is it a good bet to say Baylor will go 7-2 in Big 12 play? That’s about right where the Bears have been, on average, the past three seasons. 

 

In that time, Baylor has won 22 league games. Keep in mind, they found a way to win six last year after using a wide receiver (actually, multiple wide receivers) at quarterback after starter Seth Russell and backup, Jared Stidham went down with injuries. 

 

The Golden Nugget did not release the over/under win total for West Virginia yet. If I were guessing though, I would say it will be in the 7 to 7.5 win range.  If the goal is to draw equal bets (money) for the over and the under, 7-7.5 wins seems about right to me.

 

West Virginia has a challenging non-conference schedule with both Missouri and BYU. While WVU is one of the few league schools to play two power five type games, they get both Mizzou and BYU as they attempt to break in new coaches. That's a major advantage for the Mountaineers. 

 

Yes, I just counted BYU as a 'power five type' game. Many of you keep telling me BYU would be one of your top choices if the Big 12 were to expand, so I'm counting them as a 'power five type game.' 

 

Moving on ... I think West Virginia should beat both Missouri and BYU and go 3-0 in non-conference play. Do that and the Mountaineers would need to win five Big 12 games to get to eight overall wins. 

 

Since joining the league, WVU has averaged only 3.75 league wins per year and has won at least five Big 12 games only one time in four seasons. 

 

If the over/under was set at 7-7.5 wins, you would have to think about which side to take, right? Your heart probably tells you to take the over. But, recent history tells you to take the under. Tough call. Exactly what Vegas wants. 

 

If you were running one of the sportsbooks in Vegas, what would you set West Virginia's over/under win total at for 2016?

 

Leave a comment below or send me a tweet @BradHowe07 and let me know. 

 

 

(DISCLAIMER: number of Ohio State NFL draftees may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the point)

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Skyler Howard, middle is of Shelton Gibson and bottom is Rushel Shell - all three of which will help determine the win total for WVU in 2016. Photos by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.