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Oklahoma vs. Temple prediction, odds, lines: 2024 college football picks, Week 1 bets from proven model
By CBS Sports Staff,
23 hours ago
Mark D. Smith / USA TODAY Sports
The No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners open play in 2024 now as a member of the SEC as they host the Temple Owls on Friday night. Oklahoma, 10-3 last season, looks to take a step forward and qualify for the expanded College Football Playoff this season despite facing a more difficult schedule than in recent years. Temple, 3-9 in 2023, seeks to make their first bowl game since 2019 under third year head coach Stan Drayton. The Owls will have an uphill battle in that they only return 10 starters from last year's team.
The model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Since its inception, it has generated a profit of well over $2,000 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It is also coming off a profitable 13-9 season on top-rated spread picks. Anyone who has followed it has seen strong returns.
Oklahoma returns seven starters on offense, and that doesn't include quarterback Jackson Arnold , who threw for 361 yards in the team's bowl game loss to Arizona . Arnold should have plenty of weapons to work with, as the team returns five of its six top receivers from 2023 and adds former Purdue wideout, Deion Burks . Scoring points shouldn't be much of an issue for the Sooners, despite the departure of offensive coordinator, Jeff Lebby, who became the head coach at Mississippi State .
On defense, the Sooners feature two second team All-Americans, linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman. Stutsman had 104 tackles and Bowman was the team's third leading tackler with 63 last season. Oklahoma returns eight starters on defense including their six leading tacklers. See which team to pick here .
Why Temple can cover
The Owls have an uphill battle on their hands with only ten returning starters and facing a dynamic and veteran Oklahoma team. The rushing attack will be led by Maryland transfer Antwain Littleton and returning RB Joquez Smith . Temple features an above average offensive line and will have to rely on ball control to keep the Sooners off the field on Friday night.
At quarterback, 2023 JUCO transfer Forrest Brock , who appeared in one game last season, is likely to get the nod over Rutgers transfer Evan Simon . On defense, five starters return and look to improve over last year's team which gave up 442 yards per game, including 198 on the ground. See which team to pick here .
How to make Oklahoma vs. Temple picks
SportsLine's model is leaning Over on the total, projecting 71 combined points. The model also says one side of the spread hits nearly 60% of the time. You can only get the model's pick at SportsLine .
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