Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma: Complete Gambling Guide for the 2013 Cotton Bowl

The 2013 Cotton Bowl takes place at 8 p.m. ET Friday, January 3rd at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas and features the No. 9 ranked Texas A&M Aggies going up against the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners.

It should be a thrilling contest between two of the premiere teams in college football, plus having the added attraction of Aggies QB Johnny Manziel’s first outing since being named the Heisman Trophy winner.

If you are looking to spice the game up even more, there’s always the option of placing a friendly—or large—wager down on the action.

Let’s take a look at the various ways you can do that for this game and give some advice on which way to lean in this year’s Cotton Bowl.

Point Spread: Texas A&M (-3) over Oklahoma

We like the Aggies in this one, as they have been one of the most surprising teams of 2012 and should parlay that into a big bowl win in 2013.

Johnny Football will get yet another chance to shine on the national stage in one of the premiere stadium’s in America, and we expect he’ll rise to the occasion and deliver one of his best performances yet.

The freshman signal-caller finished his regular season by completing 273-of-400 passes for 3,419 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also ran 184 times for 1,181 yards and 19 scores, proving he is one of the most electrifying weapons on offense.

Considering the Oklahoma defense gives up over 185 yards per game via the air and 134 on the ground—with many subpar opponents factored in to this equation—we figure the A&M offense will have no problem having its way against the Sooners.

Over/Under: Over 73

We just highlighted the OU defense, but it’s also worth noting that the Aggies defensive unit gives up over 382.5 yards per game. For that reason, we love this one to go over.

Expect a back-and-forth shootout between Manziel and Sooners QB Landry Jones, who will be playing in the final game of his excellent collegiate career.

Defense is going to be an afterthought in this matchup, and both sides will put up plenty of scores in a thrilling bowl game.

We like Manziel making a big play late to seal the deal for the Aggies and predict the final score will be Texas A&M 52 – Oklahoma 45.