Missouri Tigers vs. Oklahoma Sooners: Spread and Predictions

All eyes in the Big 12 will be on the game between No. 7 Oklahoma State and No. 8 Texas A&M in College Station. The real make-or-break matchup of the week, though, will be in Norman, where No. 1 Oklahoma will take on Missouri.

The Sooners saw their BCS National Championship hopes come to a close against the Tigers last season amid a 36-27 defeat in Columbia. Landry Jones and company will look to set aside last season's fourth-quarter collapse and hang on to the top spot in both polls on the way to their fifth conference crown in five years. 

Where: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma

When: 8 p.m. EDT

Watch: FX

Spread: -19.5, according to sportsbook.com

Go with the spread here. Oklahoma is good, but they're not so good that they deserve to be nearly 20-point favorites against a Missouri team that is still pretty good.

Over/Under: 57, according to sportsbook.com

The over/under here is pretty darn high, but OU and Mizzou have combined for 63 points or more in each of their last three meetings. In that case, take the over.

Key Injuries:

The Missouri ground game is in big trouble this week. The Tigers will be without their two top running backs, Kendall Lawrence (fractured fibula) and De'Vion Moore (high-ankle sprain).

The Sooners will welcome back offensive tackles Jarvis Jones (knee) and Daryl Williams (ankle sprain), both of whom missed the Florida State game. Oklahoma will keep a close eye on wide receiver Ryan Broyles, who struggled against the Seminoles with a stomach virus. He should be well over the illness by kickoff.

BCS/Top 25 Implications:

The pressure is all on Oklahoma in this one. After all, it's the Sooners who carry the No. 1 ranking and the BCS National Championship expectations. A win will obviously keep them on course while a loss would, just as obviously, derail said course.

As for Missouri, the Tigers began the season in the Top 25 but dropped out after a Week 2 loss at Arizona State. If Mizzou can score another huge upset over the Sooners, a push back into the polls will be in order, as will a path to the top of the Big 12.

Keys to Missouri Win:

The Tigers will need to force turnovers if they're going to spring an upset over a top-ranked OU team for the second year in a row. Mizzou notched two picks and a fumble against the Sooners, the whole of which Gary Pinkel's club turned into 10 points.

By the same token, sophomore quarterback James Franklin needs to limit his mistakes, with this being his first start in a Big 12 conference game. 

Keys to Oklahoma Win:

If the Sooners are to hold the fort in Norman and hang on to everything they're working for this season, they'll need their offense to show up for the full four quarters. Landry Jones and company were nowhere to be found from the early portion of the first quarter until midway through the fourth against Florida State.

Of greater concern, though, are the memories of last year's loss to Mizzou, wherein Jones, the Sooners' Heisman Trophy contender, didn't hit a single pass in the fourth quarter. OU's attack can hardly afford to be quite so silent this time around, lest they prefer dropping out of the national title hunt before the calendar turns to October.

Prediction:

Oklahoma 41, Missouri 28

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