Temple vs. Oklahoma ATS Pick: How to Bet Owls vs. Sooners

Oklahoma faces one of the most difficult schedules in the country in 2024, with ESPN’s FPI ranking the Sooners’ strength of schedule No. 7 in the nation.

Before coach Brent Venables and Co. begin conference play of their first season as members of the SEC, though, they get a tune-up on Friday night against Temple.

The Sooners, who enter the season ranked No. 16 in the country, are favored by more than 40 points against the Owls in primetime. Kickoff from Memorial Stadium in Norman is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Temple vs. Oklahoma Betting Odds

Below are bet365’s spread and total odds for Friday’s game.

How to Bet Temple vs. Oklahoma

Entering Year 3 as head coach of OU, Venables has to replace both his offensive coordinator (Jeff Lebby) and star QB (Dillon Gabriel) from last year’s team, which went 10-3 (7-2 Big 12).

Still, Oklahoma returns plenty of talent, including star LB Danny Stutsman and last year’s top RB and wide receivers.

Temple, on the other hand, is coming off a 3-9 (1-7 AAC) season and enters 2024 with low expectations. In fact, oddsmakers give the Owls by far the longest odds to win the AAC of anyone in the league (they’re +35000 — or 350-to-1! — at DraftKings.)

Temple coach Stan Drayton’s team appears to have an uphill climb to stability after it went 3-9 in both 2022 and 2023.

The Owls’ 350-to-1 odds to win their conference (while the second-biggest underdog in the league, Charlotte, is substantially shorter at 75-to-1) tell you all you need to do about the type of season this team is in for.

Still, even if Friday night’s game ends up being a cakewalk for Oklahoma, it will be interesting to see how sophomore QB Jackson Arnold looks in his first season as the starter.

Arnold, a five-star recruit in the class of 2023 who appeared in seven games last year, started his team’s bowl game loss to Arizona, but spent most of 2023 on the sidelines behind Gabriel.

The Sooners will need a massive season from him to contend in their new conference. OU’s gauntlet of a schedule includes Houston and Tulane in non-conference, followed by an SEC slate featuring No. 15 Tennessee, No. 4 Texas, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 11 Missouri, No. 5 Alabama and No. 13 LSU.

For Week 1, though, expect smooth sailing. Temple should have no answer for Sooners RB Gavin Sawchuk and WRs Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq and Andrel Anthony.

Temple vs. Oklahoma Best Bets

• Oklahoma -42 (-110 at bet365)
• Oklahoma Team Total Over 54.5 (+150 at DraftKings)

Games with spreads greater than 40 points are always a crapshoot to bet on, but in this case, we like the favorite to cover the massive number.

Oklahoma also is a solid bet to go over its team total against an Owls squad that allowed 40-plus points six different times a year ago.

Giving up 40 or more to the likes of Miami, SMU and Memphis was understandable, but Temple also gave up 48 points to Tulsa, 45 to North Texas and 49 to UTSA. That tells us that Oklahoma has a real chance to hang 60 points in this game.

DraftKings only offfers Oklahoma’s alternate team total up to 54.5, though, so that’s what we’re going with.

We’re even more bullish on Oklahoma scoring a ton of points given the possibility of Venables keeping Arnold — who could benefit from as many low-stakes reps as possible — on the field deep into a blowout win.

Yet another reason to like OU to flirt with 60 points or more: last year’s team, albeit with a veteran in Gabriel under center, scored 66 or more points three different times.

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