Sun Bowl Betting

Stanford Cardinal (8-4) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (7-5)
Opening Line: Sooners -9 / Cardinal +9 O/U 56
Time: 2 PM EST Thursday December 31, 2009 on CBS

In the Sun Bowl the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Stanford Cardinal, who are making their first bowl appearance, not to mention winning season, since 2001. This season has been a major disappointment for Oklahoma, as they lost Sam Bradford earlier in the season and they lost 3 of their first 6 games. The Sooners lost 2 of their last 4 games and they were 2-3 against ranked opponents this season. The Cardinal and their dynamic offense won 4 of their last 5 games and they were 3-1 against teams ranked in the top 25.

This season Stanford was 7-5 ATS and Oklahoma was 4-6-1 ATS.

In their last games of the season Stanford beat Notre Dame 45-38 and Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State 27-0.

Stanford has the nation's 13th ranked offense and their strength is the run led by Heisman runner up RB Toby Gerhart (1,736 yds 26 TD). Stanford and their 73rd ranked passing offense is led by QB Andrew Luck and his 2 main targets of Ryan Whalen and Chris Owusu are each averaging over 15 yards per reception. The Sooners' defense ranks 7th in the nation and they also rank 7th on run defense. Their main goal will be keeping Gerhart from having a big game. If he does have a solid game the Cardinal will be tough to beat. Luck can air it out, but if Gerhart struggles they will have a hard time winning this game.

Oklahoma ranks 28th on offense and they are led by freshman QB Landry Jones (2,780 yds 23 TD 13 INT) He needs to hold onto the ball and not turn it over in this game. The Sooners rank 69th on rushing offense with the RB duo of Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray and even though these 2 guys are legit and each had over 650 rushing yards this season neither back is averaging 5 yards per carry. The Stanford D only ranks 85th in the nation and their pass defense only ranks 105th in the nation. The Cardinal front line D has to pressure Jones, as if he is given time he may shred the suspect Cardinal secondary.

The total has gone Over in 6 of the Cardinal's last 7 games and the Sooners are only 3-5-1 ATS in their last 9 games.