The Big 12 has an eventful week ahead of us, and one of the marquee games on the slate comes in Houston, where the Cougars will host the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a game that could go a long way into determining which one of these teams ends up in the Big 12 title game. Houston has been impressive in recent weeks, winning each of its last three games by double digits and picking up steam after dropping its opening game in conference. However, while I've been impressed by Willie Fritz's team as the season has gone on, they haven't exactly faced a high-flying offense yet, and that is certainly set to change on Saturday.
At this point in the season, it's probably fair to infer that Oklahoma State's season-opening loss to Tulsa was a bit of a mirage. After all, the Cowboys followed up that result with an impressive win over Oregon and immediately proved that it was no fluke after burying West Virginia and UCF over the last couple weeks. While the Cowboys defense isn't quite good enough to justify me taking a shot with them to win this one outright, there should be plenty of space for Drew Mestemaker (15 total touchdowns) and this electric offense (ranked 22nd in success rate and EPA per dropback) to tally plenty of points against a defense that has yet to face a top 40 unit all season. The Cowboys have scored 39 points in each of their last four games, so there's even room for a bit of a drop-off while still coming out on the other side with a successful wager. At under four touchdowns, I'll back Eric Morris' offense to keep on chugging.
Oklahoma State vs Houston prediction: Oklahoma State team total over 27.5 (-125) available at time of publishing. Playable to 28.5 (-105)
