College Football

How to watch Oklahoma vs. Baylor: Preview, TV time, odds and more

Here’s all the information you need in order to catch the game between the Sooners and Bears.

Nov 7, 2013, 4:30 PM UTC

Sarah Glenn

So far this season, few teams have been able to stall No. 6 Baylor. The Bears have put up at least 35 points in every contest this season -- only once have they been held under 50 -- but those points came against four Big 12 teams with at least four losses, two non-BCS conference opponents, and Wofford. Things are about to start getting more difficult for the Bears, beginning with their game Thursday against the No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners (7:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1).

Oklahoma will have to find some way to put a dent in Baylor’s prolific scoring rate since it probably won’t be able to keep up in a shootout. But the Sooners have shown some vulnerability on the defensive side in recent weeks, and the Bears are plenty good at exploiting opponents’ shortcomings on that side of the ball. While the Sooner defense held West Virginia to just seven points in September, it was hit for 388 passing yards and three touchdown passes in a 38-30 win over Texas Tech on October 26. Even with Texas Tech’s success last week, the Sooners are allowing just 18.8 points per game, good for 14th nationally and second in the Big 12.

The numbers

Rankings and records: Baylor comes in at 7-0 (4-0). The Bears are No. 5 in the AP Poll and the Coaches’ Poll. The 7-1 (4-1) Sooners are No. 12 in the AP Poll and No. 8 in the Coaches’ Poll. Oklahoma is 21-1 all-time against Baylor. Bears quarterback Bryce Petty said this week that Baylor’s lone win over Oklahoma -- a 45-38 victory in 2011 -- changed the trajectory of the Baylor program.

Vegas: Baylor enters Thursday’s game as a 14.5-point favorite.

Weather: Sunny skies and a high of 66 are expected in Waco. No rain is in the forecast.

Three names to know

Bryce Petty -- Petty is a huge reason why Baylor is averaging a ridiculous nine yards per snap this season. He leads the nation in passer rating and yards per attempt, and he's tossed 18 touchdowns against just one interception.

Lache Seastrunk -- The Bears' running back is averaging about 124 rushing yards per game despite averaging a hair under 14 carries per contest, which is to say that he is averaging 9.1 yards per attempt. He already has 11 touchdown runs, and he's well on pace to set a new career high in rushing yardage.

Blake Bell -- Oklahoma needs a great performance from Bell, who has shown some flashes this season but has also had his share of struggles. Bell can be an effective runner when needed, and is completing 63.8 percent of his passes.

Two things at stake

The game has significant Big 12 title ramifications, and could vault Baylor into national title contention. With a win, the Bears will be in the pole position for a Big 12 title, and could run to the BCS Championship, though they’ll need help in order to get there. For now they merely need to worry about staying undefeated.

The Sooners do have a loss to Texas on their resume, but they are not completely out of the conference championship race just yet. Oklahoma still needs the Longhorns to lose a couple games in order to have a shot at first place, but it can vault ahead of the Bears in the standings by beating them on Thursday.