Michigan vs Oklahoma NCAAF Week 2 Best Picks and Predictions
Week 1 of the college football season is in the books, and we saw plenty of upsets, terrific finishes and big games that lived up to the hype. Now, one of the marquee games on Saturday’s Week 2 card comes in Norman, Oklahoma, where the Michigan Wolverines take on the Oklahoma Sooners in a massive contest for both sides.
With this Big Ten vs SEC clash nearly upon us, let’s dive into our experts’ college football predictions and NCAAF best bets for this matchup.
Michigan vs Oklahoma Predictions
Pick #1: Oklahoma Sooners -4.5 (-110) vs Michigan Wolverines Click Here to Bet
Pick #2: Under 45.5 (-110) Click Here to Bet
Pick #3: Jaydn Ott (OK) Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+165) Click Here to Bet
PICK #1: Oklahoma -4.5 (-110) vs Michigan
With the insertion of five-star true freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, it’s easy to buy Michigan’s offense as a positive regression candidate this season. However, for as talented as he is, Underwood is still very unproven, and there will likely be some clear growing pains this season, especially considering the caliber of defense he'll be facing on Saturday.
Given the fact that Underwood is making his first-ever road start in one of the toughest places to win in the country, Michigan should look to lean on its ground game early and often. The problem for the Wolverines is that they will likely struggle to consistently move the ball against an Oklahoma defense that ranks third in rushing success rate allowed and 13th in points per drive per CFB-Graphs.
As for the hosts, the Sooners brought in quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle from Washington State to spice up what was a very stale offense in 2024. The Sooners kept things very vanilla in last week's win over Illinois State, so we can expect Oklahoma to have a few tricks up its sleeve in a game that could set the tone for the season.
PICK #2: Under 45.5 (-110)
As mentioned previously, this is not a game where we want to back Michigan’s offense, given that Underwood is making his first collegiate road start. The true freshman lacks a great group of weapons surrounding him at the skill positions, and he’ll be going up against an Oklahoma defensive front that will be one of the best units he faces all season. That’s not exactly a winning combination.
What the Wolverines do have in their favor is another good defense, even though this unit lost several high-level players to the NFL. Given that it will be Mateer’s first start against a defense of this caliber, we can also expect the Wolverines to do some things that will confuse the Sooners' signal caller. This has all the makings of a game where both teams try to establish the run early and lean on their defenses in hopes of forcing a pivotal mistake to swing the game in their direction. All things considered, the Under is the recommended play on the total in this game.
PICK #3: Jaydn Ott (Oklahoma) Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+165)
Jaydn Ott was one of the most sought-after running backs in the transfer portal this past offseason, and he was billed as the perfect complement to Mateer in the backfield for Oklahoma. This is why it was so puzzling that the Sooners hardly used him in their Week 1 victory over Illinois State, as Ott registered just one carry and didn’t make an impact on the game at all.
However, reports from Norman and quotes from the Oklahoma coaching staff indicate that we’ll see a lot more of Ott this week in a game where the Sooners will likely have to be successful running the ball to win. With that in mind, let’s take a shot on Ott to find the end zone at this friendly price now that the market is low on the Cal transfer.
