As Oklahoma prepares to leave its Bedlam rivals behind by departing the Big 12 Conference for the SEC, it’s only natural to wonder how the schools’ respective football coaches have fared on the field in Norman and Stillwater.
Whether it be second-year OU coach Brent Venables or Oklahoma State mainstay Mike Gundy, there’s no shortage of data points behind the two coaches’ stays at the state’s Big 12 campuses.
BetOklahoma.com looked at who the best coach in the Big 12 is based on his record against the spread.
To do so, we utilized records from TeamRankings.com. For this list, only games from the coach’s current stint were included. Games played as interim coach were not included. Teams with new coaches entering the 2023 season were not included.
Unfortunately for state football fans, there is no legal Oklahoma sports betting.
Big 12 Coaches Against the Spread
Although there are no Oklahoma betting apps, nationally Texas is the Big 12 favorite this year at +100 odds.
Gundy Middle Of The Pack ATS
Gundy has posted an all-time record of 124-93-3 (or 57.5%) ATS during his 18-year run with the Cowboys, putting him in fifth position among Big 12 coaches with at least one year at their current stop.
Venables, meanwhile, ranks last among the same coaches in cover percentage, at 38.5%, with the second-year OU coach posting a 5-8 ATS record in Norman during his first season.
Gundy’s ATS record is actually a good deal lower than his overall winning percentage, with the Oklahoma State lifer posting a .675 winning percentage with the Cowboys, which is 10% higher than his ATS record.
Both Gundy and Venables find themselves well behind the Big 12’s leading coaches, ATS-wise, with TCU’s Sonny Dykes (71.4% cover percentage) and Chris Klieman of Kansas State (64.6%) leading the way.
The good news for Sooners fans is that oddsmakers at BetMGM Sportsbook (there is no BetMGM Sportsbook Oklahoma) don’t see a repeat of the team’s struggles in 2023, giving OU the second-best Big 12 odds at +325 with a win total over/under of 9.5.
The Cowboys, on the other hand, aren’t as fortunate, with BetMGM Sportsbook giving OSU +4000 Big 12 odds and a win total over/under of 6.5.
