Friday’s Den: Part 1 of our Big X football preview…….

Part 1 of our Big X football preview……..

Houston
Willie Fritz is the new coach after LY’s 4-8 season.
Houston has 5 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Cougars have 118 returning starts on OL, only 30 of them at Houston.
Senior QB Smith has 20 career starts. 

Last three years, Houston is 3-9 ATS as a home favorite.
Last eight years, Houston was 26-36-2 ATS in conference games.
In his career, Fritz is 14-7 ATS as a road favorite.
Cougars are 3-2 SU/2-2-1 ATS in their last five bowl games.

Arizona State
Last two years, Sun Devils went 3-9/3-9 SU, 5-7/6-6 ATS
ASU has 6 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Sun Devils have 57 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Bourguet started 6 games; they added a transfer QB from Michigan State and another QB who started 25 games at Georgia Tech/Nebraska. 

Since 2017, ASU is 8-15 ATS as an home favorite.
Since 2015. ASU is 3-10 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2017, Sun Devils are 5-16-1 ATS in non-league games.
ASU is 1-4 SU in last five bowls; favorites covered the last four.

BYU
BYU was 5-7 last year, their worst season since 2017.
Cougars have 8 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Cougars have 88 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Bohanon started 19 games, at Baylor/South Florida.

Under Sitake, BYU is 23-32 ATS as a favorite.
Under Sitake, BYU is 21-14-1 ATS as an underdog.
Last four years, Cougars are 3-6 ATS as a road underdog.
BYU is 3-2 SU/ATS in its last five bowl games.

Colorado
Last three years, Colorado is 9-27 SU/15-21 ATS
Tigers have 8 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Tigers have 100 returning starts on offensive line, and a new OL coach.
QB Sanders started 11 games LY, after playing multiple years at I-AA Jackson State.

Colorado was 4-8 SU last year, despite a +9 turnover ratio.
Since 2017, Buffs are 10-20-1 ATS as a road underdog.
LY, Colorado was 6-3 ATS as an underdog, 1-3 as a favorite.
Buffs lost their last four bowls; their last bowl win was in 2004. 

Famous birthdays, July 19th:
George Dzundza, 79
Alvan Adams, 70
Anthony Edwards, 62

LeRoy Butler, 56
Rick Ankiel, 45
Adam Morrison, 40

LaMarcus Aldridge, 39
Patrick Corbin, 35
Mauricio Dubon, 30

Cincinnati
Cincinnati was 3-9 LY, their first losing season since 2017.
Bearcats have 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Bearcats have 91 returning starts on offensive line.
Soph QB Dorsby started 7 games at Indiana last year.

Last two years, Cincinnati was 4-10 ATS as a favorite.
Last two years, Cincinnati was 3-13-1 ATS in conference games.
In his career, Satterfield is 16-9 ATS as a road favorite.
Bearcats lost their last three bowl games, scoring 11.3 ppg.

Baylor
Last two years, Bears were 6-7/3-9, after a 12-2 year in 2021.
Baylor has 10 starters back on offense, 9 on defense.
Bears have 97 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Finn started 32 games at Toledo.

Under Aranda, Baylor is 8-6 ATS as home favorite, 1-4 as road faves.
Since 2018, Bears are 8-6 ATS as a home underdog.
Last 2 years, Baylor was +3 in turnovers (+31 from 2019-21)
Baylor is 3-2 SU in last five bowls (underdogs 4-1 ATS).

Texas Tech
Last three years, Texas Tech was 7-6/8-5/7-6.
Red Raiders have 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Red Raiders have 125 returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB Morton started 12 games LY (15 TDs/8 INTs)

Under McGuire, Texas Tech is 8-5 ATS in home games.
Last 10 years, Red Raiders are 4-9 ATS as a road favorite.
Last four years, Tech had a minus-28 turnover ratio, still went 26-23 SU.
Texas Tech won its last three bowls, scoring 36.7 ppg.

Central Florida
UCF was 6-7 last year, their first losing season since 2016.
Knights have 7 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
UCF has 58 returning starts on offensive line.
Senior QB Jefferson started 38 games at Arkansas.

Last five years, UCF is 7-14 ATS as a road favorite.
In his career, Malzahn is 10-5 ATS as home underdog, 11-15 as road underdog.
Last five years, Knights are 5-14-1 ATS coming off a loss.
UCF lost three of its last four bowl games. 

Author: Armadillo Sports

I've been involved in sports my whole life, now just write about them. I like to travel, mostly to Las Vegas- they have gambling there.