After a week off, we’re back for college football’s version of Friday Night Lights in Week 4.
On Friday, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and Oklahoma State Cowboys battle at 7:30 p.m. ET at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., and that game can be viewed or streamed on ESPN. At 8 p.m. ET, we have a Big Ten conference matchup between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and that can be caught on FOX.
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Friday’s Best College Football Week 4 Parlays & Picks
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All bets are for 1 unit
The Golden Hurricanes (1-2) and the Cowboys (1-1) meet at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. It’s a battle between two teams hungry to get a much-needed victory Friday in what is being called the First Bank Turnpike Classic.
Oklahoma State is coming off an embarrassing 69-3 shellacking at Oregon two weeks ago. It looks to bounce back in a rare Friday game, as Oklahoma State takes to its home field on a Friday for just the third time since 1940. The last time wasn’t as long ago, as it topped Kansas State 29-21 on October 6th, 2023. It played on Friday twice last season, losing 38-35 at BYU and 52-0 at Colorado.
The Cowboys lead the all-time series 45-27-5, including a dominant 28-6-3 mark at home. Oklahoma State has picked up 10 consecutive victories in the series, too. If the Cowboys can vanquish Tulsa, it would match its record for the second-most wins against a single opponent. It also beat Kansas State in 11 in a row from 1947-62. The record is 12 straight wins against Kansas from 2010-21. In addition, head coach Mike Gundy has never suffered a setback against Tulsa in seven tries since September 18th, 2010. In that span, Oklahoma State has not only won, but it is 5-2 against the spread (ATS). The under has cashed in each of the previous four meetings.
That includes last season’s matchup in Tulsa, which saw the Cowboys rattle off a 45-10 victory as a 17.5-point favorite as the under (63.5) hung on. Quarterback Alan Bowman threw for 396 yards and five touchdowns, but he is now plying his trade with the San Antonio Brahmas of the UFL. Zane Flores is now under center, who is completing just 51.3% of his passes for 203 yards, with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Not good.
Tulsa’s lone win was a 35-7 victory as a 5.5-point favorite against Abilene Christian on August 30th, as the under (59) cashed. The Golden Hurricane lost its only previous road game, 21-14, at New Mexico State on September 6th, failing to cover as a 3.5-point favorite. The under (52) cashed in that game, too. Last time out, Tulsa came up short against Navy by a score of 42-23 at H.A. Chapman Stadium, just missing a cover as a 14-point underdog as the over (53) connected.
While the Golden Hurricanes haven’t been great, the Cowboys have no business laying double digits against anybody at the moment. Let’s go low on the total. In fact, go more aggressively on the total than the side.
Picks: Tulsa +11.5 (-110) & Under 54.5 Points (-105)
The Hawkeyes (2-1) and the Scarlet Knights (3-0) meet in the Big Ten conference opener at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. It will be a “black out” for the home side, as Rutgers unveils some pretty snazzy-looking threads.
Iowa suffered a 16-13 loss at Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk rivalry game in its first game against an FBS opponent, pushing against the total at most shops as the under (42.5) cashed. We’ve grown accustomed to unders and Iowa Football in recent seasons. That’s why last Saturday’s 47-7 outburst against UMass was an eyebrow raiser, as the Hawkeyes covered as 35-point favorites, and they took care of the over (44) all on their own. Iowa is 1-1-1 ATS so far, while cashing the under in two out of three outings.
Rutgers has marched past Ohio (34-31 as a 15.5-point favorite), Miami-Ohio (45-17 as a 16.5-point favorite) and Norfolk State (60-10 as a 44.5-point favorite), going 2-1 ATS, while hitting the over in each outing. While the foes aren’t terribly impressive, the win over Ohio looks a little better after the Bobcats managed to hang against the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes into the third quarter last Saturday before falling off.
Since September 24th, 2016, these institutions have met four times. Iowa is a perfect 4-0 straight up (SU), while covering the past three meetings. The under is 3-1 in the past four meetings, too, with Rutgers managing just 4.3 points per game (PPG), including a pair of shutout losses in Iowa City.
Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski has been just OK so far, averaging only 102 passing yards per game. But he hasn’t made a lot of mistakes, either, with just one turnover while running for three scores. Running back Xavier Williams is the biggest threat, making like Tavian Banks with 7.2 yards per carry, and a team-best 186 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis has an eye-popping 72.9% completion rate, 820 passing yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions through three games. He’ll never be confused as a dual-threat option, however, and the competition hasn’t exactly been stiff with two MAC teams and an FCS side.
We’ll stick with Iowa laying the points and go low on the total.
Parlay Odds: +234
Best 4-Leg Parlay
- Leg 1: Tulsa +11.5 (-110)
- Leg 2: Tulsa at Oklahoma State Under 54.5 Points (-105)
- Leg 3: Iowa -2.5 (-118)
- Leg 4: Iowa at Rutgers Under 45.5 Points (-115)
Parlay Odds: +939
