AAA's 3-GM Friday Night OBLITERATION PASS!
(NCAAF) Baylor vs. Southern Methodist,
Point Spread: -34.00 | -112.00 Baylor (Away)
Result: Win
This is an 8* play on Baylor.

The Bears will try to run the table this year as they look to repeat as Big 12 champions en route to college football's four-team playoff. Suffice it to say, we expect the visiting side to send a message to the rest of the nation in this game and to run rough shod over the pathetic home team.

The Bears:

Seth Russell takes over at QB and he has a plethora of weapons to utilize and also benefits from playing in front of one of the most solid offensive lines in the country. Russell will be leaning heavily on All-American left tackle Spencer Drango and a bruising starting line which is fully intact, including Pat Colbert, Jarell Broxton and Blake Muir. RB Shock Linwood is coming off a 1,000 yard season where he ran for 16 major scores. The Bears are also stacked at the receiver position with sophomore KD Cannon and junior Corey Coleman. Not to be outdone though, the defense should improve this year as well with the return of nine starters, including All-American end Shawn Oakman, who would set the single-season school record for sacks and was just shy of another mark with 19.5 tackles for a loss. Oakman anchors a line that includes All-Big 12 NT Andrew Billings and All-American KJ Smith. With all four starters returning in the secondary, that part of the unit should also be much improved this year.

The Mustangs:

Only 11 starters return for SMU and the team will be implementing new schemes on both sides of the ball with first year head coach Chad Morris directing the show. QB Matt Davis took over the starting job with six games remaining in 2014 and would wind up as the team's top rusher. Davis will be handing off to four different backs, all capable. Consistency at the receiver position was an issue last year and is a question mark coming into this one as well. Van Malone is the new defensive coordinator, he'll be tasked to help a unit that was one of the worst in the country last year (note that the Mustangs ranked 120th nationally with a minus-14 turnover margin in 2014/15).

The bottom line:

It's a league race for Baylor which a November 27th showdown at TCU and the defense is going to have to shoulder the load to begin with as it looks to alleviate some of the pressure from Russell.

So there's no better first opponent to work out a few kinks against. While SMU looks a lot better than it did last year, ultimately we expect the Bears' defensive unit to play with a chip on its shoulder today and for BAYLOR to pull away down the stretch for the comfortable ATS cover.

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