There are 25 Division I-A teams remaining with unbeaten records, and ESPN’s Thursday night game this week features two of them in Big 12 South foes Texas A&M and Oklahoma State – yet neither club is ranked in the AP poll (OSU is No. 24 in the USA Today poll).

But you can also understand in a way why neither team is in the Top 25 yet. The Oklahoma State Cowboys football schedule has seen them beat up on Washington State and Tulsa, but they also had to escape Troy, 41-38, on Sept. 11 in a game where OSU trailed by seven at halftime. Oklahoma State has yet to even play a road game.

That Cowboys schedule looks murderous compared to the Texas A&M football schedule. The Aggies, who will play their first road game here, have beaten cupcakes Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech and Florida International. That latter game nearly was a loss as A&M needed a 40-yard TD run from Cyrus Gray with just over four minutes remaining to take the 27-20 lead. Then FIU got down to the A&M yard line before being stopped on downs. A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson was terrible in that game, going 11-for-31 for 194 yards with one TD and four picks – the picks came on the Aggies’ first four possessions of the second half.

A&M leads the all-time series 17-8, but OSU won 36-31 last year for its first consecutive wins in the series since 2002-03.

College Football Picks: Team breakdowns

Other than possibly Oregon, no team has been as impressive offensively this season as Oklahoma State. The Cowboys rushed 115 times for 613 yards and seven touchdowns and have thrown 119 times for 1,175 yards and 13 touchdowns. They are No. 1 nationally in total offense, No. 2 in passing yards and No. 2 in scoring at 57 points per game. QB Brandon Weeden has thrown for 975 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Justin Blackmon leads all FBS receivers with eight touchdowns on the season to go with 24 catches and 431 yards. OSU has 16 scoring drives with an elapsed time of less than two minutes (including a 91-yard drive in 1:26 and an 81-yard drive in 1:42).
Under Mike Gundy, the Cowboys are 3-2 in Big 12 openers, including three straight victories (two over Texas A&M and one over Texas Tech).

A&M is also a very good offensive team. Despite that bad outing against FIU, Johnson ranks 11th nationally in total offense (308 yards per game) and 15th in passing yards (288 average). Running back Christine Michael has opened the season with three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances, the first Aggie to do that since 1993. The Aggies rank No. 9 in total offense (501.3 yards a game) and No. 10 in total defense (255.7 yards per game), which makes A&M one of just three teams in I-A schools to rank in the top 10 in both categories. But, again, consider the schedule.

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State betting odds

The Cowboys are currently three-point favorites with the total at 66.5. There’s about a 75 percent lean on OSU as of this writing. The line opened at 3.5 at most books, while the total has actually dropped 1.5-2 points from its open at most books.

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State betting trends

The ‘over’ is 5-1 in the past six meetings
The Aggies have covered just twice in their past nine as a dog
A&M is just 1-6 ATS in its past seven Thursday games
The Cowboys are 11-4 ATS in their past 15 at home

Texas A&M at Oklahoma State Betting Predictions and College Football Picks

This game should be nothing but entertaining with two wide-open, quick-strike offenses. Disregard A&M’s defensive rank because it has yet to face an offense ranked inside the top 96 nationally. Plus, turnovers have been a major problem for the Aggies in their past two games with four against Louisiana Tech and five against FIU.

OSU has never won three in a row in this series but absolutely will do so – I’m stunned the line is only at a field goal. Take OSU in a big, big way, but I like the ‘under’ despite that ‘over’ trend noted above.

Doc’s Sports has become known in nearly four decades in the sports handicapping business as one of the brightest and most successful college football handicappers in the nation and Doc has a big 7-Unit Game of the Year in college football going this weekend and this will be one of the highest rated picks of the season. This pick is out of the Big Ten, where Doc has become an expert since the early 1970s. Here ay Doc’s Sports we provide both college football picks and NFL picks in one package so you can get the best of both worlds for all your football betting needs. Check our homepage for up-to-the-minute college football odds and daily exclusive college football betting articles.