The Kent State Golden Flashes take on the Oklahoma Sooners. Check out our college football odds series for our Kent State Oklahoma prediction and pick.

The Kent State Golden Flashes lost 45-20 to the Washington Huskies in Week 1. This is a game which is hard to pin down in terms of what it says about the two teams involved. Washington was absolutely horrible in 2021 under former head coach Jimmy Lake. The Huskies looked a lot better against Kent State in their 2022 opener, but is that a reflection of Washington being a very good team, or UW simply setting the bar so low last year that nearly anything was going to look good by comparison in 2022? That's a question with relevance for this game, because if you take the position that Washington is a really good team, Kent State losing by 25 in Seattle doesn't seem all that bad. On the other hand, if you think Washington isn't all that good, the Huskies' 25-point win over Kent State means the Golden Flashes are really awful.

Since Kent State won the MAC East Division title last year, it's not easy to assume that Kent State is a bad team. Ultimately, we're going to learn a lot more about the Golden Flashes in this game against Oklahoma.

The Sooners are getting settled into the season under new head coach Brent Venables. Oklahoma took care of UTEP without too many problems in Week 1, but the Sooners didn't go crazy. They didn't score 70, or 60, or even 50. They settled for a 45-13 win over the Miners. OU did outscore UTEP 21-0 in the first quarter, but the Sooners seemed to go on cruise control in the final three quarters. The game was not only Venables' first game as a head coach; it was also the first game at Oklahoma for quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who previously played at UCF. Oklahoma is the favorite in the Big 12, so if Kent State wants to show it is ready to defend its MAC East Division title, a credible showing in this game would go a long way.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Kent State-Oklahoma College Football odds.

College Football Odds: Kent State-Oklahoma Odds

Kent State Golden Flashes: +34.5 (-114)

Oklahoma Sooners: -34.5 (-106)

Over: 72.5 (-110)

Under: 72.5 (-110)

Why Kent State Could Cover the Spread

Kent State scored 20 points against Washington, which was probably more than many people expected. On the other side of the coin, Oklahoma scored only 45 against UTEP, probably fewer than most people anticipated. If Kent State does score 20 points in this game — which is not ridiculous to predict, since OU allowed 13 to UTEP (and UTEP is probably worse than Kent State) — Oklahoma would have to score at least 55 to cover. Given that Oklahoma scored only 45 versus UTEP, one should feel good about Kent State covering the spread if the Golden Flashes can score in the low 20s.

Why Oklahoma Could Cover the Spread

OU's first-game win over UTEP wasn't a massive 55-point win. The Sooners settled for a relatively modest 32-point victory. What happened? Why wasn't the margin of victory much larger? Here's something to take note of: UTEP played a “Week Zero” game in late August, so the Miners had already played a full game and were able to become much smoother in their communication, in-game responses, and more. If UTEP had not played a game before this past weekend, and OU still failed to win by 40, that would be more of an eye-opener. Since UTEP did have a game under its belt, the modest 32-point margin seems more reasonable.

Now that Oklahoma has itself played one game this season, the second game should also go more smoothly. The Sooners should be able to drill Kent State by 40.

Final Kent State-Oklahoma Prediction & Pick

If Oklahoma scores over 60 points, the over will hit … but since the Sooners posted just 45 against UTEP, it's reasonable to think they won't score more than 52-56 points. If Oklahoma does score no more than 56 points, Kent State will need to score 17 to push the game over the total. Given the strength of OU's defense, that's not likely. Sooners 52, Kent State 14.

Final Kent State-Oklahoma Prediction & Pick: Under 72.5