Michigan vs. Oklahoma Picks, Odds, Predictions: Our Best Bets for College Football Week 2

The Michigan Wolverines host the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners in Saturday afternoon college football action.

The Wolverines enter this game with a controversial 1-0 record after surviving a scare from Western Michigan in their season opener.

It looked like the Broncos had notched a major upset after successfully defending a deep heave from Bryce Underwood as time expired. However, the officials put one more second on the clock, allowing one more Hail Mary attempt that Michigan connected on to win, 13-12.

On the other side, Oklahoma comes into this game at 1-0 after thrashing UTEP by a score of 51-0.

With a healthy John Mateer under center and an elite defense, the Sooners are on a quest for the College Football Playoff once again and could be considered national title contenders.

Oklahoma enters this game as a -5 favorite with the over/under set at a low 43.5.

So, where does the value lie? We polled 14 of our college football experts to get their take on the spread and total for this early-season clash.

Let's take a look at our Michigan vs. Oklahoma picks and college football predictions for this Week 2 matchup on Saturday, September 12.

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Week 2 delivers a major nonconference spotlight as Oklahoma hosts Michigan in a rematch of last year's meeting, and the market has already made a clear statement: the Sooners are getting the respect.

This line has climbed to Oklahoma -5.5, and the Action Network team is on the favorite to cover, backing the Sooners in this spot with 12-of-14 votes.

Although it was just a one-week sample, the support makes sense given the contrast between these two programs entering Saturday.

Michigan looked anything but dominant against Western Michigan and failed to deliver the kind of clean performance bettors expected.

Much of the attention was on quarterback Bryce Underwood, who was supposed to take a step forward but instead struggled out of the gate. If you're betting on a bounce-back from the Wolverines, the Action team isn't buying it.

Oklahoma also brings a strong recent resume against the number, especially in tough road environments.

Last season, the Sooners were excellent away from home, going 4-0 in true road games as the visitor, including upset wins over Alabama and Tennessee .

And in last year's meeting, Oklahoma already showed it could contain Michigan's offense, covering as a 4.5-point favorite in a 24-13 home win.

With this year's spread now up to 5.5, the Action staff still prefers the favorite. If you're taking a side in this one, the recommendation is to roll with Oklahoma to cover.

The total on this game comes in at 43.5, and our staff overwhelmingly leans to the under. Both defenses were strong in the opener and project to be strong this season, and we look for this one to be a slow-burning grind.

Michigan scored on its first possession of the game last week, but the Wolverines then punted or turned the ball over on their next eight possessions before the final controversial Hail Mary play wrapped it up.

The offense was shockingly bad, registering just seven first downs after the opening possession. In fact, Michigan didn't execute a run play longer than 15 yards.

Quarterback Bryce Underwood looked lost in the offense and missed some easy throws. The pace was also unbearably slow, as Michigan ran just 48 total plays.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, was very dominant in its opener against UTEP while deploying an accentuated double-tight rush-heavy approach.

The Sooners' run game was consistent but surprisingly not explosive against the Miners. There's a chance they kept the game plan vanilla in anticipation of this matchup against Michigan, which appears to be a bout between two teams that want to run the ball.

OU quarterback John Mateer can make the tough throws, and Oklahoma has explosive players at receiver, but the offense struggled at times on the road last season.

The Sooners have hung their hat on a slower-paced ball control approach against power-level competition, and we saw that play out in last season's 11-point home win over the Wolverines.

Michigan couldn't string successful plays together in last season's contest, and its one touchdown drive came from a one-play, 75-yard run.

I didn't see anything with Michigan's offense against WMU that leads me to believe the Wolverines are going to rip off explosives in this game.

While the hype this offseason surrounded Bryce Underwood's improvement as a passer, it doesn't appear that has taken form. I don't believe he can throw the ball against this OU secondary.

The Sooners will win this game with the style they seem to be most comfortable with, which is controlling the pace, dominating the line of scrimmage and letting the defense set the terms.

Bryce Underwood Longest Completion Under 32.5 Yards (Play to -120 · Hard Rock Bet )

From a former top recruit in his class to a potential benching, the fall of Bryce Underwood has been stunning.

While his low level of play last year can be attributed to distractions in the locker room, there's now nothing masking his play on the field, heating up his seat with each underwhelming performance.

Unfortunately for Underwood, his struggles under center are poised to persist against Oklahoma, a defense that ranks 17th in explosiveness allowed while leading the nation in Passing Down EPA allowed.

Connecting with his pass-catchers was already a hassle, and now he needs to weave the ball through tight passing lanes while under relentless pressure.

Speaking of pressure, the Sooners' push in the trenches will force Underwood to get the ball out of his hand quickly, giving his receivers less time to break away from coverage. With a body on their hips, the Wolverines' chance of creating an explosive play plummets.

Oklahoma's pressure will also flush Underwood out of the pocket at a high rate, trading pass attempts for carries, improving the probability that he stays under the total on his longest completion prop.

Barring another Hail Mary, it's tough to envision how Underwood will successfully air out the ball, potentially leading to a benching should head coach Kyle Whittingham pull the plug on his starting quarterback.

Bet Underwood to be held under 32.5 yards on his longest completion prop, with the intention of increasing exposure if a book opens at a higher total as kickoff approaches.