The UTEP Miners will take on the Rice Owls for what should be one of the more competitive college football games of the entire week. UTEP is going to be coming into this game at 4-5 on the season after a disappointing 24-13 loss against Middle Tennessee. Rice, on the other hand, is going to be coming into this game playing some impressive football season at 4-4.
Continue reading below if you want to get our best UTEP vs Rice prediction and find out our best bet for this game.
UTEP Miners vs. Rice Owls
Matchup Info
- Location: Rice Stadium
- Date and Time: Thursday, Nov 3, 7:00 PM
- How to Watch: ESPN
UTEP Performance Recap and Analysis
The UTEP Miners are typically one of the more interesting mid-major programs in college football. In the Conference USA, we can expect that they are playing some of the better UTEP football schedules that they have played throughout the past few years for multiple reasons. The conference is getting better year in and year out, and that’s always good news for every program.
The UTEP Miners have had some impressive games throughout the season, and the lack of college football injuries has certainly helped them. They will be coming into this one losing two of their last three games, and that’s something that we have to think about here. If they want to turn their season around and be the team that everybody was expecting them to be, they need to be much better on the defensive side of the football. They’ve given up over 35 points in multiple games this season, and that’s typically not going to be the recipe for success in college football.
Key Injuries
The UTEP Miners don’t have any players on the injury report that seems to be of significance. We will have to continue monitoring this as we look at the injury report throughout the next few days for our UTEP vs Rice prediction.
Betting Trends to Know
UTEP has some interesting betting trends on the season, as they will be coming into this one at 3-6 against the spread this season. As a 3.5 underdog or more this season, UTEP has one win against the spread. Only two out of UTEP’s nine games have finished over this season.
Rice Cowboys Recap and Analysis
The Rice Owls are going to be coming into this game playing some impressive football on the season, but similar to the UTEP Miners, they will be coming into this game after a disappointing loss. They lost to Charlotte, 56-23. The college football picks in this game are going to be solely relied on what these teams can do on the defensive side of the football. Unfortunately for the Rice Owls, they have now given up over 41 points in each of their last two games, and I’ve also struggled on the defensive side of the football just like the UTEP miners have. If they’re going to want to beat a UTEP team that has shown the ability of scoring points at a high level, the defense needs to figure it out as soon as possible.
Giving up 56 points against any team in the country, better yet, the Charlotte 49ers, is not ever going to be a recipe for success. This team is much better than they have shown to be throughout the past few weeks, and they need to truly lock in and figure that thing out on that side of the football.
Key Injuries
They currently don’t have any players that are on the NCAAF injury report that seems to be significant. However, this is something that we have to keep checking as it is still early in the week, and there are two days before the game is going to be played.
Betting Trends to Know
Rice has some impressive betting trends on the season, as they are currently 5-3 against the spread. Rice has won one time against the spread this season as a 3.5-point or higher favorite this season. There have been seven rice games out of eight that have gone over this year.
UTEP Miners vs. Rice Owls State Odds
The Rice Owls football stats currently reflect the line that we are seeing, as they will be coming into this game at -3.5. This means that if you were to bet them at -3.5, they would have to win by four or more points for you to win your bet. Rice is going to be coming in at -175 on the money line, and UTEP will be coming in at + 145 on the money line. The over / under in this game is going to be slotted at 50. This is certainly a play that we can think about taking, considering that both of these teams have struggled defensively this season.
UTEP Miners vs. Rice Owls Cowboys Betting Picks
The best money line bet in this game would be taking the Rice Owls to win the game outright. This means that all they would have to do is win the game, and you would win your bet at -175 odds.
The over-under is going to be our favorite play of the day as we are going to be all over the over in this game. Seven of the eight games that Rice has played this season have gone over, and this is another good spot for that to continue.
The spread is a bit interesting in this game as Rice is going to be a 3.5-point favorite, but with what they’ve been able to do against the spread this season, taking them to win this game on the spread line is also a favorable idea. If they can continue doing what they’ve done, this is another good spot for them to continue being one of the most profitable teams in college football.
UTEP Miners vs. Rice Owls Score Prediction
We are finally here with our UTEP vs Rice prediction, and the best bet in this game is going to be taking the Rice Owls to win 28-24. If this happened to be the final score of this game, we would cover the -3.5 spread, and the game would go over. If you don’t feel comfortable taking the spread, the next best bet in this game is going to be taking the over.
NCAAF Pick: Rice -3.5
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