The regular season is slowly winding down, but the mid-major betting report is back for the second to last edition. This report focuses on the Rice Owls, who were picked at random before the season started. All year I’ll be following the Rice beat writers, staff members on Twitter, as well as all the team’s press conferences. The information collected from these sources will be used to help me become very knowledgeable about the Rice Owls.

This report is designed to show that specialization can be a profitable sports betting strategy. At the end of each report, I’ll make a selection on this week’s Rice Owls game.  We will be using Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System for every pick, which will help readers follow along and track the results of these college football picks.

Last Week’s Game

Rice was holding out hope for a late-season push that would help them become bowl-eligible, but last week’s blowout loss at Northwestern ended those dreams. The Owls trailed 21-0 at halftime and they didn’t get on the scoreboard until four minutes remained in the game.

The defense gave up 397 passing yards. Dan Persa completed 25-of-32 pass attempts as he carved up the Rice secondary. Starting quarterback Nick Fanuzzi had just 92 yards passing for the Owls. The team was never in the game, and both sides of the ball appeared overmatched against the Wildcats from the Big Ten.

Bryce Callahan came up with his sixth interception of the season, which is good for fourth best in the nation. Callahan has been a major bright spot on a defense that has struggled in a big way this year. Rice actually forced three turnovers and gave up the ball only once, so that was another positive from last week’s game.

Notes of Interest

--Rice will play its final home game of the season this weekend against Tulane. The Green Wave come into this game with a 2-9 record. Tulane has lost eight straight games by an average of 26.8 points per game. Bob Toledo was fired a month ago after he went 15-40 in eight seasons with the school. Mark Hutson is the interim head coach for Tulane. Seniors always want to finish with a win in front of the home crowd, and this game gives Rice a chance to do that.

--The Owls narrowly avoided being shut out last weekend. Rice has not been shut out in the last 11 years.

--Coach Bailiff said at this week’s press conference that despite the loss last week ending their bowl hopes, he is confident that the team will show up with a good attitude during this week of practice. Bailiff said that this team has never quit on him, and he praised the character of this squad.

Betting Trends

--Tulane is 11-28 ATS in their last 39 games overall.
--Rice is 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games against teams with a losing record.
--The ‘over’ is 6-2 in Tulane’s last eight games.
--The ‘over’ is 61-25 in Rice’s last 86 games.
--The ‘under’ is 4-1 in Rice’s last five home games.

Tulane vs. Rice College Football Odds

Oddsmakers installed Rice as a 12.5-point favorite, but the money has slowly been pushing the line upwards. Currently, most books have the Owls favored by 13.5 points. The posted total opened at 61 points, but it has edged down to 59.

Tulane vs. Rice College Football Picks

Rice looked terrible in last week’s loss to Northwestern, but that has been par for the course for this team away from home.

Tulane has lost eight straight games, and their football program is a real mess right now.

The Owls have quite a few seniors who had a big winning year in 2008, and I suspect this group will be fighting hard to win their final game in front of the home crowd. Rice is 3-1 at home this year, and the one loss at home came to a very good Tulsa team.

Both of these teams are poor defensively, but Rice has shown flashes of brilliance on offense. Expect the Owls to come out ready to play in this one.

Coach Bailiff always talks about the character of this team, and I think that will show in a big win this weekend at home. My selection on this game is two units on Rice -13.5.  

Keep an eye out for next week’s report, which will feature a selection for the Owls season finale at SMU.

The Pick is 2 Units on Rice -13.5 (-110)

Rice Weekly Picks Season Total: 6 Wins 1 Loss and 1 Push (+$1,390)

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