It’s time for the final installment of the mid-major betting report. This report focuses on the Rice Owls, who were picked at random before the season began. All season long I’ve been following Rice beat writers, staff members on Twitter, and news from all the team’s press conferences.

The information collected from these sources has been used to help me become knowledgeable about the Rice Owls football program. The goal of this report is to show that specialization is a profitable sports betting strategy.

At the end of each report, I make a selection this week’s Rice Owls game. We use the Doc’s Sports Unit Betting System for every pick, which is designed to help readers follow along and track the results of these college football picks.

Last Week’s Game

The 25 seniors, who were bidding farewell to Rice Stadium, made sure they went out with a nice win last weekend. Rice picked up a 19-7 win over Tulane, and it was the seniors who shined on both sides of the football. Senior running back Tyler Smith ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Smith accounted for 186 of the Owls 237 yards of total offense.  

The Owls special teams brilliance was on full display last weekend in Houston. Chris Boswell, who has been a major bright spot all year for the Owls, kicked two field goals of more than 50 yards into the wind. Boswell’s 54-yard field goal was good enough for third longest in the school’s history. Kyle Martens, a finalist for the Ray Guy award, averaged 46 yards per punt on six punts in the win over Tulane.

Scott Solomon picked up two sacks, which pushed his career total to 24 sacks. He is now tied for first place on the school’s list of sack leaders. Cameron Nwosu made eight tackles, which pushed his season total to 102 tackles.
My selection on last week’s game was Rice -13.5. The Owls went for two with four minutes in the game, but failed on the two-point conversion attempt. The failed attempt ended up leading us to only our second loss of the season on the Rice Owls selections.

Notes of Interest

--Scott Solomon said in this week’s press conference that the SMU game has become a rivalry game for Rice. He believes that despite the fact that the Owls won’t have a bowl game to be playing for, they will come out with their best effort on Saturday afternoon. Solomon said this Rice Owls team plays for each other, and they will be full of vigor in this season finale.

--After a great game against UTEP a couple weeks ago, Nick Fanuzzi has had two poor performances in the Owls last two games. Fanuzzi has been held under 100 yards passing in two straight contests. The passing game will need to help out some this week against a well-balanced SMU defense.

--June Jones has the SMU football program on the rise, but the team suffered an embarrassing 37-7 loss against Houston last week. The Mustangs have been hurt badly by the absence of Zach Line. Line was the team’s leading rusher and most important offensive player, but he is out for the season with a foot injury. SMU does have one of the best defensive units in the conference.

Betting Trends

-Rice is 1-9 ATS in their last 10 road games.
-SMU is 9-19 ATS in their last 28 home games.
-The ‘over’ is 38-14 in the Owls last 52 road games.
-The ‘under’ is 9-3 in SMU’s last 12 conference games.

Rice vs. SMU College Football Odds

SMU was installed as a 16.5 point home favorite when the lines opened. Some significant money has come in on the Owls, and the Mustangs are now favored by just 13.5 points at most books. The posted total has stayed steady at 54.5 points.

Rice vs. SMU College Football Picks

SMU has lost four of its last five games. The Mustangs have been held to single digits three times during that period. Rice has been so atrocious on the road that it is next to impossible to back them on the road, but I also don’t feel confident backing the Mustangs in this one. The Owls defense appears to have improved over the last couple weeks, and SMU has been consistent defensively this year.

Both of these offenses are far from balanced, and I think that gives the defenses a chance to gain the upper hand in this game. I don’t see a large amount of value on any play in this game, but my selection will be one unit on ‘under’ 54.5 for this one. I hope you have found this weekly report to be informative and profitable and we will be back next season!

The Pick is 1 Unit on ‘Under’ 54.5 (-110)

Rice Weekly Picks Season Total: 6 Wins 2 Losses and 1 Push (+$1,180)

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