Rice Owls vs. (11) Texas Longhorns Betting Odds

Rice Hoping to Show Up, Just a Little Bit!

August 30, 2023 159 3 minutes readNCAAF Picks & Parlays

Rice Owls vs Texas Longhorns Betting Odds: Expert Analysis — Eric Christian Smith | Contributor

Rice
Texas
Annihilated Again

The Rice Owls start their first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference after appearing in the first bowl game in eight seasons. After a 38-24 loss to Southern Mississippi in the lending Tree Bowl, Rice hopes to improve on a 5-8 2022 record.

The Texas Longhorns finished 2022 8-5 / 6-3 (Big 12), losing to Washington, 27-20, in the Alamo Bowl. Texas opened as a 35-point favorite, a number that has held steady. The total has dropped a half point to 59. You can catch the game on Fox Sports starting at 3:30 pm ET / 12:30 pm PT.

We continue our Rice Owls vs Texas Longhorns betting odds preview with a look at both teams from a gambling perspective.

Rice Looks to End Longhorn Dominance

We suppose it’s better to get this game out of the way first if you’re the Rice Owls. The Texas Longhorns have used this somewhat annual get-together on the NCAAF schedule as a tune-up. In their last 44 meetings, the Longhorns have won 43 times with their only loss coming in 1994. Before that, the last Texas loss in this series was in 1965.

Returning for Rice is veteran quarterback TJ McMahon who threw for 2102 yards while completing over 60% of his passes. McMahon will attempt to cut down on 14 interceptions in 10 games. Last year, Mike Bloomgren’s team was 6-5 ATS, but still own a losing record over the last three seasons (12-15 ATS since 2020).

The Owls have covered just twice in their last nine meetings against the Longhorns since 2005. When receiving 30 points or more, Rice is 1-4 ATS in that span. We continue our Rice Owls vs Texas Longhorns betting odds preview by turning our focus over to Texas.

Texas Needs to Limit Mistakes

The only way Texas doesn’t use Rice as a catapult up the College Football rankings is by playing like a team that is more focused on a visit to Tuscaloosa next week. Texas averaged just under a turnover a game in 2022 (0.9) while forcing 1.1 per game.

Head Coach Steve Sarkisian, 3rd season, knows turnovers haven’t been an issue overall but when the Horns had two or more turnovers last year, Texas was 2-2. Not a disaster, but 6-3 when committing one turnover is a lot better. The problem is, that neither record is going to get Texas closer to its first NCAA Football championship since 2005. This is a team that will need quarterback Quinn Ewers to play flawless football, as he did down the stretch of his 2022 season, to move closer to a team that would be a consistent participant in a National Championship discussion.

Texas was 8-4 ATS last season but is still just 27-29 ATS since 2018. As a 30-point favorite or more, Texas has covered 3 of their last four games. We conclude our Rice Owls vs Texas Longhorns betting odds with our official selection.

Rice Gets Annihilated Again

Sometimes we see large numbers and think that’s too many to cover in a 60-minute game, but this isn’t one of those times. We thought we might get the number coming back in favor of Texas but despite 85% of the early money coming in on Texas, the number refuses to budge.

That likely means that this is small money but it’s rare to see an opening number stick until kick-off. Texas is 4-1 ATS when the public betting percentage is 70% or greater, which it will be here. Our official selection is Texas -35. That does it for our Rice vs. Texas betting odds preview, we wish you the best with all of your week one wagers.

For NCAAF betting news, Owls vs Longhorns odds, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.