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UTEP vs. Rice Prediction and Odds for College Football Week 10

By Josh Yourish

UTEP Miners running back Reynaldo Flores (3) and quarterback Gavin Hardison (2)
UTEP Miners running back Reynaldo Flores (3) and quarterback Gavin Hardison (2) / Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports
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We’ve got weeknight college football, who cares if it is 4-5 UTEP and 4-4 Rice in a Conference USA game. It’s 7 p.m. on a Thursday night, and that’s good enough for me. 

Both teams had a rough Week 9, UTEP with a 24-13 loss to Middle Tennessee and Rice with a 56-23 blowout loss to Charlotte. Now, we get to see who bounces back and starts a late season ascent up the C-USA standings. 

UTEP vs. Rice Odds, Spread and Total

UTEP vs. Rice Betting Trends

  • UTEP is 3-6 ATS
  • Rice is 5-3 ATS
  • The Under is 7-2 in UTEP games
  • The Over is 7-1 in Rice games
  • Rice is 0-6 ATS in last 6 Thursday games
  • UTEP is 1-8 ATS in last 9 meetings at Rice

UTEP vs. Rice Prediction and Pick

The trends can play a big role in the process of handicapping a game, especially when it comes to the total. The problem is that UTEP’s games go so heavily to the under and Rice’s games go so heavily to the over. Neither team has a particularly dominant unit, but Rice ranks 67th in scoring offense and 117th in scoring defense, compared to 109th and 76th for UTEP. 

Though I do believe that Rice’s scoring offense ranking is misleading. Last week, Rice went up against Charlotte and the worst statistical defense in the entire country. They only managed 23 points against a 1-7 team. They only turned the ball over one time, it was not a fluky score, they were outgained 514-370. Rice was dominated by one of the worst teams in all of college football. Also, when you look at total offense instead of scoring offense, Rice ranks 84th, just four spots ahead of UTEP. 

I don’t particularly trust TJ McMahon, the quarterback for Rice, or Gavin Hardison, UTEP’s QB, because neither guy completes even 60% of his passes or adds much on the ground. Rice is 0-6 ATS in their last six Thursday night games and with the way their defense played last week and their offensive struggles, I think it will be 0-7. 

Pick: UTEP +3.5 (-110)

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change

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