Rice Owls at No. 17 Houston Cougars
Thursday, 10/27/11, 8:00 PM EST, TV:  N/A
Opening Point Spread:  Houston -25.5
Current Betting Line:  Houston -27.5
Opening Total:  70.5
Current Total:  70.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

Rice has been outscored 212-94 in its four road games this year and is coming off a 38-20 loss to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane as 10-point home underdogs.  The Owls are playing an incredibly challenging schedule this year in being the only FBS school to play four non-conference opponents from BCS automatic-qualifying conferences during the 2011 campaign.  Rice and Houston will be meeting for the 38th time and for the 13th consecutive year Thursday, posting a 1-5 record in games played inside Robertson Stadium.  Over the last two-plus seasons, the program is 0-4 ATS as an underdog of 21.5 to 31 points.

The Owls came away with a 34-31 victory in last year’s meeting as 9.5-point home underdogs, out-gaining the Cougars by 92 yards.  Rice is scoring just 22.3 points per game this season and head coach David Bailiff has yet to name a starting quarterback this week, as senior Nick Fanuzzi replaced Taylor McHargue last week.  Fanuzzi threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns against the Cougars in 2010 and looks like the right choice.

Houston is a perfect 7-0 on the season and comes in off a 63-28 win over the Marshall Thundering Herd as 24-point home favorites.  The Cougars are 5-2 ATS on the season and have out-gained six of seven opponents.  Quarterback Case Keenum is the leader of the team, coming in with 17,173 total yards in his career, which passed former Hawaii signal-caller Timmy Change for most offensive yards in major college football.  He completed 24-of-28 passes for 376 yards and six touchdowns last week.  Houston is 0-2 ATS when playing on Thursday night the last two-plus seasons.

The Cougars will be looking to equal their best start in school history, while they’ve also scored at least 35 points in seven consecutive games.  Houston is one of eight remaining undefeated teams and head coach Kevin Sumlin is 6-0 at Robertson Stadium when directing a ranked team.  In fact, the program has won 19 consecutive home games as a ranked team dating back to a 14-7 loss to the Miami Hurricanes in 1980.  Offensively, the team paces the nation in averaging 441.7 passing yards per game, while sitting 53rd in gaining 164.4 rushing yards.

Bettors will likely back the Owls due to the underdog being 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings, while the Cougars are 6-8 ATS after two or more consecutive wins.

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