NCAAF Spread – Texas Longhorns vs Rice Owls

The NCAAF Spread set for an all Texas affair as the 5th ranked Longhorns take on the Rice Owls from Reliant Stadium in Houston. The Owls have had the privilege of playing six football games at the home of the Houston Texans, going .500 in those games. But of the three losses, two of them have been blowouts, and they’ve been at the hands of these very Texas Longhorns. Although the NCAAF Game Spread isn’t showing much faith in the Owls, they’ll at least try and keep this one respectable so they can buck that trend of getting throttled by their in state rivals.

#5 Texas Longhorns vs. Rice Owls

(Reliant Stadium – Houston, TX)
Saturday September 4th at 3:30 PM ET – TV: ESPN

NCAAF Spread:
Texas – PS -31 (-110)
Utah – PS +31 (-110)
Total – 57  

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This will mark the 91st meeting between the Rice Owls and Texas Longhorns, and not surprisingly, Texas holds a 69-21-1 overall lead in the series. In terms of games played in Houston, the Longhorns hold a 28-13-1 advantage. The series has gotten much more lopsided in recent years though as they have won 38 of the last 39 games against Rice. The biggest reason is the level of competition as Texas competes with the big boys in the Big 12 and is ranked 5th in the nation, while Rice plays in Conference USA. Not knocking that conference, but in terms of recruiting, kids will go to a big name conference 9 times out of ten  if given the shot.

Texas has also been a perennial powerhouse for years now. They have posted nine straight 10-win seasons which just happens to be the longest streak in the nation. Only Florida State’s mark of 14 straight seasons is better, but that could be in jeopardy as Texas just always seems to be good.

Rice, on the other hand, had just a dismal season last year, finishing 2-10. That was after they had themselves an incredible 2008 that saw them win ten games, go figure that. But in the college game, teams change from year to year and it was a combination of injuries and lost personnel that really hurt Rice last year.

Things should get better this season though, as it can’t get much worse. Quarterback Nick Fanuzzi, who transferred from Alabama, looked good towards the end of last season. Although he lost some weapons at wide-receiver, he should have a few players he can target as big play type guys. Patrick Randolph is one of those players that needs to take the next step and become the number one option for Randolph.

Texas will have a new look at quarterback as Garrett Gilbert takes over from Colt McCoy who has moved onto the NFL. He’s just another 6-4’ 220 pound natural athlete that Texas has in the wings who has arm strength and great vision, not to mention, all kinds of weapons around him. He’s going to be a stud, but with this being the first game of the year, I can see him struggling a little bit with nerves.

That’s why I think that the NCAAF Spread of 31 points is too high. It’s the first game of the year, and Rice is getting dumped on for having a bad 2009 campaign, but I don’t think they’re that bad. I expect them to put up a few scores and keep this one within the 21-24 point range.

NCAAF Game Spread Prediction: Rice (+31)