Pinnacle   +13½ -110   BET365  +13½ -110  Sportsinteraction  +13½ -110  888port  +13½ -110

Posted at 8:00 AM ET. Odds are subject to change

Rice +13½ -110 over Memphis

Rice Stadium – Houston, TX

7:00 PM ET. We’ve seen this movie before with the Tigers, not too long ago. In fact, all we need to do is go back a couple weeks to when the Tigers were a 20-plus point favorite on the road at UAB and lost the Battle for the Bones outright. Why was this? Because Memphis was in a known look-ahead spot, as it had a ranked collision with USF on the horizon the week thereafter.

Memphis, of course, would go on and beat USF with a stunning 17-point rally in the fourth quarter to steal the win and the pole position for the American Athletic Conference and perhaps even a College Football Playoff berth. The Tigers are also back in the Top 25, and because of that one result, the UAB incident has been forgotten. But history has a funny way of repeating itself, and it didn’t take long for Memphis to wind up in that exact same position again.

The Tigers come in off the emotional win against the Bulls, and now another big matchup looms next week against Tulane — another must-win for the Tigers if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. And sitting right in between, in the classic sandwich spot, is Rice. A team with very little market clout, a .500 record, and no hype to speak of.

It also bears repeating that Memphis is 7-1 against the spread, meaning they remain one of the most profitable teams in the country. When we faded them against UAB, they were undefeated against the number. Now here we sit again — a ranked team, still riding a strong ATS run, off a huge emotional win, staring straight at another marquee showdown next week… and stuck laying a big number to a team with nothing to lose.

Do we need Rice to win this game? No. We just need them to hang around and capitalize on a Memphis team that may once again come out distracted, just like they did two weeks ago. While the market is rushing back to back the Tigers, we’re selling again. Grab the points.

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