USC vs Rice Betting Preview
In the sixth game of our Countdown to Kickoff series, Sportsmemo handicapper JM Sports takes a look at USC vs Rice on September 3. USC had a disappointing 4-8 season losing to rivals UCLA, Notre Dame as well as Cal. Rice also finished last season at 4-8.
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Saturday, September 3 | College Football Betting Notes |
---|---|
Point Spread: | USC Trojans -35 vs Rice Owls |
Total: | 64 (Over -110 / Under -110) |
Kickoff: | 6:00pm ET / 3:00pm PT |
Venue: | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA |
TV: | Pac-12 Network |
USC vs Rice Analysis
USC arguably could be the most exciting team to watch this season, they could be the most improved team, as well as one of the top teams in the country. They finished last season just 4-8, replaced their head coach, while losing their top two passers, top two rushers and top receiver.
Lincoln Riley comes into USC for his first season, and while there was plenty of talent lost in the offseason, USC landed 15+ notable players in the transfer portal, which includes Riley bringing his top QB from Oklahoma in Caleb Williams.
Not only does Caleb Williams have Heisman potential, but he has potentially the best receiving core in the country. The Trojans return four of their top five receivers while picking up Jordan Addison, the biggest name in the transfer portal, as well as Mario Williams (OKLA), Bynum (WASH), and Rice (COLO).
The depth of this receiving core can be seen by the fact that Gary Bryant (their 3rd leading receiver LY) could potentially find himself all the way down with the 3rd string team this season.
The only returning player with career rushing yardage from last season is Darwin Barlow who rushed for just 289 yards, yet this team still possesses a RB unit that ranks in the top 10 with the addition of Oregon’s leading rusher, Travis Dye and Stanford transfer Austin Jones.
Quarterback Shuffling For Rice
Meanwhile, Rice has struggled against opponents of this caliber, they do have three returning quarterbacks on their roster, they still lost their leading passer, three of their top four receivers and two of their top three rushers from last season.
They do still have three QB’s with experience on their roster after the departure of Jake Constantine. TJ McMahon looks to be the starter heading into the season, which may come as a surprise seeing as he is the least experienced of the three QB’s, he has yet to start a game in his career, but he has played 11 games and thrown for just 191 yards.
Wiley Green looks to take the back-up role, even with his 12 starts and 1849 yards, while the last QB from last season, Luke McCaffrey may be making a positional change.
They do return their leading rusher, and they did make a drastic improvement in rushing YPG, increasing by nearly 30 yards per game, but the Owls took a step backwards in points.
Defensive Similarities Between USC and Rice
These defenses may be on a different level, seeing as USC is playing power five talent, while Rice’s defense is taking on C-USA level talent.
Yet, similarities do exist between these two defenses, seeing as both of these teams have lost a majority of their leading tacklers, with Rice losing their three leading tacklers and USC losing a majority of their struggling defense. USC had the worst defense that they have had in the last seven years.
USC vs Rice Prediction
This should be an exciting matchup, but potentially one sided at that. USC has yet to lose in the three matchups between these two teams with the two wins ending in shutout wins for the Trojans. It has been a while since USC has taken on a CUSA foe, but they walked away with a win in ’99 against LA Tech.
They have won 5 straight home openers, but they are just 1-4 ATS in those games. While Rice looks to improve their 3-7 record in the L10 true road openers, but they have covered four out of those five games. The Owls are also just 2-7 against power five teams, with their most recent win coming against Kansas in back in 2013.
Prediction : USC (-35)
Next Game #13 Michigan State vs Western Michigan
Interested in placing a bet on this USC vs Rice Week 1 showdown? Caesars Sports is offering up to a $1,500 match bet for first-time deposits in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Louisiana.
Sportsmemo Today | NFL Season Preview
JM Sports joins Dan Neubert and Dr Chuck on Sportsmemo Today to discuss the NFL futures market, and the Week 1 betting lines.
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Meet the Author
Jeff’s hunger for handicapping began at a young age being surrounded by parents that made sports betting a daily routine. Hoping to follow in the footsteps of other Cleveland handicappers like Marc Lawrence, Phil Steele, Ralph Michaels, Ed Meyer and Bryan Leonard, Jeff started his sports betting career working for both Northcoast Sports and Phil Steele Publications learning the intricacies of sports betting and becoming a profitable handicapper. Through out his college years, Jeff’s mathematical and analytical prowess helped him develop a betting strategy that turned sports betting into a profitable venture, where he focuses on the NFL, college football, NBA, college basketball and MLB while showing strong results in the WNBA.
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