We continue working our way across the country looking at games lined up for Saturday & Sunday. CUSA got off to a bad start Thursday night and will be looking to get things stabilized over the weekend. There are a bunch of FCS games lined up, but also a couple more games that could get ugly. All games are on Saturday except the last two, all times eastern, you get the picture by now.
3:30 PM, ESPN- #4 Texas at Rice (Reliant Stadium): Look out, this could get ugly. Rice should be better than last year’s 2-10 team, but this won’t be the time or place to figure out if they are or not. Line: Texas by 30.5. The question with lines like this one is not ‘can’ Texas win by that much, but ‘will they?’ Looking to last year, they won their first two games by 39 and 31, then won their other two C-USA games by 32 and 57. So yes, I’d say Texas will probably cover that line, let’s say 49-10. And that’s way more than I planned to write on this game.
6:00 PM- South Dakota (FCS) at UCF: The South Dakota Coyotes went 5-5 last year. UCF should win by a bundle but probably won’t because O’Leary tends to let off the gas in these FCS games…before they start. No Vegas line, and by god don’t mess with this game if you do find a line somewhere, I’m warning you.
7:00 PM, ESPNU- Memphis at Mississippi State: This one, too, could be ugly. New coach, not much in the way of talent. They may not be as far behind the rest of CUSA East as I once thought, but Memphis isn’t going to compete against the SEC this year. Line: Mississippi State by 21.5. I don’t like that number much- Miss State didn’t blow out many opponents last year. 3 touchdowns seems about right, but it could be two or it could be four, I’d rather stay away, but I’m going to say 30-7 Mississippi State.
8:00 PM- Texas State at Houston: The Texas State Bobcats went 7-4 last year. Texas State won’t win, but can Houston’s D stop anybody? Let’s find out. No line.
9:05 PM- Arkansas Pine Bluff at UTEP: The Pine Bluff Lions went 5-5 last year. UTEP wants to surge this season, they start by beating a FCS team convincingly. No line.
SUNDAY GAMES
2:00 PM, ESPN2- Tulsa at East Carolina: Unless I missed something (always possible), this is the only conference game in the country this weekend. Tulsa is looking to get back to the top after a down season last year, while ECU might be looking at their down season in the face- new coach, depleted roster, etc. Line: Tulsa by 7.5. I do think Tulsa will win, but I think it will be closer than that. Something along the lines of 28-24. ECU’s just too good at home to give them a full touchdown.
3:30 PM, ESPN- SMU at Texas Tech: Texas Tech has a new coach and new system coming in after a tumultuous offense, and SMU brings back some good players from last year’s Hawaii Bowl team, but I’m not sure those factors are enough to bridge the gap. I think the Mustangs will be competitive, but not sure they can keep up the whole way. Line: Texas Tech by 13.5. Tough one to predict, but I’ll say Tech 42-31