The Rice Owls (6-2) and No. 2 Texas Longhorns (7-1) get together for an instate battle on Monday in Austin. Tip at Moody Center will be at 8 p.m. ET (Longhorn Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Rice vs. Texas odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Rankings courtesy of the Dec. 5 USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
Rice has won 5 games in a row but is coming off an 8-day layoff. The Owls have not played since winning 83-71 at Texas State as 5-point underdogs Dec. 4. KenPom rates the Rice schedule thus far as 327th in the nation.
The Longhorns lost for the 1st time Tuesday, falling 85-78 in overtime to No. 17 Illinois. Texas bounced back by covering a 36.5-point spread in a 88-43 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday. UT shot a season-high 56.9% from the floor in the win.
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Rice at Texas odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:50 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Rice +1200 (bet $100 to win $1,200) | Texas -7,000 (bet $7,000 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Rice +24.5 (-110) | Texas -24.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 142.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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Rice at Texas picks and predictions
Prediction
Texas 80, Rice 55
Moneyline
True odds figure to be buried in the wide expanse between these 2 prices.
PASS.
Against the spread
A Rice roster relying on a lot of juniors is likely better than the team that lost 4 Quad 1 games by an average of 28.0 points a year ago. However, it’s also an Owls squad that has played a weak slate so far and one getting its 1st taste of the kind of talent they’ll see pouring onto the floor from the other bench in this contest.
Texas is a lean worth a partial-unit play at -23.5 (-110) or better.
PASS OTHERWISE.
Over/Under
The Under is 4-1 in Rice’s last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record, and the Under is 4-1 in the Longhorns’ last 5 overall, too.
Texas focused in on a slower-tempo game — against fast-paced Arkansas-Pine Bluff — in response to its loss to Illinois. Rice counts on 3-points as a big chunk of its offense, but the Owls will be up against a Texas five that has held opposing shooters to a lowly 26.8% mark from beyond the arc (15th NCAA-I). Rice also has a high free-throw rate that does not figure to be as much in play in this contest.
Add in some expected shooting regression for 2 teams knocking down more than 58% of their 2-point looks, and the UNDER 142.5 (-105) is the play here.
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