The BYU Cougars (4-0 overall) and Houston Cougars (1-0, 1-0 AAC) battle at TDECU Stadium in Houston for a 9:30 p.m. ET kickoff Friday (on ESPN). Below, we analyze the BYU-Houston college football betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
The Cougars are the No. 13 team in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
BYU at Houston: Betting odds and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1:35 a.m. ET.
- Money line: BYU -200 (bet $200 to win $100) | Houston +160 (bet $100 to win $160)
- Against the spread/ATS: BYU -5.5 (-110) | Houston +5.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 63 (O: -110 | U: -110)
BYU at Houston: Three things to know
- BYU is coming off a 27-20 victory over UTSA last week, but it was a rather close shave since they were listed as 34-point favorites. The Roadrunners defense held BYU nearly 17 points under their average of 43.8 PPG, which still ranks sixth in the country.
- Cougars QB Zach Wilson has thrown for 292 or more yards in each of the past three games, and he has exactly two touchdown passes in each of his four outings while also running for six scores.
- The Cougars have had difficulty getting on the field, as their opponents keep getting knocked off the rails due to COVID-19. They finally made their season debut on Oct. 8 and took out their frustrations on Tulane in a 49-31 win at TDECU, covering a 6.5-point number as the Over comfortably hit.
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BYU at Houston: Odds, betting lines and picks
Prediction
BYU 38, Houston 31
Money line (ML)
BYU (-200) is worth a small-unit play on the money line, as I am not a huge fan of the spread, and would rather just bet the favorite straight up in this situation. The Cougars, well, the ones from Utah, have proven with a much larger sample size that they’re for real.
Against the spread (ATS)
BYU -5.5 (-110) is the play, as I expect them to win by a touchdown in a track meet. But I am not sold on Houston +5.5 (-110) just because they beat a mediocre Tulane team last week. I need to see more from QB Clayton Tune before I start backing the home side.
Over/Under (O/U)
OVER 63 (-110) is a high total, but the way BYU has been rolling up yards and points, it should be easily attainable. The defense has yielded just 11.0 PPG, fourth in the country, but they have played two Conference USA teams, a Sun Belt team and a mediocre Navy side. Houston will be able to put BYU’s defense to test.
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