The Temple Owls will travel to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Saturday night of Week 1 after their Thursday matchup was postponed and relocated. The game is now set to kick off at noon ET and will be held at SHI Stadium. Below, we look at the Temple vs. Rutgers odds and lines, and make our expert college football picks, predictions and bets.
Temple is coming off an unimpressive season in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls were 1-6 on the season with all their games coming in conference play. Their one win was at home over South Florida.
Already giving a slight edge as the favorite now at home, Rutgers, despite not being a top-tier program, is fighting against Big Ten opponents.
The Scarlet Knights defeated Purdue and Michigan State while also putting up more than 20 points on Indiana and Ohio State last season. They’re a competent program, bringing in 18 three-star recruits.
Temple at Rutgers odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 12:50 p.m. ET.
- Money line: Temple +470 (bet $100 to win $470) | Rutgers -700 (bet $700 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Temple +14.5 (-108) | Rutgers -14.5 (-112)
- Over/Under (O/U): 52.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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Temple at Rutgers odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Rutgers 31, Temple 14
Money line
PASS on the money line as it’s just too pricy.
There’s not much more to it than that. Rutgers was a bottom-tier Big Ten team, and I wouldn’t put the type of money on the line that it would take to return anything of importance.
Against the spread
“LEAN” to RUTGERS -14.5 (-112) to cover the lofty spread and win by 15 or more points. This is more of a bet against Temple as it was playing a top-heavy conference yet still managed to get pummeled.
While Rutgers didn’t have a win by more than 14 points last season, it managed to take down quality opponents. The Scarlet Knights brought in recruits and should be ready to rock. The Big Ten is a different beast.
Temple lost each of its last four games by more than 20 points. Without much help inbound, expect Rutgers to cover Saturday.
Over/Under
BET on the UNDER 52.5 (-115) as the best value in this game.
Both teams are coming off heavily restricted seasons due to COVID-19, so the rust should be there. We’ve seen games already in Week 1 be more defensive-minded as teams look to find their groove offensively.
Five of Rutgers top six recruits were on the defensive side of the ball. With that in mind, QB Noah Vedral is back and had just 9 touchdowns in seven games last season.
Temple scored 42 over their last four games last season. This one should be a low-scoring affair and even a 35-17 final seems like a high number for these two sides.
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