The Texas-El Paso Miners (1-8) will travel across the state to face off with the Rice Owls (1-8) at Rice Stadium for what will be a crucial Conference-USA clash for both participants. Kick-off is scheduled for Saturday, November 3rd, 2018 at 3:30 PM ET. The contest will be available on ESPN+ streaming. Last year’s collision between both parties was one that the Owls of Rice will revel in as they cruised past UTEP in El Paso by a score of 31-14 as a 1.5-point dog. Overall, Rice has won eight of the last ten meetings between both sides going an impressive 8-2 ATS over this span.
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Texas-El Paso Miners at Rice Owls Overview
Texas-El Paso Miners
The Miners remain winless this season despite getting close a few times to getting the proverbial monkey off their back. Most recently, the Miners were shutout on the road at UAB losing 19-0 and failing to cover as a 14-point dog. Previous to this, the Miners had lost three of four by a single possession or less with some reputable names included in that docket, such as North Texas and Louisiana Tech.
Rice Owls
The Owls have yet to win a game against an FBS opponent this season, but they have been a cash cow as of recent against the spread. In back-to-back weeks we saw the Owls taking back 24-plus points against the likes of both Florida International and North Texas generating two consecutive covers. However, despite profitability being shown Rice has lost eight straight dating back to their opening win against Prairie View A&M.
Reasons To Back Texas-El Paso
The Miners are starving for a win. After all, this team hasn’t won now in 20 games. For the Miners, a win here would be equated to nearly getting a victory in a bowl game. This is perhaps their best chance to snap the losing streak here against one of the weakest teams that UTEP has played season-to-date.
Reasons To Avoid Rice
This is one of those games where it is hard to take a side given the overall quality of the two teams. However, we would have seen Rice given more points here had they failed to cover in two of the lofty point totals they were spotted in the previous two weeks. Very simply, this is a buy low and sell high spot and the stock in the Owls is higher at the moment. This is almost certainly the case when you factor in the recent results between the two that paint Rice in a favorable light here. All this does is allow us to take UTEP at a reduced price.
Get more details: Texas-El Paso at Rice NCAAF Match-Up
