Rice Owls (0-0) vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (0-0)
September 4, 2021 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Arkansas Razorbacks -19.5 ; Over/Under: -51.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Arkansas Razorbacks face the Rice Owls Saturday, September 4 in week 1 college football action from Razorback Stadium. This will be the first game of the year for both teams. Rice is coming off a 2-3 campaign last year, finishing in fifth place in their division. As for the Razorbacks, they posted a disappointing 3-7 effort last fall for a basement finish in the West. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Rice managed to play five games last fall, going 2-3 overall. That mark left the Owls two spots out of the bottom in the Conference USA West Division. Rice managed wins over Southern Miss and Marshall, but otherwise fell to Middle Tennessee, North Texas and UAB.
This year Rice will try to improve their fortune in the fourth season of head coach Mike Bloomgren’s tenure. He’ll get some key names back in the fray, but does lose a few important guys like last year’s leading yardage receiver Austin Trammell.
Over on the Arkansas side, they were able to play a good amount of games, but ultimately stumbled to a 3-7 finish. That effort left the Razorbacks all the way at the bottom of the West Division in the Southeastern Conference.
Arkansas started out at .500 on the season with a 3-3 mark through six games, but didn’t see another victory after that. The Razorbacks fell in their final four games to Florida, LSU, Missouri and Alabama before a cancelled Texas Bowl game versus TCU.
The Owls are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games and 6-2 ATS in the last eight overall. Rice is 3-1-1 ATS in their last five non-conference games and the over is 4-1-1 in their last six versus the SEC.
Meanwhile, the Razorbacks are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games overall and 5-2 ATS in their last seven on turf. Arkansas is 2-5 ATS in their last seven versus Conference USA and the under is 6-0 in the last six home games.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Rice. The Owls didn’t have much time to develop their offense last year, but there were some positives to take from that campaign. Rice certainly had trouble scoring in 2020; the good news is that they’ve got their intact offensive line back and they’ve got some talented receivers like Jordan Meyers who can help keep the ball moving.
As for Arkansas, they averaged 392 yards and 26 points per game last year but their line has to be better on passing downs in this 2021 campaign. Quarterback KJ Jefferson has the goods to step up, but his depth at running back is a question mark right now. I still like Arkansas to post a W, but I think Rice can keep relative pace here.
