Houston Cougars (2-4) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (1-5)
October 19, 2024 3:30 pm EDT
The Line: Kansas Jayhawks -6.5 / Houston Cougars +6.5; Over/Under: +45.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Houston Cougars and the Kansas Jayhawks will meet Saturday in college football action from Arrowhead Stadium. Here’s a Kansas vs Houston prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Kansas vs Houston pick.
Houston Cougars Betting Preview
Houston opened the season with a couple of tough matchups, taking losses to UNLV 27-7 and Oklahoma 16-12. The Cougars would beat Rice 33-7 in game three, but then fell to Cincinnati 34-0 and Iowa State 20-0 in the next pair.
Back on October 4 versus TCU, the Cougars were able to notch another win. Houston was up 24-6 by the break and eventually powered out the 30-19 result. QB Zeon Chriss finished with 141 yards and a score while also leading the rush on 97 yards and another TD.
Kansas Jayhawks Betting Preview
Over on the Jayhawks’ side, they kicked off their campaign with a 48-3 blowout win over Lindenwood. Kanas would lose the next five games however, dropping to Illinois, UNLV, West Virginia, TCU and Arizona State in that stretch.
In their latest outing versus Arizona State, the Jayhawks held a 17-14 lead going into the final quarter. Kansas gave up 21 points from there however, losing 35-31 in the end. Jalon Daniels posted 260 yards with two scores, and Devin Neal led the ground attack on 14 carries for 71 yards and a TD.
Why the Kansas Jayhawks will win
- Houston has lost seven of its last nine games.
- Kansas has won three of its last four home games in October.
- Kansas has covered the spread in four of its last five home games in October.
Why the Houston Cougars will win
- Kansas has lost each of its last three games as a favorite against non-AP-ranked teams.
- Houston has won 10 of its last 11 road games in October.
- Kansas has failed to cover the spread in each of its last six games against non-AP-ranked teams.
- Houston has covered the spread in six of its last seven road games in October.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Houston’s last seven games have gone UNDER the total points line.
- Each of Kansas’ last five October games against non-AP-ranked teams have gone OVER the total points line.
Kansas vs Houston Prediction
I might take a stab on Kansas. You could argue this one either way, though. The Jayhawks didn’t play terribly versus Arizona State in their last game, notching 411 total yards (260 passing), 23 first downs and 6.4 yards per play. The lone outstanding blemish was the 309 rushing yards allowed; it’s tough to win a game when you’re giving up that much on the ground.
As for Houston, they went just 5-of-13 on third downs versus TCU but were able to muster 207 rushing yards in the win. The Cougars defense was pretty great with four takeaways and 3-of-10 allowed on third-down tries. If the Cougars can get their running game going this weekend, they’ll make life quite difficult for the Jayhawks. I’m still leaning slightly toward Kansas cover-wise, though.
