LendingTree Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs Rice 12/17/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Rice Owls clash Saturday, December 17 in the college football LendingTree Bowl from Hancock Whitney Stadium. Southern Miss managed to go 6-6 overall this year. The Golden Eagles beat LA-Monroe in their last outing. As for Rice, they’re 5-7 on the season after a loss to North Texas in their last game. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

Southern Miss had a 3-3 stretch over their first six games this year. The wins in that time were over Northwestern State, Tulane and Arkansas State. Another 3-3 run came after that, featuring wins over Texas State, Louisiana and LA-Monroe. 

Back on November 26 versus LA-Monroe, the Eagles were tied up at 10-10 going into the final quarter. Southern Miss scored another 10 points from there in a 20-10 victory. Frank Gore Jr. did most of the offensive work with 199 rush yards and a score. 

Over on the Rice side, they were also 3-3 after six games, beating McNeese State, Louisiana and UAB. The next six games were a 2-4 run for the Owls. Rice lost to Charlotte, Western Kentucky, UTSA and North Texas in that time. 

In the North Texas game, Rice had things tied up at 14-14 going into the fourth quarter. The Eagles were outscored 7-3 in that frame for a 21-17 loss. QB AJ Padgett managed 229 yards with a TD and a pick. Juma Otoviano added 94 rush yards. 

Rice is 6-1 ATS in the last seven in December and 5-2 ATS in their last seven after a straight-up loss. The Owls are 1-4 ATS in their last five neutral-site games. 

Meanwhile, the Eagles are 7-0 ATS in their last seven non-conference games and 4-0 ATS in the last four on grass. Southern Miss is 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven bowl games. 

PICK: I’m probably staying with Southern Miss. The Eagles have some things to clean up after their last outing versus UL-Monroe, though. Southern Miss posted a solid 448-yard total but also went just 2-of-11 on third-down tries. The good news is that the Eagles have been scoring pretty well lately as a whole—they’ve hit 20 or more points in six of their last seven games. 

As for Rice, they’ve looked pretty flat over the last three games. The Owls have a combined 34 points in that trio, going 0-3 along the way. If Rice can get the offense going I think they’ll stick around in this one but it’s probably still Southern Miss’ cover to take.