Week 1: UTSA vs Houston 9/3/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds
Houston Cougars (0-0) vs. UTSA Roadrunners (0-0)
September 3, 2022 3:30 pm EDT
The Line: UTSA Roadrunners +4.5 / Houston Cougars -4.5; Over/Under: 56.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The UTSA Roadrunners and Houston Cougars do battle Saturday in week 1 college football action from the Alamodome. Houston is coming off a 12-2 overall season, ultimately posting a victory in the Birmingham Bowl. As for UTSA, they finished 12-2 overall as well in 2021 and were champions of Conference USA. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Houston had a couple of tough outcomes in games last year, but overall it was a great campaign. The Cougars finished 12-2 overall and 8-0 in the AAC, which gave the team a second-place finish behind only Cincinnati in the conference standings.
The Cougars lost their opener to Texas Tech but didn’t fall in another game until the conference championship against the Bearcats—a 35-20 outcome. Houston bounced back in the Birmingham Bowl versus Auburn however, taking a win 17-13.
Over on the UTSA side, they had a couple of down spots in an otherwise great season during 2021 as well. The Roadrunners posted a 12-2 overall record and went 7-1 in Conference USA play for a first-place finish in the West Division.
The Roadrunners’ only regular-season loss came to North Texas 45-23, but they bounced back versos Western Kentucky in the CUSA Championship Game with a 49-41 win. Unfortunately UTSA fell in their final game to San Diego State 38-24 in the Frisco Bowl.
The Cougars are 7-2 ATS in their last nine versus CUSA and 18-8 in their last 26 on grass. The over is 6-2 in Houston’s last eight road games.
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners are 4-0 ATS in the last four in September and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 at home. UTSA is 1-4 ATS in their last five overall.
PICK: I’m going to stay with Houston, but this should be a pretty fun matchup all around. The Cougars are poised for another big year in 2022; they’re bringing back a healthy amount of impact players from last season. Sure, the team had their ups and downs on offense but the extra experience should help iron out the kinks. QB Clayton Tune threw 39 scores last year and hit 68 percent of his passes. He should get a big boost from weapons like Nathaniel Dell and KeSean Carter. We’ll have to see what the running backs and O-line will look like, but for now hopes are high for the Cougars. I think they’ll start hot in this one.
