Rice vs. Memphis Prediction, Pick Against the Spread, Latest Odds

Rice vs. Memphis Prediction, Pick Against the Spread, Latest Odds

The Rice Owls will head north to battle the Memphis Tigers on Friday night from Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Tennessee. The Owls will try to stun the favored Tigers, who are coming off of their first loss in over a month.

Memphis was on a roll until last weekend, where they were unable to stop the UTSA offense on the road. They were outplayed in the second half, and ultimately fell by eight points to the Roadrunners. It was the third-straight shootout for the Tigers after some lower-scoring games to start the season.

Meanwhile, the Rice Owls shocked the Navy Midshipmen, halting their explosive offense and pulling the upset as a 13-point underdog. They'll need to bring that same energy to Memphis this week if they are going to surprise another favorite in the American Athletic Conference. Can the Owls do it again in prime time tonight? Let's take a look at the latest Rice vs. Memphis odds and measure their chances.

Rice vs. Memphis Odds

Rice vs. Memphis Date, Time and Where To Watch

• Date: November 8, 2024
• Time: 9:00 pm ET
• Where To Watch: ESPN2

Rice vs. Memphis Prediction

The Memphis Tigers have been playing atrocious defense over the last few weeks. They were upset on the road at UTSA as a touchdown favorite, giving up 44 points in the loss last weekend. Before that, they gave up 28 to a very weak Charlotte team and barely survived by five at home, and gave up 44 to North Texas in an 8-point win the week before that. The Tigers may be 7-2, but the defense is putting them in terrible positions and requiring them to play in shootouts to win.

On the other side, the Rice Owls come in with a 3-6 record, but they are playing much improved recently. They just stunned Navy as a 13-point underdog at home, defeating them 24-10 after a lengthy weather delay. Navy had been one of the most surprising offenses in FBS all year, but the Owls shut down Blake Horvath and co., forcing two interceptions and allowing just 120 passing yards. Meanwhile, that same Memphis defense from above allowed 56 points to Navy earlier this season, marking their only other loss of the year. That's a big disparity in opponent results, and shows the successful style Rice is capable of playing.

This line has been absolutely flying down towards Rice, and with good reason. It opened up at +10.5 earlier this week, and has plunged down towards +8 and +7.5 in some spots ahead of this Friday night clash. The Owls are coming in with momentum and confidence after shutting down a stellar offense, and they will have a chance to do it again tonight. The name of the game for Memphis is the passing game, and they'll look to silence Seth Henigan and the high-scoring Memphis offense.

You might think that a 3-6 team from the AAC won't be successful in a game like this, but the Owls have the 12th-best passing defense in the entire country, allowing just 173 yards per game through the air. Henigan may be averaging over 300 yards passing per game in conference play, but he has struggled against two of the better defenses. Additionally, Memphis has only beaten one conference opponent by double digits through five games. The Owls will stand tall tonight, and they should be able to keep this game close with their defensive fire. Sharp bettors agree with that sentiment, as the line trends down and the public is still on Memphis. While only 25% of total wagers are on Rice, 44% of the handle is backing them on the +8 spread. We're going to ride with the trending side and fade a Memphis team who continues grappling with defensive woes.

Rice vs. Memphis Pick

• Pick: Rice +8 (-110) Click here to see the latest Rice vs. Memphis odds