First Look: Rice Football, AAC Over/Under Odds

Earlier this week Circa Sports posted early over/under odds for every FBS team. Here’s where Rice football and other AAC teams stack up.

AAC Teams

Charlotte – 3
Tulsa – 4.5
UAB – 4.5
USF – 4.5
Rice – 4.5
Temple – 5
East Carolina – 5.5
Navy – 6
North Texas – 6
FAU – 7.5
SMU – 8
UTSA – 8
Memphis – 8.5
Tulane – 9

Rice football nonconference opponents

Texas Southern – n/a
UConn – 4.5
Houston – 4.5
Texas – 9.5

Takeaways

On the AAC front, Tulane being projected as the front-runner in the league isn’t too much of a surprise, especially with the return of quarterback Michael Pratt, several other key players and some added reinforcements from the transfer portal.

What might be most compelling to watch is the race alongside them. Four additional schools (FAU, SMU, UTSA and Memphis) are within a game and a half of first. That means if the conference race seems fairly wide open to you, oddsmakers are feeling the same way and looking to hedge their bets.

Likewise, there’s a game and a half gap between the next teams (North Texas and Navy) and everyone else in the conference, save Charlotte. Vegas doesn’t have much faith in the 49ers and their new head coach, but it doesn’t seem confident in anyone else to be a surefire bowl team either. That’s the recipe for a chaotic and exciting season.

As for Rice football, the Owls are pegged to finish in the middle to bottom of the new-look AAC. After finishing around the four to five-win mark in recent years and the step up in some of the competition they’ll face, that doesn’t feel too surprising.

What is most intriguing, though, is the quality of the Owls’ opponents. Rice plays Charlotte, Tulsa, UAB, USF, ECU, UConn and Houston in 2023. Add in Texas Southern and that’s eight of 12 opponents projected to be either from the FCS ranks or projected to be at or below .500. There are hard games coming (UTSA, SMU, Tulane, Texas) but Rice won’t absolutely require a miraculous upset to reach bowl eligibility.