The Houston Cougars will look to continue their turnaround tonight when they meet Conference USA rival SMU at Gerald Ford Stadium in Dallas (8:00pm ET start time). Thursday College Football Odds have the visiting Cougars listed as a -6.5 against the spread favorite; this evening’s game total is set at 60 points. The Mustangs are drawing +210 moneyline odds ($100 wins $210) to notch third win of the season.
Houston’s entered the 2012 season with a new head coach in Tony Levine; however, despite the change on the sidelines and the loss of quarterback Case Keenum, most felt the team still had an opportunity to challenge for the C-USA title.
The Cougars certainly brought those sentiments into question after they opened the season with three straight losses (Texas State, Louisiana Tech, UCLA). Houston has renewed its division hopes, though, coming into tonight’s tilt, having countered its early skid with three consecutive wins.
The Cougars stopped the bleeding with a 35-14 win over Rice, a victory they followed up with double digit blowouts of North Texas (44-21) and UAB (39-17).
Regardless of its rough start, Houston has reason to feel better than its opponent this evening. SMU, after losing 11 starters in the off-season, brings an ugly 2-4 record into tonight’s game.
The Mustangs shutout FCS school Stephen F. Austin 52-0 in week two and they blanked C-USA rival UTEP 17-0 in El Paso on October 6th, but those are the lone bright spots for the team. SMU hit a new low last weekend, falling 27-26 on the road to a previously win-less Tulane squad.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, their prospects of upsetting the Cougars are not good. Houston has won eight of the last nine in this series and it is 3-0 against the spread in its last three meetings with SMU, beating the Mustangs by an average of 26 points per game.
Houston Cougars and SMU Mustangs College Football Odds:
Houston Cougars -6.5 (-110), Over 60 (-110), -250 (Moneyline)
SMU Mustangs +6.5 (-110), Under 60 (-110), +210 (Moneyline)
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