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Week 1 of the 2024 College Football season kicks off on Saturday, August 24th, with exciting matchups across the country!

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Who is Playing in the 2022 LendingTree Bowl? | Rice Owls versus Southern Miss Golden Eagles Betting Preview

The bad news is that we have some time to kill before we get to the playoff semi-finals and the College Football national Championship Game. The good news is that there is a lot of football to watch and wager on between now and then. Yes, we are heading into bowl season, which is now just a few days away. There is a lot of ground to cover here, and if you are familiar with wagering during bowl season, you are well aware of just how difficult it can be. Star players headed to the NFL Draft will sit out some games, while there will always be a handful of teams who go through the motions and don’t deliver their best effort. Either way, the games still get played and we are going to do all we can to break them all down for you. For this piece, we are concentrating on the Lending Tree Bowl, which is set to go on December 17 at 5:45 PM EST. Let’s take a closer look at the teams involved and how they got here so you can bet on their College Football Bowl Odds.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles

That the Eagles made it to a bowl game at all is a decent achievement when you consider that they go out to an 0-2 start on the year. They then went on a run that saw them win 5 of their next 6, making it seem as though they would quickly become bowl eligible. Things did not go according to plan, though, as the Golden Eagles went into a slump that saw them lose 3 in a row, heading into the final week of the regular season needing a win to secure a bowl spot. They came away with a 20-10 win over UL Monroe to earn that spot. Southern Miss was not great offensively this season, averaging just 24 PPG, while surrendering a touch over 23 PPG. They were, though, a very good bet against the spread, covering in 9 of their 12 games. They were 7-5 O/U.

Rice Owls

While 6 wins is considered the mark to become bowl eligible, there are some teams who sneak in with fewer wins. The Rice Owls are one of those teams, as they went a rather lackluster 5-7 SU in the regular season. They could have made things a whole lot easier on themselves, as they were sitting at 5-4 heading into the final 3 games of the season. They went ahead and lost all of those games, thanks in large part to a struggling offense that managed to average just 11 PPG over that final stretch. That was well off the pace of the 25 PPG they managed throughout the course of the season. The Owls went 7-5 ATS, while going 8-4 O/U.

Betting and Prediction

Neither one of these teams finished the season on a particularly high note, so it is going to be interesting to see how they come into this game. In their last 10 meetings, it is the Golden Eagles who hold a 6-4 edge. Rice covered the spread in 6 of those meetings, while the OVER hit in 7 of the 10. Southern Miss is a 6 ½ point favorite in this one, with the point total set at 46 ½. I like Southern Miss to win SU in what should be a low scoring affair.

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Who is Playing in the LendingTree Bowl? | Rice Owls at Southern Miss Betting Preview

The LendingTree Bowl features the Rice Owls (5-7) out of Conference USA, matched up against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-6) from the Sun Belt Conference. The former conference foes have played 12 times in the past, each winning six contests. Rice won, 24-19, the last time these two met back in 2021.

Kick-off for the LendingTree Bowl begins at 5:45 p.m. EST at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. Southern Miss is a seven-point favorite, and the over/under total is 46.5 points. That being said, it’s time to have a closer look at both teams and how they arrive to this matchup so you can bet against their College Football Bowl liness.

Rice Owls

Rice didn’t have a winning record but earned a bowl invite thanks to one of the highest Academic Progress Rates of those schools with a losing record. The Owls stumbled down the stretch after a 4-3 start, losing four of its last five contests to close out the regular season. Mike Bloomgren is in his fifth season as the team’s head coach and appearing in his first bowl game.

The Rice Owls averaged 25.3 points per game during the regular season, churning out 142.9 yards per game on the ground and 227.1 yards through the air. On defense, Rice held opponents to 33.8 points and 377.1 total yards of offense.

The quarterback role for the Owls has been up in the air since starter TJ Mcmahon went down with an injury midway through the season. Rice has juggled three quarterbacks since, playing Shawqi Itraish, Wiley Green, and AJ Padgett throughout the final contests.

Starting running back Ari Broussard also went down with an injury after seven games, missing the remainder of the season. The rushing duties were handed over to Cameron Montgomery and Juma Otoviano, who combined for 914 yards and one touchdown.

Bradley Rozner led the Owls in receiving, catching 41 passes for 834 yards and nine touchdowns. Luke McCaffrey, younger brother of San Francisco 49er Christian McCaffrey, added 51 receptions, 656 yards, and six scores.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagles had an up-and-down season but closed out the regular season with a win over UL Monroe to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2019. Southern Miss is in the second season under head coach Will Hall.

Offensively, the Golden Eagles scored 24.3 points per game, gaining 123.4 yards on the ground and 209.3 yards through the air. Southern Miss allowed 23.5 points per game to opponents, while surrendering 367.7 total yards of offense.

Trey Keys and Zach Wilke, both freshmen, began the season under center for the Golden Eagles, but it was junior Trey Lowe who closed out the year at quarterback. Lowe finished the season with 716 yards through the air, and three touchdown throws.

Frank Gore Jr., son of NFL ledged Frank Gore, rushed for 1,053 yards and 11 touchdowns to lead the Southern Miss ground attack. Backup Janari Dean chipped in 179 yards and three TDs.

Out wide, no receiver was targeted more than Jason Brownlee. The senior was the team leader in receptions (52), receiving yards (819), and touchdowns (7).