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Tulsa Golden Hurricane Look to Blow Rice Owls Out of the Air

Bookmark and Share by D.S. Williamson

The Rice Owls take on the Golden Hurricane at a neutral site as huge underdogs in the NCAAB sportsbook. The Owls, with their 8 and 22 overall straight-up record, are at the bottom of the Conference USA standings. They would need to win the CUSA Conference Tournament in order to garner a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

That’s not likely to happen. Is it likely that they could upset the Tulsa Golden Hurricane? Nope, but covering the spread might be another matter.

Tulsa is 21 and 10 straight-up. They are only 9 and 18 ATS this season. One of their coverage losses was a 62 to 58 victory over Rice on January 23rd. Tulsa was favored by 19 ½ points in that game. They simply didn’t play well enough to cover the spread although they did win the game.

Could tonight’s game look something like that January 23rd matchup? Let’s check out the NCAAB odds in tonight’s game.

Rice Owls +14 ½ -110 O 129 ½ -110
Tulsa Golden Hurricane -14 ½ -110 U 129 ½ -110

The trends points to the Owls having a good shot at covering the spread in tonight’s matchup.

  • The Tulsa Golden Hurricane is 1 and 11 ATS in their last 12 Conference USA games.
  • The Tulsa Golden Hurricane is 1 and 9 ATS in their last 10 games following an ATS loss.
  • The Tulsa Golden Hurricane is 2-11-1 ATS in their last 14 games overall.
  • The Rice Owls are 5 and 0 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog of 13 points or more.
  • The Rice Owls are 9 and 4 ATS in their last 13 neutral site games.

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Tulsa has gone 2 and 8 ATS in their last 10 games. They’ve gone 4 and 6 straight-up in those last 10 games.

Rice has gone 1 and 9 straight-up in their last 10 games and their lone victory was against a team with the initials TX-IN. Against the spread, the Owls have gone 3 and 6 in their last 9 games. The TX-IN game is a throw-out as no wagering was offered on that game.

Tulsa is obviously the better team but trends and history point to the Owls covering the 14 ½ points. Will that happen? I don’t think so. I believe that the Tulsa Golden Hurricane is the team to bet in this situation.

The Owls were beat by Eastern Carolina as 7 points favorites 76 to 56. As 9 point underdogs, they lost to Marshall 77 to 54. They are coming off of a 66 to 59 loss to Central Florida as 1 ½ point faves.

Tulsa has played terribly lately but 2 of their last 6 losses were to UTEP, who is at the top of the CUSA standings, 2 losses were to Memphis, who is in 2nd place in Conference USA after UTEP, and one to Duke. So, 5 out of their 6 losses were to legitimate NCAA Tournament teams. Their 6th loss was to Marshall who is 23 and 8 overall and might also receive a bid to the Big Dance.

Tulsa has excuses for their losses. If anything, they should be fired up to take on the Rice Owls tonight. I expect Tulsa to blow the Owls out as they should be geared up after getting spanked by Memphis on the road 4 days ago 75 to 53.

I’ll be wagering that Tulsa covers the spread in this game. They are the better team and are receiving a break, having to take on Rice, after facing some very, very good hoop squads. Tulsa all the way.

Winning Pick: Tulsa -14 ½