Texas Tech vs. Houston: Odds & Prediction for Big 12 Showdown

The Big 12 isn’t pulling any punches with its early conference schedule.

One week after delivering a great game with BYU vs. Arizona, the Big 12 is showcasing two of its best teams in a Friday night duel in West Texas.

BetMGM has NCAA football odds available for all the Week 3 college football action.

Texas Tech vs. Houston Odds

• Point Spread: Texas Tech -7.5
• Moneyline: Texas Tech -300  |  Houston +250
• Total: 52.5

Texas Tech vs. Houston: Prediction & Preview

Texas Tech is coming off a historic year of defensive dominance in the Big 12, and the Texas Tech football odds market has largely expected more of the same from the Red Raiders this year. The conference futures market was essentially Texas Tech or the field. Win totals priced Tech near the very top of the entire market.

Through two weeks of football, we simply haven’t seen that kind of dominance. Tech looked pedestrian in Week 1 against an FCS opponent, and it needed a fourth-quarter surge to survive Oregon State last week. If the Red Raiders don’t find a new gear this week, Houston is likely to leave Lubbock with a win.

Houston and Texas Tech both trend strongly toward covers in this spot. Joey McGuire is 4-0 against the spread in Big 12 home openers, while Willie Fritz is 2-0 ATS with the Cougars in their first road game of the season. Add in the uneven performances both teams had against Oregon State, and getting involved with the 7.5-point spread seems like guesswork.

I prefer the total in this game. At 52.5, I think the market is a bit too high on a game featuring two teams that lead with defense but play questionable offense.

When you factor in the traditional under skew that weeknight conference games often feature, this is an easy prediction to make.

Prediction: Under 52.5