Posted at 10:00 AM EST. Odds are subject to change.

First Community Stadium, Houston, TX

Stream: ESPN+

Rice -3½ over Tulane

4:30 PM EST. There aren't many occasions when laying points with a 1-8 football team makes for an attractive proposition, but the circumstances surrounding this matchup are anything but ordinary. Rice has won just once all season, yet the Owls are favored over a Tulane program that won 11 games a year ago. That alone should raise a few eyebrows. The market has been reluctant to make Rice anything more than a modest favorite because of its dreadful record, but records don't always tell the whole story, particularly when one team arrives in complete disarray.

Tulane's problems extend well beyond its 4-5 record. Last week's 60-10 homecoming humiliation against Tulsa was the worst conference defeat in program history, and even the athletic director publicly expressed his displeasure. The Green Wave have shuffled through four quarterbacks, with a true freshman now trying to hold things together behind an offensive line that surrendered six sacks last Saturday. First-year coach Will Hall has inherited a program that looks nothing like the one that enjoyed so much success last season. Confidence is fragile, the offense is struggling, and the entire operation appears to be heading in the wrong direction.

As if that weren't enough, Tulane's travel arrangements added another wrinkle. With air travel grounded nationwide, the Green Wave were forced to make the approximately 350-mile trip to Houston aboard five buses. A long bus ride isn't necessarily a reason to fade a team, but combine it with a demoralizing defeat, quarterback instability and a short turnaround, and it becomes another inconvenience for a group that could desperately use a normal week. Instead, Tulane gets to spend part of its preparation time on the highway.

Rice certainly isn't going to win any beauty contests, but there's a distinction between a bad team that continues competing and one that's coming apart. The Owls lost by just two points to UTSA and suffered another two-point defeat at Florida Atlantic. Those results won't impress anyone scanning the standings, but they suggest Rice remains engaged despite a season filled with disappointment. The Owls have continued to lean on their running game and have shown considerably more resistance than their 1-8 record would indicate.

The attraction here is the price. Tulane is still receiving some benefit from its reputation, while Rice's ugly record is keeping this number within reach. The Green Wave may have the better program name, but they're also the team dealing with an embarrassing defeat, an unsettled quarterback situation and an exhausting travel schedule. Rice doesn't have to be particularly good to justify laying 3½ in this spot. It simply has to be the more organized and competitive team on Saturday, and recent circumstances suggest that's a reasonable expectation. This is an uncomfortable favorite, which is precisely why the number offers some appeal.

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