UNLV at Houston odds, picks and predictions

The UNLV Rebels and Houston Cougars meet in a Saturday Week 1 contest. The opening kickoff from TDECU Stadium will be at 7 p.m. ET (FS1). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the UNLV vs. Houston odds , and make our expert college football picks and predictions .

UNLV was a bit of a surprise team in 2023. Under 1st-year coach Barry Odom, the Rebels averaged 34.4 points per game while allowing 28.8 PPG. They went 9-5 and played in the Mountain West Conference Championship Game (a 44-20 loss to Boise State) and a bowl game (49-36 loss to Kansas in Guaranteed Rate Bowl).

The strengths for Nevada-Las Vegas heading into Odom’s 2nd year in the desert are the offensive line and receiving corps.

Houston went a disappointing 4-8 last fall. The Cougars bring in a new coach, Willie Fritz who comes from Tulane.

Fritz has duel-threat QB Donovan Smith and talented transfers on both sides of the ball. The Cougars will be looking to flip the script of a negative point differential in 2023 when they averaged 23.7 PPG while yielding 31.5 PPG.

– Rankings : US LBM Coaches Poll , conducted by the American Football Coaches Association and USA TODAY Sports

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UNLV at Houston odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook ; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 3:18 p.m. ET.

• Moneyline: UNLV +135 (bet $100 to win $135) | Houston -160 (bet $160 to win $100)
• Against the spread (ATS): UNLV +3.5 (-115) | Houston -3.5 (-105)
• Over/Under (O/U): 55.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

UNLV at Houston picks and predictions

Prediction

Houston 34, UNLV 31

Moneyline

Expect a game effort from UNLV, which has won 6 straight road games ATS. The Cougars are overhauling their offensive line, and Fritz may not have everything clicking with what he wants to do.

But in a close, relatively high-scoring contest, look for Houston, which figures to have an edge at kicker, to prevail. And the lean is enough to make for some value here on the ML. BACK THE COUGARS (-160) .

Against the spread

PASS : Better value can be found on the ML.

Over/Under

The last 13 UNLV season openers have seen 12 Overs. And the Over went 5-1 across the Rebels’ last 6 games in 2023.

Expect the Houston defense to be better in 2024. But with that said, its a view of the season as a whole, and some progression toward more proficiency would be the expected trend line.

Strength-and-weakness match-ups and pace of play put this game solidly in the Over category.

BET THE OVER 55.5 (-110) .

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