The FIU Panthers finished with a losing record for the 3^rd consecutive season last year with a record of 4-8 and a Conference USA record of 2-6. Last year was Mike MacIntyre’s first season as the head coach of the Panthers after serving as the Defensive Coordinator before last season. One of the four wins for the Panthers came in the first game of the season against the Bryant Bulldogs which is an FCS opponent. This year the Panthers enter the year with an over/under win total of 3.5 wins which means they are likely to miss a bowl game for the 4^th consecutive year and based on Vegas Odds are projected to be the worst team in Conference USA as FIU is +5569 to win the conference.

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs finished last season with a record of 3-9 for the 2^nd consecutive season in Sonny Cumbie’s first season as the head coach for the Bulldogs after serving as the Offensive Coordinator for the Texas Tech Raiders in 2021. This year Louisiana Tech enters the year with an over/under win total of 6 wins which means they are a borderline bowl-eligible caliber team. The Bulldogs are projected to be the 4^th best team in Conference USA behind the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Liberty Flames, and Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders as they have the 4^th best odds of winning the CUSA Championship at +744.

BookMaker has the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs listed as 11.5-point favorites at home against the FIU Panthers on Saturday in week 0 of the college football season. Louisiana Tech has dominated the series winning four of the five games all-time by an average score of 34.2 to 24.2 while going 3-2 ATS in those games and winning two of the last three games by an average score of 40.33 to 32.33 and going 2-1 ATS in those contests.

Last season the Panthers finished the year with a losing record of 4-8, however, the Panthers were slightly better against the spread going 5-7 ATS overall, 2-4 ATS on the road, 5-6 ATS as an underdog, and 4-4 ATS in conference games.

Louisiana Tech finished with a losing record of 3-9 for the 2^nd consecutive season, however, the Bulldogs were .500 ATS overall going 6-6, and were undefeated against the spread in their five home games last season going 5-0 ATS.

Louisiana Tech is the more talented team entering this season as evidenced by their over/under win total of 6 games while FIU has an over/under win total of 3.5 games. The Bulldogs are expected to be the 4^th best team in CUSA while the Panthers are projected to be the worst. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs have also dominated the series against the FIU Panthers going 4-1 overall and 3-2 ATS all-time. I look for that trend to continue on Saturday night when these teams meet in week 0 of the college football season which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs -11 at home against the FIU Panthers on BookMaker for this contest on Saturday night.