The 22^nd-ranked Tulane Green Wave will travel to Houston, Texas to face the Rice Owls at Rice Stadium in week 9 of the college football season with the game kicking off at 4:00 PM ET on Saturday afternoon and airing on ESPN 2.

Tulane enters this game ranked 22^nd in the AP Poll and 23^rd in the Coaches Poll with a record of 6-1 following a 35-28 win at home against the North Texas Green Wave while failing to cover the 20-point spread as a home favorite in week 8 of the college football season. The Green Wave scored 35 points while compiling a total of 439 yards offensively which included 194 passing yards and 245 rushing yards while allowing 28 points and 426 total yards defensively which included 343 passing yards and 83 rushing yards. 

Michael Pratt led the team in passing, completing 15 of 21 attempts for 194 yards with three touchdowns and an interception while adding 70 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts. Makhi Hughes led the team in rushing with 20 carries for 121 yards and a touchdown while adding two receptions for 13 yards. Lawrence Keys III led the team in receiving, catching five of nine targets for 78 yards and a touchdown.

The Rice Owls enter this game with a record of 4-3 following a 42-10 win on the road against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane while covering the 3-point spread as a road underdog by winning the game outright. Rice scored 42 points while compiling a total of 512 yards offensively which included 342 passing yards and 170 rushing yards while allowing 10 points and 294 total yards defensively which included 138 passing yards and 156 rushing yards. JT Daniels led the team in passing, completing 24 of 37 attempts for 342 yards and two touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown. Dean Connors led the team in rushing with nine carries for 120 yards and three touchdowns while adding two receptions for 20 yards. Luke McCaffrey led the team in receiving, catching six of ten targets for 99 yards and a touchdown.

BookMaker has the Tulane Green Wave listed as 10.5-point favorites on the road against the Rice Owls on Saturday afternoon in week 9 of the college football season. Rice has won seven of the last ten including the previous three games in a row. The Green Wave are 6-4 ATS in the last ten and 3-0 ATS in the last three games in the series. The Tulane Green Wave are 3-4 ATS overall, 2-0 ATS on the road, 3-3 ATS as a favorite, and 1-2 ATS in conference games this season while the Rice Owls are 5-2 ATS overall, 3-1 ATS at home, 3-0 ATS as an underdog, and 2-1 ATS in conference games on the year.

The Tulane Green Wave are one of the best teams in the AAC, however, they have struggled in the series against the Rice Owls having lost seven of the last ten including the last three games in a row. The Owls have also been the better team at covering the spread this season going 5-2 ATS overall while also going 3-0 ATS as an underdog which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the points with the Rice Owls when they host the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday.