The University of Texas San Antonio Roadrunners finished last season with a record of 11-3 and a record of 8-0 in Conference USA which led to a 1^st place finish in the regular season in Conference USA and an appearance in the Conference USA Championship game against the North Texas Green Wave which resulted in a 48-27 win and an appearance in the Cure Bowl against the Troy Trojans which resulted in a 12-18 loss. 

Last season, the Roadrunners won their 2^nd consecutive Conference USA Championship and made their 3^rd consecutive season in Jeff Traylor’s 3^rd season as head coach. UTSA will have a new Offensive Coordinator, Justin Burke, who recently served as the Special Teams/Tight Ends coach for the Roadrunners last season. 

This year, the UTSA Roadrunners enter the season with an over/under win total of 7.5 wins which means the Roadrunners are projected to finish bowl-eligible for their 4^th consecutive year and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the 3^rd best team in the AAC behind the Tulane Green Wave and SMU Mustangs.

The Houston Cougars finished last season with a record of 8-5 and an AAC record of 5-3 which led to a tie for 4^th place in the AAC and the Cougars making a bowl game for the 3^rd consecutive season with an appearance in the Independence Bowl against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns that resulted in a 23-16 win. 

The Cougars have made the move from the AAC to the Big 12 Conference this season and enter the season with an over/under win total of 4.5 wins which means they are projected to miss a bowl game for the first time in four years and based on Vegas odds are projected to be the worst team in the Big 12 as the Cougars are +10000 to win the Big 12 Conference.

BookMaker has the UTSA Roadrunners listed as 2.5-point favorites on the road against the Houston Cougars on Saturday in week 1 of the college football season. Houston has won two of the three games all-time in the series and has won by an average score of 34.33 to 30 while UTSA went 2-1 ATS in those matchups. UTSA finished last season with a record of 7-7 ATS overall, 4-2 ATS on the road, and 6-6 ATS as a favorite while Houston finished 5-8 ATS overall, 0-6 ATS at home, and 3-1 ATS as an underdog.

Both teams have moved to new conferences this season with the UTSA Roadrunners making the move from Conference USA, a conference where the Roadrunners won the conference championship in 2021 and 2022 to the AAC while the Houston Cougars will be moving from the AAC to the Big 12 Conference where they are projected to be the worst team. 

UTSA is projected to finish with a better record this season as they enter the season with an over/under win total of 7.5 wins while Houston enters the season with an over/under win total of 4.5 games. UTSA is 2-1 ATS all-time in the series, which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the UTSA Roadrunners -2 on the road against the Houston Cougars in week 1 of the college football season on BookMaker.