Another easy winner for those of you signed up for the bowl picks offered by Evan Altemus, as he took Rice last night to pound Western Michigan. Don’t miss any more opportunities from Evan throughout the season as he continues to pick apart the bowl game odds and win bets for his clients. Just take a look at the writeup he posted on the 2008 Texas Bowl:
The MAC is one of the weakest conferences this season in college football. Teams from that conference did not have much success against non-conference competition at the start of this season. Both good and bad teams out of conference were able to defeat MAC teams with relative ease. Iowa State, Minnesota, Wyoming, UL Lafayette, etc were all able to beat MAC teams of similar talent level. Their poor performance continued into the bowl season, as Central Michigan got hammered by Florida Atlantic in the Motor City Bowl. Rice is a member of Conference USA, which is by no means a power conference, but it is better than the MAC. The Owls closed the season with six straight wins, including a win over Houston to end the season. Their only losses were to Texas, Vanderbilt, and Tulsa, all quality bowl teams. The main reason for this selection though is home field advantage. This game is being played in the city of Houston, Texas, which is the home city of Rice. The stadium will consist almost entirely of Owls fans because of the tickets sold to this game. The Rice players are very motivated to play their first bowl game in several years in their home city. The university hasn’t won a bowl game in 54 years, so they are anxious to end that streak. Both offenses are potent, but Rice has put up better numbers all season, as well as having a better quarterback. Look for the home field edge to be the difference in this game, as Rice is going to get a motivated win.
3 UNIT SELECTION