Against the Odds: Pitt opens as favorites over Rice

Fresh off a win over Penn State one week ago, Pitt now will play hosts to the Rice Owls this evening, at The Pete. The game will tip at 7PM and Vegas has installed Pitt as a favorite by 8.5 points. That could surprise some that it is not bigger, but Rice has the same record as the Panthers, at 8-2.

A closer look at the Rice record shows that have not exactly played a murderous schedule so far. They have lost to Texas Tech and Texas Southern. One of the teams they were victorious over so far this season was Incarnate Word. That’s a school. They have a basketball team. I know this because I looked it up.

Regardless of who they have stepped on the floor with, Rice is off to a solid start and head coach Mike Rhoades would love nothing more than to give his Owls’ a resume builder win over Pitt. Sophomore guard Marcus Evans leads Rice with 19.5 points per game and five assists per contest.

Pitt is finished with finals now and would love nothing more than to go into the holiday break with a 9-2 record before ACC play heats up. When conference play gets started, it gets pretty serious pretty quick for Pitt, so every victory they can get now helps. Vegas thinks they can get another one tonight and let’s hope they are right.

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