Mississippi vs Texas Tech CFB Odds, Betting Preview 9/1/18

College football betting preview for Saturday. The Southeastern Conference meets the Big 12 Conference as the Mississippi Rebels grapple with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This contest has a start time of 12:00 PM ET and will take place at NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas. This is a neutral site game. These teams met back in 2009 and Ole Miss won that game on the road by a score of 47-34.

Lines:  Texas Tech -2.5… Over/Under 67

A Look At Ole Miss

The Mississippi Rebels went 6-6 last year and were not apart of the bowl season due to a self-imposed bowl ban. This year they have 15 starters back, but a tough schedule could keep them from a bow again. They do lose QB Shea Patterson, who transferred to Michigan, but Jordan Ta’amu could be a bit better. He threw for 1682 yards, with 11 TDs and just four INTs last year and has the best set of WRs in the nation to throw to. That group is led by AJ Brown, who had 1252 yards receiving with 11 TDs last year. He is a Heisman candidate this year. The offensive line is one of the best in the league, but the running game will be non-existent.

Defense has not been the forte of this team of late as they have allowed 34 and 34.6 ppg the last two years. They have seven starters back on that side of the ball and two strong recruits coming in, so they could improve. The secondary rates as 7th best in the league, but the front seven is among the worst.  You have to have a good defense when facing the attack of the Red Raiders and they do not have a great one. The Rebels do have a strong offense that could match Texas Tech point-for-point in this one.

A Look At Texas Tech

The Red Raiders were just 6-7 last year, which included a 38-34 loss to South Florida in the Birmingham Bowl. The offense put up 43.7 pg back in 201`6, but last year, they put up just 34/3 ppg. That is still good, but not what Kliff Kingsbury wants. TT has six starters back on offense but must replace Nic Shimonek at QB. McLane Carter played a little last year and will take over. He has a very good arm and a solid set of WRs to throw to, so the offense should be just fine again. It will help him to get his feet wet in this one as he is taking on a bad defense. The running game put up just 141 ypg last year but could be a bit better with highly touted DeLeon Ward getting the work.

Tech allowed 43.5 ppg back in 2016, but cut it to 32.2 ppg last year. They could be a bit better this year as they have 10 starters back from that group. Their top 8 tacklers back and they will be tested from the get-go by a strong Ole Miss offense. They have a strong linebacking corps, but the line and secondary are still rather weak. Texas Tech has a good offense and the defense is a bit better than last year. This will be a good test for them and if their offense shines, then they could walk away with the win.  

Trends

Mississippi is:

7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games

5-13-1 ATS in their last 19 games overall

The Over is 5-1 in their last 6 non-conference games

Texas Tech is:

20-6-1 ATS in their last 27 games in September

6-13 ATS in their last 19 neutral site games

The Under is 4-1 in their last 5 games in September