The Rice Owls from Conference USA will face the Air Force Falcons from the Mountain West conference in the Armed Forces Bowl in an NCAA college football game on Saturday December 29th. Kick of time from Fort Worth Texas is scheduled for 11:45AM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPN.
The point spread opened up with the Air Force Falcons favored by -1 point with an over under line of 61 points. Early money has landed on the side of the Mountain West conference as Air Force is now favored by -1 ½ points. The total has moved up a ½ point to a current line of 61 ½ points.
This will be the first meeting between the Owls and Falcons since the 1998 season where Air Force posted the 22-16 home win as a -21 ½ point favorite. CFB Trend: Rice Owls are 5-1 ATS in their past five games.
Rice concluded regular season play with a record of 6-6 on the season. They went 7-4-1 to the point spread. Following a 28-24 road loss at Tulsa back on October 20th the Owls were 2-6. The team rallies for four straight wins to finish at 6-6 and earns their bowl berth. Three of the four wins came against some of the worst teams in college football in Southern Miss, Tulane and UTEP. The one quality victory came against SMU during the four game win streak. The SMU victory is the only quality win for Rice this season. The two other wins came against Kansas and Texas San Antonio. Rice is a middle of the pack offense but the concern for the Owls is the play of their defense. They are not good against the run allowing 192 yards a game and 92nd in the nation. Air Force likes to run the football.
Junior quarterback Taylor McHargue threw for 11 touchdowns and 5 picks on the season. He completed 59% of his passes.
The Air Force Falcons also enter play with a 6-6 mark on the year. They closed the season losing three of their past four games. Their most notable win came in a 48-31 home decision to Nevada on October 26th. Their bad losses came against Army by 20 points and a three point loss at a hapless UNLV team. Air Force spots the number two run attack in college football with 329 yards gained per game. On defense they defended the pass pretty good but give up 198 yards rushing per game ranking 101st in the nation. They have 28 points scored per game and give up 28. Senior quarterback Connor Dietz hits on 62% of his passes with 8 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.