The Rice Owls and the USC Trojans open their seasons Saturday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with a 6 p.m. ET kickoff (Pac-12 Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Rice vs. USC odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
USC, No.15 in the AFCA Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, hopes to start the Lincoln Riley era with a victory – Riley was hired away from Oklahoma last November. QB Caleb Williams and star WR Mario Williams both followed Riley to USC from Oklahoma. The Trojans also added RB Travis Dye, who transferred in from Oregon. The offense will be loaded in Los Angeles, but the defense still leaves something to be desired.
Rice is coming off a 4-8 season under coach Mike Bloomgren in Conference USA. The Trojans, who also finished 4-8 last season, enter 2022 with a far different outlook than the Owls. Although many teams left C-USA in the offseason, including Marshall and Old Dominion, Rice is still expected to finish near the bottom of the conference standings in 2022.
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