Line has moved +2.0 since we first saw it (FRES -14.5 to FRES -12.5).
Betting
Spread
RICE favouredMarket FRES −12.5Ours FRES −6.9
FRES favouredgap 5.6 toward RICE
Grey dot: the market · gold: our card line · small dot: FEI (bcftoys.com). A gap is a reason to look, not to bet.
Vegas
| Team | Spread | Points | Moneyline | Win% | Kalshi |
|---|
| RICE away | +12.5 | 15.5 | +380 | 20.0% | 18% |
| FRES home | -12.5 | 28.0 | -500 | 80.0% | 83% |
| Total | 43.5 | |
FRES -14.5 when first seen, now FRES -12.5 · total 44.5 then, 43.5 now. The closing line: this game was played before live prices were being collected.
Our model — cards
| Team | Spread | Points | Win% | vs book |
|---|
| RICE away | +7.0 | 18.3 | 32.2% | -5.5 |
| FRES home | -7.0 | 25.2 | 67.8% | +5.5 |
| Total | no total model | | | |
FEI — bcftoys.com
| Team | Spread | Points | Win% | vs book |
|---|
| RICE away | +17.0 | 13.4 | 11.9% | +4.5 |
| FRES home | -17.0 | 30.6 | 88.1% | -4.5 |
| Total | 44.0 | | | +0.5 |
"Points" is the implied score for each side: a spread and a total are the margin and the sum, so solving them back out says what each team is expected to score. A favourite is shown negative, the way a book quotes it. "vs book" is that model's line for the team minus the book's, so a plus means the model makes them the weaker side. Our cards are EA College Football 27 launch ratings rolled up; the gap between two teams is multiplied by a scale fitted on this season's results (real margins have run about 1.8 times the raw gap), plus 2.5 points of home field; the win chance comes from how far 7,877 FBS results landed from a line. FEI is Brian Fremeau's projection, shown as a reference only: measured on his own results pages it went 49.9% against the spread over 3,101 games (2022–25), and the pickers never see it. Neither model has shown it beats a closing line.
Team ratings
| Points vs an average FBS team | RICE | FRES |
|---|
| Offence (cards) | -3.497th | -4.8113th |
| Defence (cards) | -3.5137th | +0.356th |
| Card team rating | -6.8118th | -4.595th |
| SP+ (CFBD's rating, theirs) | -15.1119th | -0.370th |
| FEI (bcftoys.com, theirs) | -0.9127th | -0.278th |
| F+ (FEI + SP+, theirs) | -1.2124th | -0.173rd |
| Card line | FRES -6.9 (the gap ×1.87, fitted on 215 games, plus 2.5 home field) |
| Returning production | 39% | 38% |
Cards are EA College Football 27's Week 3 Ratings (EA re-rates weekly; we take the newest) with CFBD's measured stats shown beside them; the team rating rolls EA's starters up with the NFL position weights, unmeasured for college. SP+ is opponent-adjusted; ours is not yet.
Quarterbacks
Jacurri Brown RICE78 ▲4 overall · Senior
Points added per play0.115
Completion55.8%
TD–INT2-1
Pass attempts, median game15
Pass yards, median game92
Rush yards, median game113
Games this season4
Team throws per game14.2
Jayden Mandal FRES72 ▲3 overall · Junior
Points added per play0.375
Completion64.4%
TD–INT6-1
Pass attempts, median game28
Pass yards, median game198
Rush yards, median game27
Games this season4
Team throws per game26.8
The starter comes from the maintained depth chart (cfbdepth.com). The rating is EA College Football 27's Week 3 Ratings (EA re-rates weekly; we take the newest); everything under it is what CFBD has measured this season, as a median game rather than a total so a man who missed time is not shrunk.
Against the number
| Team | ATS | Cover% | vs spread | O/U | vs total |
|---|
| RICE away | 2-2 | 50% | -0.5 | 2-2 | +2.0 |
| FRES home | 3-1 | 75% | +6.1 | 2-2 | +0.8 |
Against DraftKings' closing number, this season. A record of what happened and nothing more — cover rates do not predict, which is why the pickers never see them.
Streak trends
No 4+ streak in any split for either side.
Cover, win/loss and over/under streaks in every split (home, away, favourite, underdog, division, primetime, big favourite), counted against the closing line. Measured over every FBS season on file: cover and over/under streaks revert (fade 6+); college win/loss streaks tell you nothing against the spread (50%), so they are shown here but the picker ignores them. These never reach the pickers' bundle; the "streak" row on the picks board bets on its own.
Venue, weather, rest and travel
| Venue | Valley Children's Stadium · turf · 337 ft |
| Forecast at kickoff | 83°F, wind 5 mph, rain 0.00 in |
| Rest | RICE 7 days · FRES 6 days |
| Travel | RICE 1485 miles, body clock 9:00pm at kickoff, +313 ft elevation |
Who is out (reported)
Nothing in the news for either side. College publishes no official injury report, so absence of news is not a clean bill of health.
Covers.com injury tags
| Team | Player | Status | Since | Note |
|---|
| RICE | D. Lane WR | questionable Undisclosed | Sun, Sep 20 | Lane is battling with an undisclosed injury, and it is uncertain if he will play against Fresno State on Saturday. |
| RICE | J. Falk TE | questionable Undisclosed | Sun, Sep 20 | Falk is laid up with an undisclosed injury, and it remains to be seen if he will be active against Fresno State on Saturday, September 26th. |
| RICE | P. Zinter TE | questionable Leg | Sun, Sep 20 | Zinter is laid up with a leg injury, and it remains to be seen if he will be active against Fresno State on Saturday, September 26th. |
| FRES | B. Ramirez RB | out Undisclosed | Tue, Aug 11 | Ramirez is out of action due to an undisclosed injury, and he is projected to miss the remainder of the season. |