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The FIU Panthers take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Check out our college football odds series for our FIU Louisiana Tech prediction and pick. Find how to watch FIU Louisiana Tech.
The Week Zero slate includes this Conference USA matchup between Florida International and Louisiana Tech. Conference USA has four new members for the 2023 football season and the 2023-2024 college sports cycle: Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston. FIU and Louisiana Tech need to get off to a good start in order to gain leverage in a crowded conference which could have a new balance of power.
Neither FIU nor Louisiana Tech made a bowl game last year. They were both in the midst of rebuilding processes and are not expected to finish at or near the top of Conference USA. A bowl bid would be a great result for either team this season, but such a goal might also be very ambitious considering where these teams have been in recent years.
Here are the FIU-Louisiana Tech College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: FIU-Louisiana Tech Odds
FIU Panthers: +12.5 (-110)
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs: -12.5 (-110)
Over: 57.5 (-110)
Under: 57.5 (-110)
How To Watch FIU vs. Louisiana Tech
TV: CBS Sports Network
Stream: CBS Sports App
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT
*Watch FIU vs Louisiana Tech LIVE on fuboTV (click for free trial)*
Why FIU Could Cover the Spread
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs were 3-9 last season. Head coach Sonny Cumbie, a former offensive coordinator at TCU and Texas Tech, gained his first head coaching job. He looked like a coach who was still learning how to go from being a coordinator to the big guy in charge. That is an adjustment for any coach, even one with several years of experience in the business. Do we know that Cumbie has learned the lessons he has needed to learn in Ruston, La., with the Bulldogs? We might need to get some proof before we assume that Louisiana Tech is the vastly superior team to FIU. Many will look at this spread and say it's a lot of respect for a team which was 3-9 one year ago. Given that Tech's offense struggled a lot in 2022 — scoring 27 points or fewer in a majority of the team's games, which is not the Cumbie standard from his TCU and Texas Tech days — Louisiana Tech has clearly not earned the benefit of the doubt. FIU just needs to keep this game moderately close to cover. That seems like a very realistic outcome.
Why Louisiana Tech Could Cover the Spread
FIU went 4-8 last season. Head coach Mike Macintyre has done some amazing coaching jobs in his career at San Jose State and at Colorado (in the 2016 season when the Buffaloes made the Pac-12 Championship Game before losing to Washington), but this job at FIU is a heavy lift. The Panthers frankly did better than expected to win four games in 2022, but transfer portal losses and other roster changes have not made FIU an empirically better team. The Panthers have to replace several starters on their offensive line, the worst position group for a team to have to rebuild in the midst of uncertainty.
Speaking of uncertainty: As much as Sonny Cumbie struggled last year, he should be better in Year 2. It's natural for first-time head coaches to go through an adjustment period. Louisiana Tech should be able to evolve in 2023 and start well in the first game of the Conference USA season.
Final FIU-Louisiana Tech Prediction & Pick
The Sonny Cumbie growth curve should yield better results this year. If you're a skeptic, you should go with FIU, but we think Louisiana Tech will be noticeably better.
Final FIU-Louisiana Tech Prediction & Pick: Louisiana Tech -12.5
