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It is time to continue our college football odds series with a Utah-Houston prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Utah-Houston.
The Utah Utes did not expect to be in this position. Utah just lost to Arizona State and TCU in consecutive weeks to fall completely out of the Big 12 title race. Utah entered the 2024 season as the Big 12 favorite. Hopes were high in Salt Lake City that the school which won the Pac-12 championship in both 2021 and 2022 would be able to come to a new conference and establish itself as the big dog, especially with Oklahoma and Texas moving out to the SEC.
It has not worked out that way. The reason Utah was the Big 12 favorite was that veteran quarterback Cam Rising — who won the Pac-12 in those two earlier seasons for the Utes — has not been healthy. Rising battled health problems last year but resolved to come back this year. With their proven quarterback on the field, the Utes had reason to think they could rise back to the top of college football. Without a healthy Rising, however, their aspirations have vanished. They just don't have the resources or talent on offense without Rising in good health. The offense has labored the whole season, and the margin for error in each game is noticeably small. The season lies in ruins for the Utes, who did not have a backup quarterback good enough to pick up the slack once Rising went down.
It has gotten so bad in Utah that longtime offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig stepped down. Ludwig was the man who helped Rising maximize his talents and bring Utah two straight Rose Bowl appearances. Ludwig became the foremost casualty of this offensive collapse. Mike Bajakian, a longtime assistant coach in the football industry, will take over as interim offensive coordinator.
The Houston Cougars will look at Utah and see a mirror reflection. Houston has been terrible on offense this season, occasionally coming to life but normally struggling to do much of anything. The Cougars can't finish drives and can't stack together good possessions. First-year head coach Willie Fritz knows he needs to recruit well and make some significant transfer portal pickups in order to sufficiently upgrade the level of talent he has on the offensive side of the ball. The defense has been respectable, but the offense has not been able to do its part. That's why the over-under number for this game is so noticeably low, as you will see below:
Here are the Utah-Houston College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Utah-Houston Odds
Utah: -3.5 (-105)
Moneyline: -162
Houston: +3.5 (-115)
Moneyline: +134
Over: 36.5 (-115)
Under: 36.5 (-105)
How to Watch Utah vs Houston
Time: 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN Plus
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Utah Could Cover The Spread/Win
Houston does not have an offense which will accomplish anything against Utah. The Utes' offense is bad, but Houston's offense is worse, and it will not threaten the Utes.
Why Houston Could Cover The Spread/Win
The Cougars are looking at Utah's offense and are thinking they can shut down the Utes. Both teams enter this game thinking that if they can score 17 points, they can win the game outright. Houston is getting 3.5 points, so if the Cougars do score a modest 17 points, they should at worst cover the spread. 20-17 Utah is a Houston cover, and we're not sure Utah will score 20.
Final Utah-Houston Prediction & Pick
We are leaning to Utah, but neither team deserves any trust whatsoever right now. Stay away from this game.
Final Utah-Houston Prediction & Pick: Utah -3.5
