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Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. SMU Mustangs Gambling Predictions & Week 1 Preview

Texas Tech vs SMU NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping

Teams from deep in the heart of Texas often don’t like to leave the state during the first month of the season – and they usually don’t have to with all the programs down there.

Texas Tech Red Raiders (0-0) vs SMU Mustangs (0-0)
Friday August 30
Gerald Ford Stadium – Dallas, TX
8:00PM
Moneyline: Texast Tech -244, SMU +196
Spread: Texas Tech -5.5
O/U: 59
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These two teams have a pretty long history and have faced off against each other 7 times since 2002 (but not since 2010). Texas Tech has won all 7 of those games posting a 4-2-1 ATS record over that stretch. Normally both of these offenses prefer to air it out so this game could have a lot of offense if they are in sync early.

Though there is probably not huge interest outside the state this is the best game on a short card on Friday and will be on ESPN.

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Hey, its football right?

Texas Tech

The folks down in Lubbock are hoping that a familiar face will invigorate the Red Raiders as they have brought back former star QB Kliff Kingsbury to be the head coach(at least he wants to be there).

This is his first head coaching gig (he was on Kevin Sumlin’s staff at Texas A&M last year) and I expect he and the team will be pumped to get going Friday night.

With Kingsbury at the helm you know they are going to throw the ball a lot but they don’t have an experienced guy in the trigger spot, as QB Michael Brewer is just a sophomore, and the line returns only a couple of starters. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

The defense, which wasn’t very good last year, returns 5 starters in the front 7, might have to take the lead as the Red Raiders try and get ready for their first B12 game at home against TCU in a couple of weeks.

SMU

Things are kind of new for SMU too as they are now a member of the American Athletic Conference.

They are not expected to challenge for the title this season but the program has been competitive since coach June Jones arrived with 4 straight winning seasons after a disastrous first year. A close look at last year’s teams see an odd performance because the defense was much better than the offense..

The D ranked 3rd in Conference USA and was able to create a huge number of turnovers – their +14 ranked 10 in the nation and tops in the conference.

Those things tend to even out over time so the Mustangs are going to need to get their offense in gear this season if they want to keep winning. QB Garrett Gilbert, a Texas transfer has been a disappointment so far and they might have trouble running the ball without 3 time 1200+ yard rusher Zach Line for him to hand off to.

It doesn’t look good in terms of changing their luck against Tech on Friday.

Spread Pick: Texas Tech -5.5
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Texas Tech 30 – SMU 21

By The Wiesguy

The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.