NCAAF: TUESDAY BETTING DOUBLEHEADER
The Marshall Thundering Herd can take the lead in the Conference USA East Division with a win at home tonight over the Houston Cougars.
It won’t be easy though, as the Cougars are a 7 ½-point favorite and backed by over 84% of early players at Sportsbook.com. ESPN2 has the coverage starting at 8 pm ET.
If the Thundering Herd can win this conference game, they set up their own destiny playing East Carolina and UCF next, their closest competitors in the division. Houston has yet to lose in C-USA action and can stay unbeaten in league play, keeping pace with highly ranked Tulsa in the West Division.
If Marshall (3-4, 1-5 ATS) has any designs on being division champs, they have to end their three game losing streak. They have lost and failed to cover three straight games, the last a humbling defeat at not-so-hot UAB 23-21, as 2.5-point favorites.
Marshall’s offense is minimal, ranking 11th in C-USA in scoring (19.1), passing (204.9) and total offense (332.7) and ninth in rushing (127.9). They are a league-worst 13-for-20 inside the red zone.
The Herd is 8th in total defense in the league and has allowed 14 rushing touchdowns and is next to last in sacks. They have surrendered over 245 yards per game rushing in their last three contests and are 2-7-1 ATS after allowing more than 200 yards rushing in their last outing.
In comes a Houston (4-3, 2-4 ATS) offense that is third in the country at 544.3 yards per game, with a passing offense second only to Texas Tech. The running game does enough to keep foes honest, averaging 141.0 yards per game with 11 touchdowns.
The Cougars defense allows 28.6 PPG and needs to force turnovers to be successful. In their current three game winning streak, they have forced nine turnovers and still have given up over 27 points a contest. Houston is 0-6 ATS after two or more consecutive straight up wins.
One final note, Marshall is 6-2-1 ATS as a home underdog.
One hour earlier over on ESPNU, the Buffalo Bulls (3-4, 4-3 ATS) travel to Athens, OH to face the Bobcats of Ohio U. Buffalo is a 1.5 point underdog.
The Bulls play in the mishmash MAC East and could tie Akron for first place with a win. Buffalo ended a three game losing streak by defeating Army 27-24 the last time out, despite netting only 41 yards on the ground and being run over for 320 yards.
The Bulls have yet to win on the road in three tries, though have covered the spread each time.
Ohio (2-6, 4-2-1 ATS) has had a rough go in 2008, with an offense that can’t avoid mistakes. In only one game have they had one turnover, the rest two or more miscues. The Bobcats return home off a rugged three game road trip and are 7-2 against a team with a losing road record.
Ohio is delighted to be home where they are 7-2 against the spread in their last nine games at Peden Stadium.
