Houston Cougars at Texas Tech Red Raiders odds, picks and predictions - The Holland Sentinel

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET on FOX, giving folks around Tech Terrace and the rest of town a prime-time reason to clear their schedules. Houston rolls in fresh off a 77-6 blowout of Southern University, a game so lopsided the fourth quarter got shortened to 8 minutes. Cougars quarterback Conner Weigman went 9 of 12 for 120 yards and three touchdowns before Houston pulled him early and let the backup finish things off.

Vegas has Houston favored by 52 points, a number that tells you exactly how the oddsmakers see this one on paper. That kind of spread changes how people around Lubbock watch a matchup between two ranked, unbeaten teams. Bars near the Depot District and tailgates outside the stadium will still fill up, just with different expectations than a typical top-25 showdown.

For Texas Tech fans, this is a chance to prove the ranking is real against a team that just posted a 77-point outburst. Whether the Red Raiders can keep it respectable, let alone pull off the upset, says a lot about where this program stands nationally. It's the kind of number that makes you check the box score twice.