BYU vs Houston Prediction 11-30-24 College Football Picks

The Houston Cougars and the BYU Cougars will meet Saturday in college Football action from LaVell Edwards Stadium. Here’s a BYU vs Houston prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best BYU vs Houston pick.

Houston Cougars Betting Preview

Houston’s season began on a 1-4 run with losses to UNLV, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and Iowa State. The Cougars got better with a 3-2 stretch over the next five. Those wins came courtesy of TCU, Utah and Kansas State with losses otherwise to Kansas and Arizona.

In their Saturday matchup with Baylor, Houston went into the fourth quarter with a 17-7 deficit. The Cougars posted a field goal from there in a 20-10 loss. Zeon Chriss had 126 passing yards and three interceptions. Re’Shaun Sanford led an anemic rush with just 37 yards off eight totes.

BYU Cougars Betting Preview

Over on the BYU side, they kicked things off with a nine-Game win streak. The Cougars beat Southern Illinois, SMU, Wyoming, Kansas State, Baylor, Arizona, Oklahoma State, UCF and Utah before finally losing to Kansas on November 16.

Matched up against Arizona State last weekend, BYU was in trouble with a 21-3 deficit at halftime. The Cougars got better in the second half but still lost an upset 28-23. Jake Retzlaff posted 297 yards with one TD and two picks. LJ Martin rushed nine times for 42 yards, and Keelan Marion had two rush scores.

Why the BYU Cougars will win

• BYU has won eight of its last nine games against non-AP-ranked teams.
• Houston has lost 14 of its last 16 games against AP-ranked teams.
• The team ranked 19th in the AP Poll has covered the spread in seven of its last eight games.
• Houston has failed to cover the spread in four of its last five November games against AP-ranked teams.
• Houston has lost the first half in four of its last five games against conference opponents.

Why the Houston Cougars will win

• BYU has lost six of its last seven games in November.
• The road team has won three of BYU’s last four games.
• BYU has failed to cover the spread in each of its last four November games against non-AP-ranked teams.
• The underdog has covered the spread in four of BYU’s last five games.

Total Points Facts

• Eleven of Houston’s last 12 games have gone UNDER the total points line.
• Seven of BYU’s last eight games as a favorite have gone OVER the total points line.

BYU vs Houston Prediction

I’ll go with BYU. They’ve got to get over their upset loss to Arizona State quickly, though. The Cougars managed 391 yards (297 passing) and 26 first downs in that one, but also had a couple of picks and surrendered 401 yards (247 passing) on the other side. The BYU offense has stalled over the last three Games, posting 23 or fewer points in each (a 1-2 run).

As for Houston, their offense couldn’t do much of anything against Baylor over the weekend. The Cougars finished with a tepid 239 yards (147 passing), 14 first downs, four turnovers and a 3-of-10 success rate on third downs. Houston has just 13 combined points over the last two Games, with 17 or fewer points in four of the last five. BYU should be primed for a bounce-back effort here, and I think the Cougars will dominate. The offense has to get going in a hurry, though.