Posted on 3/12/2008 7:56:53 PM

NCAA March Madness Wagering - RICE vs. SOUTHERN MISS

By Charles Jay

BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds: SOUTHERN MISS -15, Total 124

The Rice Owls (3-26 SU, 12-15 ATS) will most likely be winding down a dreadful campaign on Wednesday night when they take on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (17-13 SU, 14-9 ATS) in the first round of Conference USA tournament action, taking place at 9:30 PM ET at the fabulous FedEx Forum in Memphis.

In the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds, Southern Miss is listed as a 15-point favorite, with a total of 124 points.

Here are some of the NCAA college basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* RICE has lost its last 19 games SU

* RICE has covered four of its last seven games

* RICE has played five of its last six games UNDER the total

* SM has covered six of its last seven games

* SM has won five of its last seven games SU

* SM has played nine of its last 12 games OVER the total

* RICE has covered two of the last three meetings

* RICE has had the shooting edge in each of the last three meetings

* SM has had the rebounding edge in two of the last three meetings

* RICE has made more three-pointers in each of the last three meetings

Rice went winless in Conference USA this season, and emerged triumphant in only one game away from home. The Owls' regular arena was undergoing construction, so the team had to use a high school gym that often drew only a few hundred people. And they regularly played with only six scholarship players, actually having to reach out to the football team to fill out its roster. It's hard to believe this is the same program that produced a first-round NBA draft choice (Morris Almond) this past year.

Rice has held its opponents to 43% shooting, but they shot only 38% themselves. They averaged only 56 points a game, shot just 64% from the free throw line and had an abysmal MINUS-1.9 ratio of assists to turnovers.

The Owls will seem almost like putty in the hands of meticulous, exacting Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy (former head man at Iowa State), who has got his team playing better down the stretch, with six covers in the last seven games, including a competitive effort at home against Memphis, in which the Eagles shot 54% from the field. USM can turn up the volume a bit (73.6 ppg), which will bother Rice no end, as it did in a 71-53 blowout on January 26. And don't be surprised if the Eagles consistently hold poor-boarding Rice to one shot on offense.

In a conference where there is really only one team to look at (Memphis), Southern Miss looms as an interesting dark horse to challenge for the runner-up spot. We'll lay the points with Southern Miss, the 15-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: SOUTHERN MISS

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(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)