USF-North Texas
Friday, Oct. 10
7:30 p.m. Eastern, 5:30 p.m. Pacific
ESPN2
The American Conference is simultaneously the focus of the college football world and yet an overlooked league. Everyone knows this is an important conference in college football, but its games won’t get top billing because they will be buried by bigger games in the Big Ten and the SEC, both in Week 7 and on a larger level. What’s good — and fun — about this Week 7 game between South Florida and North Texas is that it has its standalone slot on Friday night before the tidal wave of games on Saturday. That way, the Bulls and the Mean Green get the stage and spotlight to themselves one day earlier. College football junkies and diehards will want to tune in for this game, which carries quite a lot of importance, as you will see below:
USF-North Texas is the first of several American Conference showdowns
South Florida, North Texas battle for leverage on multiple levels
This is a very attractive matchup for one obvious reason: It’s the first of several really big games in the American Conference. Five teams are battling for the league title and the Group of Five championship which will accompany it. USF and North Texas join Memphis, Tulane, and Navy as legitimate American championship contenders. The winner of this scramble will almost certainly go to the College Football Playoff, given that Boise State and other high-profile Mountain West Conference teams aren’t doing that well.
If a two- or three-team tie exists at the end of the American Conference season, teams want to have head-to-head tiebreaker advantages, so this game is the first in a series of direct battles for leverage in the American Conference standings. There is so much to like about this game, but it starts with the simple point that Bulls-Mean Green is massively important.
USF Bulls-North Texas Mean Green Odds
Hear TJ Rives and Jason Powers break down this game on the “3 Dog Thursday Podcast” by clicking Play below:
Spread: USF +1.5 (-125), North Texas -1.5 (-105)
Total: 66.5 (Over -110, Under -110)
Underdog moneyline: USF -110
The South Florida Bulls have tested themselves a lot this season, taking on Boise State, the Florida Gators, and the Miami Hurricanes in nonconference games. Playing a lot of big-name schools instead of choosing to play cupcakes is done for various reasons. One is to get a paycheck to increase revenue coming into the program, but another reason is to sharpen the team for conference games and make sure that the path to a league title becomes as smooth as possible.
South Florida ought to be confident that after playing Florida and Miami in particular, it will be physical enough and prepared enough to take on a North Texas team which has not tested itself to the same extent in non-league games. South Florida is banking that its encounters with SEC and ACC teams will make this game against North Texas seem easier by comparison. This game is not a lock for USF by any means, but if you did have to lean in one direction instead of another, South Florida looks like the better choice in a game which is essentially priced as a pick ’em.