My algorithms love Houston and for good reason. They will have the best player on the court by far in Tashawn Thomas who is averaging 17.5 ppg, 9.3 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game. Houston should have the edge here in FTA, FG% offense and defense and even on the glass and turnover margin. I think they have made a mistake in this line based on what Rice did at Texas A&M which was lose by just 3 while Houston lost by double digits. That's just one game and you can't put too much weight on it. Actually Vegas is admitting a significant mistake as they had Rice a +19 under dog at A&M while Houston was +9 as they admit that Houston is 10 points better. As the season goes on vegas adjusts their models and we tweak our algorithms constantly. A ton of value here with two in state rivals the last two games in 2013 between these two had spreads of 10.5 and 12.5 in favor of Houston.