What to know: UTEP at Rice

What, when, where

UTEP travels to Houston to take on the Rice Owls at Rice Stadium at 11 a.m. Mountain time on Saturday.

The game will be televised on the free online site ESPN3 and will be on the radio on 600 ESPN El Paso.

How is UTEP supposed to do

Not well. Rice is now favored to win by 11 1/2 points, already three points higher than the line opened at on Sunday.

Combined with an over-under of 46 1/2, Rice is projected to win 29-17.

Who is Rice

The Owls are 1-2 after delaying the start of their season to Oct. 24 because of COVID. They are coming off a 27-17 loss to North Texas.

The Owls are UTEP's longest-running continuous conference rival, going back to the WAC. These programs have played each other every year since 1999.

With an undergraduate enrollment of 3,989, Rice is the smallest school in the FBS.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.