Head Coach Greg Schiano is expecting his team to take a step forward and a move north in the Big Ten standings this season. The Scarlet Knights’ season opener against the Howard Bison should do nothing to dampen those expectations.
Rutgers and Howard have met five times in their respective histories with Rutgers winning each of the five in dominating fashion. The Scarlet Knights have outscored the Bison 215-43 in the five. Their most recent meeting was on September 10, 2016. The Scarlet Knights rolled to a 52-14 victory.
The Bison were 6-6 last season with two of the losses coming against FBS opponents Eastern Michigan and Northwestern (covered in each of the two) while Rutgers finished 7-6.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, lineup cards, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Bison vs. Scarlet Knights live Thursday
● Date: Thursday, August 29, 2024
● Time: 6PM EST
● Site: Shi Stadium
● City: Piscataway, NJ
● TV/Streaming: Big Ten Network
Game odds for Howard vs. Rutgers
The latest odds as of Wednesday midday courtesy of BetMGM:
● Money Line: Not Available
● Spread: Scarlet Knights -36.5
● Total: 49.5
NBC Sports Betting Analyst Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports) likes the UNDER on the Howard Bison Team Total
“I’m going with an UNDER here. You know I love my Big Ten defenses. The Scarlet Knights allowed 30 total points in their first three games last year. Against lowly competition like Wagner, they allowed just three points. Howard is in a similar situation to Wagner as they line up against Greg Schiano’s squad on Thursday. I’m going UNDER the team total on Howard, no matter what it is because I don’t think they score a touchdown at Rutgers.”
You can find Rutgers to shut out Howard at +300 or Howard to score less than 7.5 points at -200 pending the book.
NBC Sports Betting Analyst Brad Thomas thinks Rutgers plays well, but is staying away from this One
“Rutgers come in as a massive 37-point favorite. They should dominate on both sides of the ball, but their most significant advantage will be at the line of scrimmage. Size matters, especially in College Football. No bet on this game, but Rutgers dominates.”
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Recent betting stats for the Big TEN per John Ewing of BetMGM
Big Ten
● Favorites: Ohio State +150
● Highest Ticket%: Penn State 33.7%
● Highest Handle%: Ohio State 55.4%
● Biggest Liability: Ohio State
Names to Know for Howard vs. Rutgers
○ Bison: Jarrett Hunter – Grad Student who tallied 883 total yards (626yds. rushing and 257yds. receiving) last season for the Bison will be the key to the attack for Howard.
○ Scarlet Knights: Athan Kaliakmanis – transfer from Minnesota steps into an offense that was inefficient on its best days in 2023. He threw for 2,784yds and 17 TDs but also 13 INTs over 2 seasons with the Golden Gophers.
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest player news from the NFL and MLB. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Bison vs. Scarlet Knights on August 29, 2024
● This spread is more points than Rutgers scored in any game last season except one.
● Rutgers averaged only 11.5pts in their final 4 games last season
● Howard covered the spread in both games against FBS schools last season (Eastern Michigan and Northwestern)
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our College Football Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for Thursday’s Howard vs. Rutgers game
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Thursday’s Bison vs. Scarlet Knights game:
- Moneyline: There is not an opportunity to bet this game on the Moneyline
- Spread: NBC Sports is leaning towards a play on Howard taking the 35.5 points
- Total runs: NBC Sports is leaning towards a play on the Total UNDER 50.5 points
Want even more college football best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert College Football Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and total picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
