Don’t tell me you thought the good folks at Rithmm stopped at just the top tier teams in the nation? Of course not! We're here to bring you the best and most complete coverage there is. And that leads us to the FCS division and McNeese State Cowboys playing the Tarleton State Texans. This will be the fourth time these two teams meet with the Texans winning last season's matchup 52 - 34 in Lake Charles.

See how I used the Rithmm App to create custom sports betting models to get my AI prediction for Tarleton St vs McNeese St.

Preview of McNeese St vs Tarleton St AI Prediction 

The McNeese State Cowboys and Tarleton State Texans play Saturday August 24th at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville, TX at 3:30 PM ET. The game can be seen live on ESPN2.

McNeese State Preview

The Cowboys will enter Saturday's game with a host of new faces that include 21 FBS transfers including new quarterback Clifton McDowell. McDowell led the Montana Grizzlies to the FCS Championship game last year and had a nice season throwing for 2026 passing yards while completing 122 passes on 205 attempts (59.5%) with 13 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. McDowell also ran for 753 yards while scoring another nine rushing touchdowns.

McNeese finished 8th in the Southland conference with an 0 - 10 record, going 0 - 6 in conference play and will be a bit of an unknown this season after flipping a roster that finished in last place. Their defense gave up over 440 yards per game and looks to turn things around after adding multiple transfers including LA-Monroe's Tristan Driggers and Dartmouth linebacker Marques White.

The Cowboys will be a much improved team this season but may not have enough fire power to overcome the Texans.

Tarleton State Preview

The Texans enter the 2024 season ranked 21st in the AFCA Top 25 poll and look to expand on their 5th place finish in the  newly created United Athletic Conference in 2023. They ended last season on a four game win streak and finished with an 8 - 3 overall record.

Tarleton will be eligible for the FCS playoffs this season and look to get off to a strong start behind running back Keyvon Britten. Britten led the Texans last season with 1,150 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Victor Gabalis returns this season to lead the Texans. Gabalis started 11 games last year as a sophomore and finished with 2,492 passing yards and connecting on 164 of 301 attempts (.550). He threw 18 touchdowns and also had two rushing touchdowns.

The Texans defense will be the unknown headed into Saturday's game. They did add PFF All-American Omar Emmons from Mississippi State and former Benedict cornerback Ja'Voni Melidor who was all conference for the Tigers last season.

How I use Models for Cowboys vs Texans AI Prediction

I had to go to my Rithmm App first thing for this game. With it being a lower tier FCS game, it's hard to find a lot of good information. And that's one of the many reasons I use Rithmm. I'm not limited to chasing information. It's right at my fingertips.

As you can see, two of the three models really like this under and the third model is questionable, but not off by much. That coupled with the fact that our Rithmm Nation is all over this under to the tune of 70.9% and I'm pretty confident in this outcome.

With McNeese entering this game with so many new faces, they will be hard pressed to put together a cohesive offensive effort. Let's face it, they need some time together to gel and Tarleton is returning several key starters. With national TV coverage on ESPN2 and it being the beginning of a new season, I do expect somewhat of a shootout. But that lack of familiarity may hold back this number from getting beyond the 60.5 line.

My Rithmm AI Custom Betting Models above show McNeese State and Tarleton State may come up short on that line and with the lack of information available on this game, I'm going to definitely lean into my models on this one and take the under 60.5.

Make your own picks with your free Rithmm trial

All models are completely customizable, and while I prefer to let the App build two of the models for me while I add in one of my own to round out the Rithmm AI Picks, you can choose your own models by signing in to the Rithmm app. The sports betting AI models analyze player stats, historical data and more to provide you with another tool in your betting toolbox.

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