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The Tulane Green Wave take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Check out our college football odds series for our Tulane Tulsa prediction and pick.
The Tulane Green Wave have a very special opportunity in front of them in November. Tulane leads the American Athletic Conference standings after UCF knocked off Cincinnati one week ago. The Green Wave are the only AAC team with one loss entering Week 10. This puts them in position to win the Group of Five championship if they can win the AAC title. Tulane and Sun Belt Conference leader Coastal Carolina are the two teams which can win out and go 12-1. If that does happen, Tulane would get the nod over and against Coastal Carolina, enabling the Green Wave to go to a New Year’s Six bowl game at the Cotton Bowl, which would obviously be a tremendous achievement for the program under head coach Willie Fritz, who continues to elevate his stock value and overall reputation in the head coaching profession.
Tulane used to be a member of the Southeastern Conference, but that was in a very distant, ancient era of college football’s 153-year history. Tulane very rarely gets a chance to make a national statement as big as the one it can make this next month. Tulane’s only recent moment in the college football spotlight was in 1998, when the Green Wave went unbeaten under then-coach Tommy Bowden. That big season propelled the coaching careers of Bowden – who then got the head coaching position at Clemson, preceding Dabo Swinney – and an offensive coordinator named Rich Rodriguez, who would ascend to the head coaching positions at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona. Back then, Tulane was not able to play in an elite New Year’s Day bowl. Tulane had to settle for a Liberty Bowl berth, where it won and completed a 12-0 season. This time, if Tulane can win its conference championship, the Green Wave could gain the big stage at the end of their season. It’s a tremendous opportunity for the program.
Tulsa has had a rough season under coach Philip Montgomery. One of the bigger humiliations for the Golden Hurricane is the fact that they were boatraced by a Navy team whose offense has usually struggled this season. Navy put 53 points on Tulsa, a sign of how frail the Golden Hurricane have been at the line of scrimmage, particularly their defensive front. Navy has a subpar offensive line – the central source of that program’s struggles in 2022 and, for that matter, over the past three seasons – but the Midshipmen destroyed Tulsa. That was an eye-opening game in the midst of a bumpy ride for Montgomery, who has had moments of considerable success at Tulsa, but whose tenure has been marked by noticeable volatility and inconsistency. Tulsa would love to derail Tulane’s season, but line play certainly stands in the way of the Golden Hurricane’s ambitions.
Here are the Tulane-Tulsa NCAA Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Tulane-Tulsa Odds
Tulane Green Wave: -7.5 (-104)
Tulsa Golden Hurricane: +7.5 (-118)
Over: 56.5 (-110)
Under: 56.5 (-110)
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Why Tulane Could Cover the Spread
Tulane might not be as good a team as its record might indicate, but Tulsa’s line play is just not up to par. The Green Wave have a manageable matchup here and should be able to take control as long as they don’t stumble out of the gate in the first quarter.
Why Tulsa Could Cover the Spread
Tulsa isn’t a better team than Tulane, but this is the Golden Hurricane’s Super Bowl. They will want to ruin Tulane’s year. They will come out firing and will take an early lead. Tulane will have to deal with game pressure in addition to the stress of playing for a conference championship and a big bowl berth. This game could easily snowball on Tulane if the Green Wave start poorly.
Final Tulane-Tulsa Prediction & Pick
This doesn’t figure to be an easy game for Tulane, but the weakness of Tulsa in the trenches is likely to manifest itself before all 60 minutes are done. Take the Green Wave.
Final Tulane-Tulsa Prediction & Pick: Tulane -7.5
