The South Alabama Jaguars take on the Tulane Green Wave. Check out our college football odds series for our South Alabama Tulane prediction and pick. Find how to watch South Alabama Tulane.

It is a new year in the AAC with a very different look and feel. The 14-team conference will look like this: Charlotte, East Carolina, FAU, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Rice, South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, and UTSA will represent the AAC on the gridiron in 2023.

Cincinnati, UCF and Houston left the AAC for the Big 12 Conference. Six teams are joining the league to beef up its membership and ensure that if a few teams leave in the future, the conference will still have at least 10 to 12 teams and won't have any real risk of splintering and dying the way the Pac-12 did. Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA are joining the AAC.

With Cincinnati, UCF and Houston out and a lot of teams from either the Sun Belt or Conference USA in the AAC, Tulane — the defending AAC champion — has to feel reasonably good about its chances of repeating. It won't have to go through Cincinnati or UCF to win the conference this year. Head coach Willie Fritz and quarterback Michael Pratt will certainly expect to set the bar high in the AAC and dare their opponents to outplay them. It will be hard for that to happen.

Here are the South Alabama-Tulane College Football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.

College Football Odds: South Alabama-Tulane Odds

South Alabama Jaguars: +6.5 (-110)

Tulane Green Wave: -6.5 (-110)

Over: 51.5 (-106)

Under: 51.5 (-114)

How To Watch South Alabama vs. Tulane

TV: ESPNU

Stream: ESPN Plus

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT

*Watch South Alabama vs Tulane LIVE on fuboTV (click for free trial)*

Why South Alabama Could Cover the Spread

The South Alabama Jaguars had an excellent 2022 college football season. They went 10-3. They lost only one conference game. They very nearly beat a highly talented and experienced UCLA team on the road, losing on a last-second field goal after outplaying the Bruins most of the way. They lost in their bowl game, but winning 10 games was a superb achievement for this program. A culture of winning has been established. South Alabama is going to have zero fear going up against Tulane.

Keep in mind that Tulane no longer has elite running back Tyjae Spears. He was the central engine of last season's offense, which erased a 15-point deficit in the final four and a half minutes to stun USC and Lincoln Riley, 46-45, in the Cotton Bowl. Spears had top-tier speed and above-average body balance, which enabled him to get past defenders at the first point of contact. There will be an adjustmet period for Tulane without Spears. That Tulane offense is going to be more limited than most people think in the early weeks of the season.

Why Tulane Could Cover the Spread

The Tulane offense will be just fine. Spears might be gone, but veteran quarterback Michael Pratt will be back for one more season under head coach Willie Fritz. Pratt knows this offense inside and out. He will be ready to take on a leadership role in the offense and use the passing game a little bit more, at least early in the season. Tulane might go to a run-first approach on offense later in the year, but in these first games — while the running backs get acclimated to the offense — Pratt should have the ball in his hands a lot. Tulane will be fine. Pratt did throw the winning touchdown pass against USC in the Cotton Bowl in a frantic last-minute drive. That kind of display under pressure will serve Pratt and Tulane well in this game and throughout the 2023 season.

Final South Alabama-Tulane Prediction & Pick

The coaching of Willie Fritz and the QB play of Michael Pratt are hard to bet against. Take Tulane.

Final South Alabama-Tulane Prediction & Pick: Tulane -6.5