Houston vs Tulane Prediction and Betting Odds | AAC Football Sept 30
Houston vs Tulane Betting Preview
Tulane is 4-14 against the spread in the Green Wave’s last 18 meetings with Houston. Can Willie Fritz and Co. turn that trend around with a small upset win in the Lone Star State on Friday night? WagerTalk college football handicapper Kevin Dolan shares this thoughts on the Houston vs Tulane matchup in the AAC.
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| Friday, September 30 | College Football Week 5 Betting Notes |
|---|---|
| Point Spread: | Houston Cougars -2.5 vs Tulane Green Wave |
| Total: | o/u 54.5 Points |
| Location: | TDECU Stadium in Houston |
| Game Time: | 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT (Odds Above Courtesy of DraftKings) |
| TV: | ESPN |
Houston vs Tulane Analysis
The Green Wave was riding an early wave before Tulane hit an ugly stumbling block last week against Southern Miss. Perhaps Tulane was caught looking ahead to this week’s game in Houston, but nonetheless, the Green Wave’s perfect start took a detour last week as a 17.5-point favorite against the Eagles. It wasn’t a fluke win of any kind, either, as previously-winless Southern Miss out-gained and had more first downs than Tulane in that contest.
Houston, meanwhile, has had a fairly pedestrian beginning to the season. The Cougars have dropped games against Kansas and Texas Tech, which looked like really poor results on the surface. But with a little bit of hindsight and with what the Red Raiders and Jayhawks have been able to accomplish since, neither of those losses look too shabby at the moment.
Houston owns the sizeable 19-7 advantage historically in this series, with Tulane last winning in Houston back in 2014.
Green Wave Shutting Opponents Down
Despite last week’s disappointing loss to Southern Miss, Tulane still ranks as one of the best defensive teams in the country this year, at least statistically, allowing just 102.5 passing yards per game, 11.7 first downs per game, 222.8 yards per game on average (all top-5 nationally), and own the country’s 13th-best pass efficiency defense.
Even in last week’s loss to the Golden Eagles, the Green Wave kept a lot of those same underlying defensive numbers intact so should present a stern challenge to Houston here on Friday.
Houston Hoping For A Repeat Of Last Year
The Cougars enjoyed an impressive 18-point victory over Tulane last year and they’ll be hoping for more of the same this time around.
After a competitive first half in that game in New Orleans last year, Houston pulled away in the second half, putting up a mammoth eight sacks on Tulane in that game also, the third-highest mark in conference history.
With players still on this year’s panel who were there as part of last year’s ‘Sack Ave’ contingent like DL Latrell Bankston, the Cougars will be hoping déjà vu strikes again here on Friday.
Houston vs Tulane Prediction
This is a difficult one to call here on Friday as Tulane has really been the better team up to this point on the year while Houston has simply failed to impress this season.
Rice hung almost 100 more passing yards than the Cougars last week. Kansas had over a 100-yard rushing advantage against them the week prior. UTSA enjoyed an almost 100-yard advantage as well, and Texas Tech owned a mammoth 35-15 first down gap against them back in Week 2.
All signs point to taking Tulane in this one, however a really poor 4-14 record against the spread vs Houston over recent seasons does give us some pause for concern, as historically at least, they just haven’t matched up all that well against the Cougars in conference play.
That aside, Tulane plus the points is the only way I could look to play this on Friday against Houston over in the American Athletic Conference.
Happy Hour CFB Kickoff Show
Over the last two decades, several top-5 teams have lost their spot after a visit to Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. Could Michigan be the next to fall? Join Dave Cokin, Tony Mejia and Ralph Michaels for the Happy Hour CFB Kickoff Show as we break down the College Football Week 5 betting slate from a variety of handicapping angles.
College Football Odds Screen
WagerTalk’s Live Odds Screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the college football point spreads, totals and betting percentages for all of the NCAAF Week 5 games, including this Houston vs Tulane showdown, from your desktop or phone.
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Meet the Author
‘The sharpest sports mind in Ireland’ is how one prominent newspaper dubbed Kevin Dolan after he became the first foreigner ever to win the World Series of Handicapping tournament back in 2015. “The Irishman” made his start wagering on GAA, football, soccer and boxing, all to immense success. Since becoming a professional bettor, he has since lit up the sports betting scene in the U.S. and abroad, winning two handicapping awards and writing a best-selling book on sports handicapping named ‘The Complete Guide to Sports Betting’.
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