The second-ranked Oklahoma Sooners will host the Tulane Green Wave this Saturday in what will be both teams’ first action of the 2021 campaign. OU made headlines this offseason amidst talks of conference realignment, though they will have championship aspirations regardless of where and who they are playing, while Tulane will be hoping to become the next program in a long-standing tradition of pulling an opening-week upset.
The game is set to kick off at 12:00 p.m. ET inside Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, where the Sooners are highly favored to win. It’s time to have a closer look at both teams and how they arrive to this matchup so you can bet against their NCAAF odds.
#2 Oklahoma vs Tulane: College Football Betting Preview
#2 Oklahoma Sooners
According to the MyBookie sportsbook, Oklahoma is a -31.5 (-110) favorite; while this is a seriously high vote of confidence, it is well deserved for a team overflowing with talent.
The talisman of this program is quarterback Spencer Rattler, who is firmly in the preseason Heisman candidate conversation. The third-year QB threw for 3,031 yards, 28 touchdowns, and seven interceptions last season, helping to lead Oklahoma to a 9-2 season that culminated in a 55-20 victory over #7 Florida in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl.
Rattler’s preferred weapons this season are both transfers: Eric Gray, a running back from Tennessee that rushed for 772 yards and four touchdowns last season, and Michael Woods II, who caught 32 balls for 619 yards and five touchdowns as an Arkansas Razorback in 2020.
The defense, meanwhile, is led by Nik Bonitto, who recorded 8.5 sacks last year. This side of the ball has been the downfall of recent iterations of Oklahoma teams, but they have steadily improved and are expected to be solid this year.
Tulane Green Wave
Tulane, in stark contrast to Oklahoma, is nowhere near the top-25, much less the top-two; this team finished 6-6 last season, and although they lost both of their matchups against ranked opponents, they managed to drag both games to at least one overtime, losing by a combined nine points.
Second-year quarterback Michael Pratt will take the snaps, having tossed 1,806 yards, 20 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in his inaugural campaign. A source of concern for Pratt is his accuracy (55.1 completion percentage in 2020), though his touchdown-to-interception ratio was encouraging.
Two of the Green Wave’s running backs went over 700 yards in 2020, and although one has since transferred, the returner, Cameron Carroll, is bringing back 741 yards and 12 touchdowns of productivity; his numbers are only going to rise as the bell cow, which bodes well for his individual success.
The defense allowed an average of 28.1 points per game last season, with a high of 51 against the University of Central Florida and a low of three against the Temple Owls.
The Odds
Oklahoma is a -31.5 (-110) favorite in this affair, while Temple is +31.5 (-110); similarly, the Sooners are -12070 on the Moneyline to the Green Wave’s +2590.
The points total has been set at 68.5, which the Sooners will have to carry most of, with -105 odds on the over and -115 on the under.
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