#25 SMU vs. #17 Tulane American Athletic Championship Game Odds

If No. 17 Tulane beats No. 25 SMU on Saturday in the American Athletic Conference title game, the Green Wave should be headed to a New Year’s Six Bowl as the top-ranked group of five school. SMU probably won’t be headed to a major bowl even with the minor upset. 2023 NCAAF Expert Analysis #25 SMU vs. #17 Tulane | MyBookie Sportsbook 2023 American Athletic Championship

How to Bet SMU at Tulane NCAA Football Odds & TV Info

When: Saturday, 4 PM ET
Where: Yulman Stadium, New Orleans
TV: ABC
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com

Series History

The teams didn’t play in the 2023 regular season. SMU leads all-time 15-14 but lost last year late in the regular season at Tulane, 59-24. Green Wave QB Michael Pratt connected on nine passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns and also ran 10 times for 70 yards and three more scores. Running back Tyjae Spears also had an outstanding performance, running 13 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a catch for five yards and a touchdown. Spears is now in the NFL.

Why Bet on SMU Mustangs?

SMU (10-2, 8-0 AAC) won its eighth game in a row Saturday, 59-14 over Navy. Preston Stone threw three touchdown passes before suffering an injury in the second quarter as the Mustangs advanced to the American Athletic Conference championship game. Stone had already thrown for 322 yards on 14-of-19 passing when he went down awkwardly while being sacked with six minutes left in the first half. He was helped off the field then taken by cart to the dressing room.

Stone’s 275 passing yards in the first quarter against Navy were the most yards by any FBS player in any quarter this season and the most in the first quarter in an FBS game since 2019 but he is done for the year with a broken leg. Stone finishes 2023 with 3,197 yards passing and 28 touchdowns to just six interceptions.

“It’s really unfortunate for [Stone]. He was having a fantastic season,” said Coach Rhett Lashlee, who got a contract extension this week. “He was just really clicking. I think his growth and development all year have been exceptional, so we’re really proud of how he performed this year. We’re going to miss him. But fortunately for us, there’s probably not a lot of teams that, if they lost their starting quarterback, could feel as good as we do.”

Lashlee said he is unsure whether Stone will be 100% in time to fully participate in spring practices, but said he still thinks Stone will begin throwing sometime around March.

Redshirt freshman Kevin Jennings, one of several quarterbacks to see action after Stone left the game, will start for the Mustangs in this game. Jennings, who initially replaced Stone vs. Navy, was just 2 of 4 passing for 26 yards. transfer Alex Padilla and freshman Keldric Luster also saw action. Jennings has played significant time in nine games in his two years at SMU and spent an entire week preparing as the starter against North Texas earlier this year before Stone got clearance to play the day before the game. Jennings is 35-of-46 for 429 yards passing with four touchdowns.

“We’ve got so much depth on our team, we feel like a lot of positions this year, we’ve had co-starters,” Lashlee said. “Quarterback’s one of those positions where it’s hard to do that, but if you could, he’s talentend enough to have been playing. You don’t always think that about your back-up. There’s usually a reason why they’re a back-up.”

Running back Jaylon Knighton (undisclosed) did not play against Navy, his first DNP since Week 3. Not clear if he will go Saturday. Knighton leads the team with 645 yards rushing and six TDs on 113 carries.

The Mustangs are 10-0 this year when they have scored at least 30 points in a game. SMU’s defense continues its excellent play, ranking in the top-20 in NCAA in third down pct defense (12th), defensive touchdowns (11th), first downs allowed (18th), scoring defense (15th), team sacks (5th), tackles for loss (19th) and total defense (14th). SMU has taken it to the conference opposition, posting an average margin of victory of 26.6 points (44.0-17.4) in conference games this year, trailing only Michigan’s 30.3 average for highest in the NCAA this season.

This marks the first time since Nov. 6, 2021 that SMU has been ranked in both polls during the same week. It will be SMU’s first trip to the AAC title game, and first conference championship appearance since 2010 (C-USA). SMU has won 11 conference titles – 1923, 1926, 1931, 1935, 1940 (shared), 1947, 1948, 1966, 1981, 1982, 1984 (shared).

Why Bet on Tulane?

It’s the second straight year in the AAC title game for Tulane, which beat UCF 45-28 last year in New Orleans behind an MVP performance from star QB Michael Pratt, who threw for 394 yards and four scores while rushing for a TD.

The Green Wave (11-1, 8-0) punched their ticket back last Friday with a 29-16 home win over UTSA, which lost for the first time against a league foe in two years, snapping their winning streak in conference play at 17 games. The Roadrunners outgained the Green Wave with 375 yards compared to 352, but the defending AAC champions scored 17 points off UTSA turnovers to earn the right to host the championship game again.

Pratt went 9-for-22 the day with 125 yards and two touchdowns, while adding on 10 rushing attempts for 50 yards. Pratt now has thrown a touchdown pass in 44 of 45 career games. It was the 31st time that he has had multiple passing touchdowns (8x in 2020, 7x in 2021, 9x in 2022 and 7x in 2023) in a game. Running back Makhi Hughes powered the rushing unit with 26 attempts for 166 yards and one touchdown, including a 58-yard run that would set up a field goal for the Green Wave. Hughes has now run for 100 or more yards in seven of the team’s last eight games.

Wide receiver Chris Brazzell II led the Wave in the air for the second week in a row after hauling in five receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Brazzell II’s two touchdown catches were the first multiple touchdown performance of his career. It was the second straight game that a Tulane player has caught multiple touchdowns as Chris Carter did it the week before vs. Florida Atlantic.

The defense forced five turnovers, including three interceptions, limiting UTSA to less than 200 yards in the air for the fourth time this season. The Tulane defense has now gone 33 straight contests without allowing a 100-yard game to an individual running back. Tulane is 42-6 (.875) when leading at halftime and 44-9 (.830) when leading through three quarters under Willie Fritz. Since the beginning of the 2022 season, the Green Wave are 18-1 (.947) when scoring first. Tulane has now won 19 of the last 20 games when forcing a turnover.

Safety Kam Pedescleaux was named AAC Defensive Player of the Week after having had six tackles, two pass breakups and a forced fumble to lead the defense that had five takeaways against the Roadrunners. He had a tipped ball on the opening possession that resulted in an interception at the UTSA 10-yard line, added a forced fumble on the Tulane 8 as the Roadrunners were threatening to score, and had a pass breakup on fourth down from the Tulane 10 in the fourth quarter.

Tulane’s defense leads the conference and is ranked fifth nationally in rushing yards allowed per game at 86.0. The squad also ranks third in the conference and 19th in the country in sacks at 2.75 per game. The program is placed second in the AAC in turnovers gained at 13. Individually, Lance Robinson leads the team and is placed third in the conference with his four interceptions.

The Green Wave finished 8-0 in conference play for the first time under Fritz and it was the second time overall that the program went 8-0 in conference games (1934 – 8-0 SEC). Tulane is now 23-3 in its last 26 games over the last two seasons. The 23 victories since the start of the 2022 season ranks third nationally behind 27 from Georgia and 25 from Michigan.

College Football Expert Prediction

Tulane 30, SMU 27

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