It’s a true pre-playoff tournament game in the Tulane at Cincinnati betting matchup on Friday afternoon. The winner of this contest not only heads to the AAC Championship Game, they get to host it. The loser could be out of the mix as they’d drop to 6-2 in the conference in a possible three-way tie with UCF and Houston (if they both win) invoking multiple tie-breaking scenarios.
The Bearcats (9-2) would seem to have the experience advantage for this type of high pressure situation, as they’ve made the conference championship game the last two seasons and made the CFP last year. Tulane (9-2) has defied all expectations this season and are also 4-0 on the road. Cincinnati is just a -1.5 favorite.
Can Tulane Complete the Comeback?
It’s been quite the season for the Green Wave, who have nearly flipped their record after being 2-10 last year. The defense has been a real key to the turnaround, as Tulane was one of the nation’s worst teams vs the pass last season (273.3 ypg) but are 21st in the entire country in 2022 (189.5).
Although the Green Wave defense has improved, they also aren’t perfect as UCF showed two weeks ago running the ball 54 times for 336 yards. The good news is that Cincinnati has the second worst rush defense in the AAC (127.7 ypg)
What Tulane showed last week in their 59-24 win over SMU to easily cover the -3.5 number is that they’ve got plenty of offensive pop as well. QB Michael Pratt threw 3 TD passes for the second straight game (and ran for three more) while RB Tyjae Spears had his fifth straight game of 120+ rush yards. Spears (993 yards, 12 TDs) should go over the 1,000 yard mark for the year fairly early in the Tulane at Cincinnati betting matchup.
Cincinnati Ready to Punch Their Ticket Again
The Bearcats can make it a third straight trip to the conference championship game with a win. Cincinnati has pushed their record to 31-4 since the start of the 2020 season, and has won 9 of their last 10 coming into Friday’s game. The Bearcats are also 5-0 at home this season.
Cincinnati opened as a -3 point favorite, but that number has been bet down to -1.5 with 60% of the public on the Green Wave. Some of the betting is due to people just wanting to see some new blood in Tulane get into the AAC Championship Game, but the Bearcats also have issues at QB.
Ben Bryant (foot) remains questionable under center for the Bearcats but Evan Prater was a solid 12/17 for 127 yards last week in the 23-3 win over Temple. Tulane does have the #3 pass defense in the conference – with Cincinnati #2 – so this game is likely going to be decided on the ground. That might give the Green Wave the edge.
Free Tulane at Cincinnati Betting Pick
Sports fans out of the Cincinnati area would love to see the Green Wave win this game and get into the AAC Championship, pushing their record to 10-2 after a 2-10 season last year. For betting purposes though, a team giving just 1.5 points at home when they have four losses total in the last three years is just too good to pass up.
Free Pick: Cincinnati -1.5
