The Charlotte 49ers take on the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans, Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. EST on ESPNU.
Tulane is favored by 30 points on the spread with a moneyline of -8000. The total is set at 53 points.
Here’s my Charlotte vs. Tulane prediction and college football picks for Saturday, November 29, 2025.
Charlotte vs Tulane Prediction
- Charlotte vs. Tulane Pick: Under 53
My Tulane vs. Charlotte best bet is under the point total. Find the best line available on our live NCAAF odds page.
Charlotte vs Tulane Odds
| Charlotte Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+30 -110 | 53 -110o / -110u | +1800 |
| Tulane Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-30 -110 | 53 -110o / -110u | -8000 |
- Charlotte vs Tulane point spread: Tulane -30 (-110), Charlotte +30 (-110)
- Charlotte vs Tulane over/under: 53 (-110o / -110u)
- Charlotte vs Tulane moneyline: Charlotte +1800, Tulane -8000
Charlotte vs Tulane Preview
Charlotte 49ers Betting Preview
Year 1 under Tim Albin and Charlotte proved itself to be one of the most difficult.
The 49ers sit 1-10, including 0-10 against FBS competition, with zero one-score finishes.
This season was only saved by a 42-35 win over FCS Monmouth, which has aged well (Monmouth fielded one of the FCS's most dynamic offenses).
The schedule was demanding, as Charlotte will ultimately play seven of the top nine teams in the American, with Tulane on deck in Week 14. But zero one-score finishes, along with a near 30-point line this weekend, really outline how bad this team was in 2025.
Starting quarterback Conner Harrell was lost for the season back in September with an injury suffered against Rice, so Albin handed the keys to redshirt sophomore Grayson Loftis.
In his time, Loftis has completed just 52.6% of his 209 attempts for 1,200 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions. There are plenty of downfield shots, and five of Loftis' eight touchdown passes came from 30-plus yards out.
Besides that, nothing is going for this offense. It hasn't scored a touchdown in nine quarters – the lone touchdown against UTSA came on a kick return – and Charlotte hasn't rushed in a touchdown since October 18.
This offense is similar to playing your cousin in Madden in high school. It's all downfield all the time, and when that doesn't work, the offense is broken. Charlotte ranks 135th nationally in points per drive, only outdone by UMass.
On defense, it's not much better.
The 49ers hold opponents to little by way of explosive plays, but that's because opponents can chunk their way to 3.17 points per drive (ninth-most in the country). Opposing offenses manage a successful play on over half of their snaps (51.2% Success Rate), the worst mark in the country. That's headed by a defense that allows a 53.1% Rushing Success Rate (worst in FBS) and 51.1% Passing Success Rate.
Why take unnecessary shots against this Charlotte defense when you can pick up 6.3 yards per play?
Albin has his work cut out for him this offseason.
It's a roster devoid of FBS talent despite a university with some dollars behind it. But until any financial backing is shown to the athletics department — Charlotte has a decade-long athletics facility project reported, but it's yet to make any headway on it— the football team will struggle.
This is an impossible job.
Tulane Green Wave Betting Preview
Jon Sumrall could be assigned a job as the head coach of your worst local high school team and go better than .500 at it in Year 1.
He's been a collegiate head coach for 4 seasons and is on track to play in the conference championship game in each of them. He's 41-11 in those four seasons and currently sits in the driver's seat to clinch a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Jake Retzlaff was one of the most hotly debated quarterbacks this offseason after being ousted from BYU in July. BYU continues to win without him, which brings into question his direct value on a point spread, but he's still PFF's third-highest graded quarterback in the American.
The entire offense runs through Retzlaff, but that's been a winning strategy thus far. He's accounted for 26 touchdowns this year, 12 of which came on the ground.
The Tulane defense has been all over the place this season. At home, Tulane has held opponents to 18 points per game, compared to 30.5 on the road, but the better offenses on the slate have had little issue scoring on the Green Wave.
It's not breaking news that better offenses score more points, but the gap is steep. Six of eight opponents that rank inside the top 60 in points per drive scored 24-plus points; every opponent outside the top 55 scored less than 14 points. The average on those splits is 30.4 points per game (inside top-55) against 10 points per game (worse than 55th).
Despite rostering what was declared a "Group of Five All-Star team" on defense, Tulane's stop unit has been quite average.
Tulane allows a 44.4% Success Rate (109th) and a 42.7% quality drive rate (73rd). It's 2.22 points allowed per drive, which ranks 69th, and it's pretty bad on third and fourth down (44.4% Success Rate on late downs, 108th).
Week 14 isn't the time a team will take advantage of the defense, but those numbers are worth keeping in mind for championship weekend.
Right now, Tulane is just the latest team in the string of excellent non-Power Conference teams to have to worry about coach focus. Sumrall sits at the forefront of many major job openings, but is primarily connected to Auburn.
With a CFP spot in the Green Wave's grasp – the Committee currently ranks Tulane the fifth-highest ranked conference team – it's unlikely Sumrall isn't focused.
Charlotte vs Tulane Pick, Betting Analysis
This game is a classic case of a good team with a lot to accomplish going against a terrible team with nothing left to play for.
But Tulane doesn't need style points. It needs to win and play in next week's conference title game.
In that situation, taking the four-plus touchdowns with the underdog may seem enticing.
But Charlotte is horrible. Metrically, it's not much better than UMass, which just made a few of the worst 10 FBS teams look like conference title contenders. I wouldn't underestimate the 49ers' ability to play completely flat and get crushed here.
Against a fairly average defense, I'm not interested in taking under Charlotte's 10.5 posted team total.
Instead, I like under the game total, which is at FBS average despite a significantly below-average offense on the field.
Without Sumrall's need to run this score up, I believe this game ends in a ho-hum final. Even in a complete blowout, Charlotte could not pull its weight toward an over, and Tulane hasn't scored 40 all year. It's a methodical offensive attack that doesn't create many explosives and instead is happy with taking its chunk gains.
Charlotte's defense allows a ton of chunk plays and not many explosives.
The goal is to keep everyone healthy, win this game, and get to next weekend. It's win-and-in for the Green Wave – there's not one single motivation more at play than that.
Pick: Under 53
