The Tulane Green Wave take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in Tulsa, OK. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Tulane is favored by -15.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -750. The total is set at 52 points.
Here’s my Tulane vs. Tulsa predictions and college football picks for Saturday, September 27, 2025.
Tulane vs Tulsa Prediction
- Tulane vs. Tulsa Pick: Tulsa +15.5
My Tulsa vs. Tulane best bet is on the Golden Hurricane spread. Find the best line available on our live NCAAF odds page.
Tulane vs Tulsa Odds
| Tulane Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-15.5 -110 | 52 -110o / -110u | -750 |
| Tulsa Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+15.5 -110 | 52 -110o / -110u | +525 |
- Tulane vs Tulsa point spread: Tulane -15.5
- Tulane vs Tulsa over/under: 52 points
- Tulane vs Tulsa moneyline: Tulane -750, Tulsa +525
Tulane vs Tulsa Preview
Tulane Green Wave Betting Preview: Back Down-to-Earth
We saw Tulane come back down-to-earth last weekend as it traveled to Oxford, MS and got whipped by the Rebels, 45-10. The offense really struggled to get going as quarterback Jake Retzlaff completed just 5-of-17 passes for 56 yards before being pulled in the second half for Brendan Sullivan.
The ground game struggled and the offensive line was overwhelmed by the talent disparity while being on the road in a hostile environment.
Defensively, Tulane had no answers for Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who completed 17-of-27 passes for 307 yards while helping the Rebs build an early lead they would never relinquish.
We saw the Tulane secondary get beat with pass explosives consistently as Ole Miss had five pass plays of 30 yards or longer. This was a tough performance for the Green Wave because many thought Tulane would be able to go in and compete well against Ole Miss.
This is now the second data point for Tulane on the road this season, and it's evident this bunch plays much differently away from home than it does at Yulman Stadium. That's something to watch.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane Betting Preview: Improved Bunch
Tulsa has played much better than its 2-2 record and is a clearly improved team over preseason expectations in the first season under Tre Lamb.
Tulsa outplayed New Mexico State and couldn't capitalize on four first-half possessions that crossed mid-field. The Golden Hurricane jumped out to a 14-0 lead against Navy before being worn down by the scheme in the second half.
While Oklahoma State is clearly a down program, Tulsa being able to go on the road and completely dominate against the Cowboys was a statement for this program, which is a far cry from what we saw last year from the Golden Hurricane.
Lamb has executed on his mission of instilling toughness, attitude and confidence into this group, and this Tulsa team plays really hard, particularly on defense.
Offensively, we saw a spark with quarterback Baylor Hayes being inserted, along with the emergence of running back Dominic Richardson, who already has 442 rushing yards on the season.
Seven players have at least eight catches for Tulsa this year, and this pass game looked crisp last week in the road win against Oklahoma State.
This team has some options at the skill positions, and the offensive line has been playing really well in recent weeks after struggling a bit in the opener against FCS Abilene Christian.
Tulane vs Tulsa Pick, Betting Analysis
I'm going to take the points with Tulsa.
We now have two data points on the road for Tulane, and this group has played significantly worse away from home this season. Retzlaff is completing just 44% of his passes on the road and the defensive front seven has been shredded by both South Alabama and Ole Miss on the ground.
The Tulane defense has actually been worse in each game played this season, and I think Tulsa can have success moving the ball. Tulane is just 108th in Standard Down Success Rate defensively and 124th in Rush Play Success Rate.
Richardson absolutely exploded last week against Oklahoma State, and this Tulsa offensive line has prevented sacks and negative plays against it.
I expect Tulsa to consistently be in favorable “down and distance” and have the entire playbook open to them on second and third down to get creative in the play calling.
Tulane gave up just 237 yards against Northwestern in the opener, but it's since surrendered 421, 452 and 548 yards in the last three weeks while giving up 6.8 yards per play.
This is starting to look like the Tulane defense we projected in the offseason, which lost a ton of producing talent along the front seven from the 2024 unit.
Despite a perceived talent mismatch, the series history between these two programs has seen plenty of close, highly-spirited contests. Over the last four meetings between Tulane and Tulsa, we saw a game come down to a failed two-point conversion in the final minute and two games went to overtime.
This should be another one that remains tight deep into the second half.
Tulane is starting to become exposed defensively and its offensive output on the road hasn't been the same. Now, it's on the second of back-to-back road trips.
Tulsa is really starting to come together as a team, and that's what I want to lean into for this matchup.
Pick: Tulsa +15.5
