Tulane was in position to contend for a College Football Playoff appearance until a couple weeks ago.
The Green Wave were as high as No. 17 in the CFP rankings and were set to compete in the AAC Championship. But they lost their regular season finale 34-24 against Memphis at home.
Then Tulane, aiming to bounce back from seeing its eight-game winning streak broken, faced Army in the conference title game. But the Black Knights played too well, as Army ended up winning 35-14.
Regardless, Tulane has a chance to close out the season with a victory in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. The Green Wave will take on Florida, which is 7-5 overall after closing the regular season with three straight wins, as two of those victories were against LSU and Ole Miss.
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Tulane vs. Florida Betting Odds
Tulane is a +10.5 college football betting odds underdog against Florida, with the Over/Under being 49.5.
The moneyline for Tulane is +310, while it’s -400 for Florida.
Tulane vs. Florida On TV
The matchup between Tulane and Florida will be televised on ESPN2.
The game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 20. The contest is taking place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Tulane vs. Florida Prediction
I predict Florida will win but Tulane will cover the spread at +10.5. I also project the game will go Under 49.5 total points.
A team from the SEC, on paper, should be much stronger than a program from the American Athletic Conference. But Tulane was also regarded as one of the best teams in the country a couple weeks ago and played Power Four competition earlier this season pretty well.
Tulane quarterback Ty Thompson, a former Oregon transfer, announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal but will be staying for the bowl game. He played well in limited action behind Darian Mensah, who has announced he is going to Duke next season.
The Green Wave, who have plenty of depth, were stellar on offense and defense this season. They scored the ninth-most points in the country with 37.2 per game going into bowl season. They were also 13th in the FBS in total defense (307.7 yards allowed per game) and 17th in scoring defense (19.69 points per game allowed).
While I do expect Florida to win, I could see Tulane leading at one point and keep this contest close.
