College Football Predictions: Houston vs. Tulane Preview

Written by Jake Thompson
Wednesday, 09 November 2011 04:02

It’s time to preview Wednesday’s college football game between Houston and Tulane.

The #11 Houston Cougars (9-0) will try to keep their undefeated run in tact as they go on the road to take on the Tulane Green Wave (2-8) in a Wednesday night game.  The Houston vs. Tulane clash has a start time of 8:00 PM ET and will be shown live on the CBS Sports Network.  5Dimes Sportsbook has the college football odds favoring the road team Cougars by 34 on the point spread with a total of 71.

Houston has put their perfect streak alive with victories over UCLA, North Texas, Louisiana Tech, Georgia State, UTEP, East Carolina, Marshall, Rice, and UAB.  3 of their wins have been by 7 or less points, but the Cougars have an offense that is impossible to stop.  Quarterback Case Keenum (3626 yards, 74.1%, 34 TD, 3 INT) leads an offense that averages 52.7 points and 457.1 passing yards a game, but those statistics are a little bit skewed since Houston likes to run the score up in meaningless situations.  The Cougars will be going up against a Tulane defense that allows 36.0 points per game.

Tulane doesn’t have the offense for their defense to be allowing this many points.  The Green Wave actually have a decent enough defense to be honest, but their offense’s inability to move the ball constantly sets up poor field position for the guys on the other side.  Quarterback Ryan Griffin (2100 yards, 59.4%, 12 TD, 7 INT) has done an okay job, but he’d have more opportunities if Tulane was able to run for more than 114.4 yards a game.  The Green Wave are extremely inconsistent on offense and will need to keep the score close to have a shot because they fall apart when having to switch to a pass happy offense in a comeback effort.

Houston has won all 8 head-to-head meetings against the Green Wave since 2003.  Even more impressive is the fact that the Cougars have covered the point spread in every single one of those victories.  Tulane and Houston have gone under the betting total in 3 of the last 4 matchups, and Wednesday night’s high total has actually been bet down somewhat after debuting at 73.5.

The Cougars allow 183.8 rushing yards per game, but their offense is so productive that opposing teams generally don’t have the luxury of grinding out yards in that manner.  Predictions in the Houston vs. Tulane game come down to whether or not the Cougars can get enough of a lead to force the Green Wave into abandoning their plan, and I see no reason why they can’t do just that.  Bet on the Houston vs. Tulane game at 5Dimes Sportsbook and receive a 50% cash bonus on top of your first deposit.  Although the Cougars should win, I’d play the Green Wave to keep the point spread within range.

Houston vs. Tulane Score Predictions:

Houston 52

Tulane 21