Jan 2 2023 – Cotton Bowl – Tulane vs USC
posted December 31
The Game
It’s time to ring in the new year with some SWEET Power Five vs Group of Five ACTION at the Cotton Bowl! USC came really close to making the CFP in year one of the Lincoln Riley era but they were shut down by Utah in the PAC 12 Championship Game (L 47-24). The Green Wave have been one of the best stories of the college football season as they’ve booked 11 wins and an AAC title just one year after going 2-10 (!). And don’t forget, Tulane won a big road game at Kansas St (!) early in the year, so they’ve proven they can hang with the big boys.
The Details
USC -2 Tulane (63)
MEGALOCKS LINE – USC -2.5
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: USC 32.5 Tulane 30.5
USC offense vs Tulane defense
The Trojans have been one of the most explosive and entertaining teams to watch this year (#5 FBS total offense, #3 scoring offense) but there are questions heading into the Cotton Bowl. Heisman Trophy winner QB C Williams (4,075, 37-4 TD to INT, 10 rush TD) was playing hurt in the PAC 12 title game and it’s fairly certain that he won’t be 100% for this match-up. They’ll also be without #1 RB T Dye who was knocked out for the year in November, star WR J Addison who’s their best and most deadly offensive weapon, as well as a pair of starting offensive linemen. Tulane has one of the best secondaries in the country (#20 FBS pass efficiency defense) and they should stack up fairly well vs an excellent USC WR corps, even without J Addison. The Tulane run D has been sketchy at times (#75 FBS) so the Trojans will have a good shot of doing damage on the ground if the revamped OL can rise to the occasion.
Tulane offense vs USC defense
The Green Wave have a very underrated offense that’s both balanced (#30 rush, #61 pass) and explosive (35 PPG, #22 FBS). QB M Pratt takes good care of the football (25-5 TD to INT) and is able to take a good number of deep shots along the way (8.6 YPA). The key to the offense is their excellent RB T Spears who’s been an absolute BEAST (1,376, 6.5, 15 TD) and he’s easily one of the most devastating RBs in college football. Pratt also does a good job of spreading the ball around in the THROW GAME as evidenced by the seven doods that’ve booked 230+ receiving yards. The USC defense has been pretty disgusting for the majority of the campaign (#63 run D, #96 pass efficiency D) and they’ve relied heavily on forcing turnovers (27, #6 FBS). Sadly for the Trojans, the Green Wave don’t make many mistakes (15, #33), so it’ll be interesting to see if USC can work their magic one more time.
Trends, Intangibles and More!
Tulane has been a DEGENERATE’S BEST FRIEND this year going 11-2 vs Vegas……..Green Wave HC Willie Fritz is 2-1 in bowl games…..USC HC Lincoln Riley was 1-3 in bowl action with Oklahoma…..USC is 35-20 (!) all-time in bowl games but they’ve lost their last two…..Their last bowl appearance was a game to forget as they were POLEAXED by Iowa in the 2019 Holiday Bowl (L 49-24).
Summary
This is the biggest game in Tulane program history and they’ve got the talent to give USC all they want in this contest. If USC QB C Williams is close to 100% this should be a really good game. If not, we expect Tulane to win this game outright. Lean for now, eligible for upgraded status.
Conclusion
Lean – Tulane +2
Note:
‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.
‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.
Most epic end to a bowl season in history lol .. man o man and that tulane game lol WOOOOOW!!! ..
Just a heads up on the FCS action if yer interested .. this SDSU team looks unbelievably strong and tested throughout the season played numerous top quality teams and top QB’s and went to the fargo dome already got down 21-7 after just a perfect start for the Bison and still epic comeback to beat them, SDSU pulled a big comeback in Fargo a few years ago but that hasn’t otherwise happened since they went on their champ run ..
SDSU looking for first championship and all the best parts are back from the team that shuda won it the covid spring year .. QB injured Q1 they were still covered -3 late before killer final drive … that QB is back plus A TON of others to finish what they started and vs biggest rival that’s won it all like 10 times, its def that kinda now or never UGA / Bama matchup from last year .. and bookies aren’t out of tune totally they had NDSU +800 going into the playoffs, they’d never get those odds in past years, so gotta think the real odds in their minds were maybe +10 to 1200 at least maybe more and trimmed down because of the big name brand like I think the spread is now .. and that was with a playoff road that was like a red carpet for them shuda been easy and still struggled w a bye and home field the whole way .. had a shootout w Incarnate Word, an epic offense but they’ve never been in a shootout at home w one of those weaker div teams that just knows how to do offense and relllllly lucky to win shoulda lost .. besides SDSU that was the one premier QB they’ve faced all year SDSU has faced a bunch way tougher reg ssn and playoff schedule IMO even as the top seed and killed some real good teams .. NDSU w some real injuries to their backfield too FB was best player total beast mode weapon and there’s 1 and maybe 2 others in the RB stable out plus hits in a few other places .. OL inj have them thin any backup has minimal snaps .. depth chart has 1 backup / now starter as the backup for 2 other spots .. if NDSU can’t run effectively they’re unlikely to get it done passing, would need an epic day and SDSU one of the few teams that slowed their run when they were at full health earlier this year .. just feels like we’re gunna see 10 years of frustration watching NDSU win all those championships pour out against clearly weaker opponent IMO ..
.. I grabbed -3 right away and its’ -5 now but I think any other team would be getting 7 or 7.5 here I hit the ML at Caesars pretty hard just now -190 its gone up to -200 or more most shops but maybe CZR’s still has that if interested that’s what I’d recommend .. could go spread but the coach does sometimes play Kirby-Ball just tend to angle for close wins when necessary lower risk doesn’t always take that kill shot .. could see it being a bigger win if just want to go fun money on a bigger margin I could def see them corner the bizon in this game and reallllly GIT-R-DONE .. good luck!!!