College football has flown by and is already in Week 8. The NBA and NHL have already started, and in a couple of weeks, college basketball starts. College football is already almost past the middle of the season. Teams have had enough time to show their true identity. Georgia is the best team in college football, Clemson is a flop, and Oklahoma has a new look with a new quarterback running the offense. This week we look into the identities of SMU and Tulane. These are the best betting scenarios in this Week 8 matchup.
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Details
Overview
Tulane started off the season hot. They almost upset Oklahoma in Week 1, and then in Week 2, they beat Morgan State 69-20. Their offense is averaging 23 points per game. Unfortunately, they are also giving up an average of 46 points per game on defense. The average differential in those games is twenty-three points. The spread is 13.5, so the fact that Tulane is losing by an average of more than ten points over that stands out. Tulane has the #121 defense in college football, which means SMU will score points on them.
SMU is averaging 36 points per game on offense and giving up 22 points per game on defense. QB Tanner Mordecai has a 71% completion rating and has thrown for 1893 yards and 26 touchdowns. Mordecai has eight wide receivers on the roster that are averaging over ten yards a reception. SMU has the weapons to score points quickly. Throwing the ball is going to stop the clock and allow SMU more opportunities to score points.
Defensively, SMU is a good team. They are good against the pass but have shown some weakness in stopping the running game. Luckily for SMU, Tulane’s running game hasn’t been their strong point this year. Their leading rushing Cameron Carroll has 272 yards on the year and averages 3.7 yards per carrying against top 25 opponents. Tulane wants to throw the football, which plays perfectly into SMU’s style of play.
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Bottom Line
The last time Tulane lost by less than 13.5 points in a game this year was against UAB. Tulane is losing by an average of 23 points per game, and SMU is winning by 14 points per game on average. These numbers are all in favor of SMU covering the spread. Then add the bad matchup that Tulane has against SMU, and this is the play of the game. Tulane has shown that their identity this year. They are a team that gives up points on offense, and this week is time to take advantage of that.
Pick: SMU Mustangs -13.5 (-110)
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Cameron Lynch is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Cameron, check out his archive and follow him @captron26.
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