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Temple Owls an 8.5-Point Home Underdog in Last Realistic Chance to Become Bowl Eligible
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Temple has two football games remaining, but realistically one more chance at a 6th win to become bowl eligible in K.C. Keeler’s first season.
The Owls are an 8.5-point underdog against Tulane in their home finale on Saturday. They’ll be an even larger dog away at North Texas next weekend, so now is the time to pounce.
Saturday’s game is equally as important for Tulane, who is one of four teams with one loss in American Conference play. Navy, North Texas, and East Carolina are the others.
The winner of The American or James Madison will make the College Football Playoff as the Group of Five bid winner, so yeah, there’s plenty of pressure on the Green Wave.
It’s worth noting both of Tulane’s defeats came on the road. They fell to Ole Miss by 35 points and lost to UTSA by 22. The latter stands out more because that’s a team closer to Temple’s level than a top-six Ole Miss squad.
Tulane checks in at 4-5-1 against the spread, while Temple is 7-3 ATS. The Owls are 5-2 ATS in their last seven and are 5-3 ATS as an underdog.
The betting splits are similar when it comes to the over/under. Temple is 7-3 to the over, while Tulane is 6-4 to the under.
Just like the spread trend, the Owls are 5-2 to the over in their last seven. Saturday’s O/U sits at 56.5 across New Jersey and Pennsylvania sports betting.
The key for both Temple to cover and the over to hit is to exploit Tulane’s passing defense. The Green Wave gives up the 10th-most passing yards per game in FBS.
Evan Simon’s been excellent for the G5 level with 22 touchdowns and a single interception. He’s facing a Tulane defense that let up 104 points over the last three games.
Temple’s problem has been stopping the run. The Owls have the 13th-worst rushing defense. That’s not ideal when facing Tulane’s dual-threat quarterback Jake Retzlaff.
Retzlaff, a BYU transfer, has 557 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.
If anything, we’re looking at a matchup that suits the over because of the defensive weaknesses on both sides.
If Simon matches Retzlaff’s scoring output, there’s a legit chance Temple can pull off the upset.
If it doesn’t happen, Temple still has had a successful season, but we are talking about an American Conference in which upsets of top teams have happened on a regular basis.
Kinkead: I think the boys play hard and at least cover on Saturday. This is the last shot at bowl eligibility and they know it. If they don’t cover, I’m putting them on the banned list and spending my money on PA online casino instead.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com