Tulsa Hurricanes at Cincinnati Bearcats Betting Preview

The Cincinnati Bearcats will host the Tulsa Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. EST on ESPN2. College Gameday will be held at the University of Cincinnati for the first time ever. It comes at an interesting time after the College Football Playoff committee dropped the Bearcats to No. 6 after being ranked No. 2 in the AP Top 25 Polls.

Cincinnati (8-0) is coming off a 31-12 win at Tulane which was another underwhelming win that could’ve had a negative impact on the committee to decrease the Bearcats’ legitimacy. Tulsa (3-5) lost a close one to the Navy last Saturday and is looking to play spoiler against the Bearcats on the big stage.

Odds

Cincinnati is the heavy favorite to win this game at home. At -22.5, they have odds of -110 to cover in this one. The Hurricanes have the same odds of -110 to cover the +22.5 spread. The over/under for the game is set at 54 with odds of -115 for the over and -105 for the under.

Tulsa is 1-4 against the spread in its last five games and the over has hit in six out of their last seven games. The over has hit in five out of Cincinnati’s last seven games against AAC opponents.

Players to Watch For

Cincinnati

Quarterback Desmond Ridder is the life of this offense, and they move as he does. He is completing 64% of his passes this season while throwing 18 touchdowns and four interceptions. He has an interception in each of the Bearcats’ last two games. He will need to lead the blowouts of teams if he wants to give the committee any reason to move the Bearcats up in the rankings.

Darrian Beavers is one of the Bearcats leaders on the defensive side. It has shown greatly in the stat book this season as the senior has 55 tackles and 3 sacks. He was just named as a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award which names the best linebacker in the nation. Cincinnati will need him to show up big on Saturday to limit Tulsa’s offense.

Tulsa

Shamari Brooks is the lead rusher for the Hurricanes and has been very efficient thus far with 4.9 yards per carry and 4 touchdowns. He struggled against Navy with only 27 yards, but had 100+ in the two previous games. Every game he has rushed over 100 yards, the Hurricanes have won.

Justin Wright has 45 tackles and leads the team in sacks with 3.5. He also has added an interception to his resume that he was able to run back for a touchdown. This was their only defensive touchdown for Tulsa this season. He will need to lead this defense to disrupt Ridder if Tulsa wants to have a chance in this one.

Expected Outcome

Cincinnati will win this game, and I don’t think it will be close. The Bearcats feel disrespected by the committee, and I expect them to make a statement on Saturday with a big win to make the committee question their initial ranking of the Bearcats.