Tulane Almost Double Digit Underdog to Duke this Weekend
Tulane Football Schedule 2026
Week 1 - at Duke, September 5
Week 2 - South Alabama, September 12
Week 3 - at Kansas State, September 19
Week 4 - Southern Miss, September 26
Week 5 - OPEN DATE, October 3
Week 6 - at Army, October 10
Week 7 - Memphis, October 16
Week 8 - UTSA, October 24
Week 9 - at Charlotte, October 30
Week 10 - Tulsa, November 7
Week 11 - at Rice, November 14
Week 12 - North Texas, November 21
Week 13 - at South Florida, November 27
Sign up for the weekly On Si Tulane Newsletter here.
In six days, the Tulane football team will kickoff the 2026 season as they travel to Durham, North Carolina to take on the defending Atlantic Coast Champion: the Duke Blue Devils. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday.
Last Time Out
Last year, the Green Wave welcomed Duke and its quarterback (and former TU QB) Darian Mensah to Yulman Stadium in week three of the season. Already 2-0 to start the year, shutting down Northwestern in week one 23-3 then holding off South Alabama 33-31 in Mobile, the Wave took care of business against the ex-Tulane quarterback and his new team, 34-27.
Mensah would go on to lead Duke to the ACC championship game where the Blue Devils would beat Virginia in overtime, followed by a New Year's Eve Sun Bowl victory over Arizona State.
TU Retains, Duke Doesn't
But Duke did not have the year Tulane did in retaining athletes. While the Green Wave is bringing back 68 of its players, the Blue Devils are returning less than half that. Suffice it to say Mensah won't be around to seek revenge (he transferred...again...this time to Miami), nor will his three top receivers from last year. Reporter Colin Cummings' look at Duke can be found here.
DraftKings Says Duke
So, with that information in tow, the odds makers have come to the conclusion that Duke is a 9.5-point favorite over Tulane this Saturday afternoon. The moneyline for the game as of Monday is +300, which means if you bet $100, and you're right, you'll get the money back and another $300 to boot. Be forewarned, the implied probability of winning is only 25% with a +$300 moneyline.
We are not the betting type. In fact, if we were, we would probably not still own a house...or a car...or clothes on our collective backs.
Returning Players Does Not Equal Being a Favorite
However, Tulane being a 9.5-point underdog, returning as many people has it has, and getting the haul it did in both the transfer portal and recruiting, just doesn't make much sense.
Yes, we know that there is a giant anchor tied around the neck of new head coach Will Hall: the anchor of how poorly he did while head coach at Southern Miss. Excuses can be made. Reasons can be pushed forth. The only thing that will make that go away is winning. We understand that.
We'll have our picks on the game later this week, but in the meantime, give this a thought (while NOT betting on the game, because, hey, this advice is free, unlike losing a bet:
- Tulane is on the biggest roll of its football life. Willie Fritz started it, Jon Sumrall continued it, and both think Will Hall is the man to keep it rolling.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.