Tulane vs. UCF picks, predictions: AAC Championship Game odds, spread, lines
The college football postseason is here as Championship Week kicks off around the country, and there's plenty on the line as Tulane hosts UCF for the AAC title game on Saturday.
Two years in at UCF and Gus Malzahn already has two nine-win seasons, and this year post one of the nation's premier scoring offenses, averaging almost 35 points per game, while allowing just over 21 points each time out.
The Knights own a head-to-head seven-point win over Tulane three weeks ago when both teams were ranked and UCF ran for 336 yards and four touchdowns and Wave quarterback Michael Pratt had three passing touchdowns in the loss.
Tulane is one of the best turnaround stories in college football this season, recovering from a 2-10 campaign a year ago to a 10-2 mark, including a win on the road at Big 12 title contender Kansas State, with both its losses coming in one-possession games.
What do the experts think of the matchup? Let's see how the College Football Power Index computer prediction model projects the game.
Tulane vs. UCF picks, predictions
Tulane prediction: The computer is siding with the Green Wave at home, but only slightly, with a 59.3 percent chance to win the game outright.
UCF prediction: By contrast, the Knights have a 40.7 percent shot to pull off the upset and win the conference championship.
Point spread: Tulane comes into the game as narrow 4 point favorites against UCF, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook.
Total: 56.5 points
Moneyline: Tulane -200 | UCF +145
Spread consensus pick: Tulane -4
Place your bets: Game lines, odds for Championship Saturday
Score prediction: Team Rankings projects that Tulane will defeat UCF by a score of 29.3 to 25.8 on Saturday and win the AAC Championship.
How to watch: The game is set for Sat., Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. Eastern and 3 p.m. Central on the main ABC network and streams on fuboTV (Try for free).
More: College football Championship Week schedule
How to watch and stream college football every season
fuboTV provides full, total, and live coverage of the top college football games on the NCAA schedule every season from the major TV networks as well as the SEC Network, Big Ten Network, ACC Network, Pac-12 Network, and others — all without cable, in addition to 100+ channels of live TV and thousands of hours of on-demand titles.
You can stream college football, the NFL, and other programming from any device, including your phone. There’s no contract, no hidden fees, and DVR is included.
>> Click here to watch college football for free on fuboTV
College Football Power Index
Football Power Index (FPI) college football rankings and computer prediction model are a measure of team strength that predicts a team’s future performance.
Rankings and scores predictions are based on 20,000 simulations of a team’s season, using a combination of analytics, including scores to date, quality of opponents, and a team’s schedule.
College Football Playoff Top 25 Rankings
According to CFP Selection Committee
- Georgia
- Michigan
- TCU
- USC
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Penn State
- Clemson
- Kansas State
- Utah
- Washington
- Florida State
- LSU
- Oregon State
- Oregon
- UCLA
- Tulane
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- UCF
- North Carolina
- Mississippi State
- NC State
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | All Teams