Week 1: Tulane vs UMass 9/3/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Tulane Green Wave and UMass Minutemen clash Saturday in week 1 college football action from Yulman Stadium. UMass is coming off a rough season in 2021, going just 1-11 overall. As for Tulane, they didn’t do so well themselves at 2-10 overall and 1-7 in AAC play. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

There weren’t many positives overall to UMass’ season in 2021. The team went just 1-11 overall and ended up firing head coach Walt Bell after just nine games. The Minutemen finished tied for last place among independents, right along with UConn who also won just one game. 

UMass kicked off the year with five straight losses, scoring seven points or fewer in three of them. The only victory came October 9 versus the aforementioned UConn 27-13. After that it was a six-game losing streak that featured 17 or fewer points from UMass in four games.

Over on the Tulane side, they’re looking for a bounce-back year as well. The Wave posted a rough 2-10 overall record and a 1-7 mark in American Athletic Conference games. That put Tulane just two spots out of the basement in the standings, with the same record as South Florida and Temple. 

Tulane managed to win their second game versus Morgan State (following a five-point loss to Oklahoma) but then the wheels fell off with eight straight defeats. After another win over South Florida, Tulane ended the season with a 33-28 loss at Memphis. 

The Minutemen are 8-17 ATS in their last 25 on turf and 4-10 ATS in the last 14 in September. UMass is 1-6 ATS in their last seven road games.
Meanwhile, the Wave are 5-0 ATS in their last five versus independents and 4-1 ATS in the last five overall. Tulane is 22-8 in their last 30 at home. 

PICK: I’m probably staying with Tulane, but that’s quite a thick line. Pretty much everything went wrong for the Green Wave in 2021, but there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about this season. The offense will return nine starters and the line should be better at keeping teams out of the backfield. QB Michael Pratt and RB Tyjae Spears should also take a step forward. Jha’Quan Jackson, Deuce Wats and Tyrick James are great receiving options who will likely put up solid numbers as well. If Tulane can cut down on the turnovers and get an average-to-good performance out of the defense they should be well on their way to a .500 season or better in 2022.