11:35 am
January 4

Armed Forces Bowl: Southern Miss v. Tulane

Who will WIN this matchup?

Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-5)

Tulane Green Wave (6-6)

 

Current odds:

Southern Miss Golden Eagles: (+220)

Tulane Green Wave: (-270)

 

The line for this game is Tulane by 7 points.

A pair of former rivals meet when Tulane faces Southern Miss on Jan. 4 in the Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Texas. The Green Wave stumbled at the end with losses in five of their final six games, including the last three, but will make their second consecutive bowl appearance after a four-year absence. The Golden Eagles are returning to bowl play after being left out last season despite reaching the six-win threshold.

The “Battle for the Bell” owns a 30-game history but will be played for the first time since 2010, when Tulane and Southern Miss were members of Conference USA. “Obviously, there’s a lot of history there with the Battle for the Bell and a rivalry that goes back a long way,” Eagles athletic director Jeremy McClain told reporters. “Our plans are to play Tulane more in football and other sports. I feel like it’s a natural fit, so we’re excited about that.” The Eagles own a 23-7 record in the rivalry, which pits a pair of schools separated by 110 miles of interstate highway.

Both teams stumbled at the end of the season, with the Green Wave squandering a shot at the American Athletic Conference championship game with their slide and the Golden Eagles missing out at a shot at the C-USA crown by dropping the final two games. The problems for Southern Miss came on the offensive side as they totaled 27 points in losses to Western Kentucky and Florida Atlantic to close the regular season. Tulane’s issues were on the other side of the ball as they surrendered an average of 35.7 points over the final six games.

The Golden Eagles finished third in C-USA in total defense, allowing an average of 350.3 yards, and fifth in total offense (411) but turned the ball over a total of eight times in the final two regular-season games. Quarterback Jack Abraham had more than a month to get past a 34-17 loss at Florida Atlantic in the finale in which he threw four interceptions and was sacked three times. Southern Miss is making its first appearance in the Armed Forces Bowl and is looking for its first bowl victory since toppling Louisiana-Lafayette in the 2016 New Orleans Bowl.

The Green Wave are making their second straight bowl appearance under coach Willie Fritz and are excited about the opportunity despite the way the team stumbled down the stretch. “I really feel like we’re an improved team from last year,” Fritz told reporters. “It may not have showed toward the end of the season, but we played a lot of great teams down the stretch. It’s another part of building a program, getting better and getting yourself on the map.” Tulane is led by senior quarterback Justin McMillan, who paced the team in passing (2,229) and rushing yards (704) while totaling 26 touchdowns and recorded one rushing and one passing TD in last season’s 41-24 Cure Bowl victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.

6/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Tulane Green Wave