The East Carolina Pirates (1-3, 1-2 AAC) and Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-1, 2-0) meet at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium, for a 9 p.m. ET kickoff Friday (on ESPN2). Below, we analyze the East Carolina-Tulsa college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
East Carolina at Tulsa: Betting odds and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 4:43 a.m. ET.
- Money line: East Carolina +540 (bet $100 to win $540) | Tulsa -834 (bet $834 to win $100)
- Against the spread/ATS: East Carolina +17.5 (-110) | Tulsa -17.5 (-110)
- Over/Under: 61.5 (O: -106 | U: -115)
East Carolina at Tulsa: Three things to know
- East Carolina hung tough against Navy last week, but fell at home by a 27-23 score as 3.5-point underdogs, narrowly missing the cover. The Pirates have alternated covers and non-covers in their four outings, and last week’s Under result was their first in four games.
- Tulsa is coming off an impressive 42-13 road win in Tampa over South Florida, covering a 12.5-point number. That win comes on the heels of a 34-26 upset win at UCF. This will be Tulsa’s first game at home after three outings on the road to open, going 2-1 SU/3-0 ATS. Last week’s offensive explosion gave the Golden Hurricane their first Over result of 2020.
- These teams met last season in the regular-season finale in Greenville, N.C., with the Golden Hurricane coming away with a 49-24 win as seven-point favorites, easily hitting the Over of 64. The Pirates have failed to cover in four straight against the Golden Hurricane, while the Over has hit in five of the past seven meetings.
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East Carolina at Tulsa: Odds, prediction, betting lines and picks
Prediction
Tulsa 34, East Carolina 20
Money line (ML)
Risking more than eight times your potential return is not good gambling over the long haul, so AVOID Tulsa (-834) and look to the spread instead.
Against the spread (ATS)
EAST CAROLINA (+17.5, -110) is worth taking with the points, as 17.5 is a big number. Yes, Tulsa (-17.5, -110) did go down to South Florida and won by 29 points. However, the Pirates have a much more potent offense than USF, and they’ll give the Tulsa defense fits. ECU is averaging 31.0 PPG through four outings, and it’s especially solid on the ground, averaging 193.0 rushing yards per game.
Over/Under (O/U)
UNDER 61.5 (-115) is the play here. Tulsa’s defense has been rock solid, allowing just 18.3 PPG to rank 15th in the nation. It has allowed just 345.7 total yards per game, which ranks 26th. East Carolina did a good job shutting down the rushing attack of Navy a week ago, and should have a little confidence coming into this one. The strength of ECU is its run game, one which tends to take a lot of time off the clock and is a friend to Under backers.
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