There's no board on this one yet, so the stakes carry it. The Owls are 6-3 and bowl eligible for the 6th time in program history and the 1st time since 2020. Tulsa is 5-4 and 1 win short, having gotten to the Tulane game after dropping 4 of its previous 5. Those 3 conference losses came by a combined 12 points, including a 45-44 overtime loss to North Texas and a 38-35 home loss to Army. Tulsa is 1 swing of luck away from a record that looks a lot better.
Texas Southern66-10
The common opponents tell you plenty. Both teams played Army, Rice and North Texas. FAU gave up 56 at Army, needed 51 to get past Rice by 2 and lost 48-41 at North Texas. Tulsa lost to North Texas and Army by a combined 4 points and handled Rice 38-17 on the road. On paper the Hurricane look like the steadier team against that shared slate, and the Owls look like they need 50 just to feel safe.
FAU's defense is the question it hasn't answered. The Owls have allowed 48, 49 and 56 in 3 of their last 5, and Hayes is coming off a game where he completed nearly 80% of his throws. Tulsa has its own issues: it gave up 45 to North Texas and 38 to Army, both at home, which explains how a team that just scored 60 sits only 1 game over .500.
Schedule and weather both lean toward points. FAU played on Thursday night against UTSA, so it gets 2 extra days of rest compared with a Tulsa team that played Saturday in New Orleans. The early forecast for Tulsa says 63 degrees, clear and an 11 mph wind, which is about as easy as November gets for 2 offenses that just combined for 120 points. Forecasts a week out can change, but nothing here looks set up for a field-position game.
