UTSA at Tulane
UTSA (6‑1) at Tulane (3‑3) — UTSA is favored by 3. Tulane’s offense is at the 100th percentile on explosive plays; UTSA’s defense is at the 55th.
How they got here
Last three games
UTSA · 6-1
Rated 18th in our preseason ratings, 33rd now.
Three straight wins — but still hunting a ranked opponent.
Last three games
Tulane · 3-3
Rated 75th in our preseason ratings, 73rd now.
2-1 in its last three, capped by a 14-point win over Memphis as a 6.5-point underdog.
Biggest mismatch: UTSA’s rushing EPA against Tulane, 46 points
Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.
Tulane’s explosive plays against UTSA’s defense
Tulane offense, 100th percentile · UTSA defense, 55th
UTSA’s EPA/play against Tulane’s defense
UTSA offense, 77th percentile · Tulane defense, 36th
UTSA’s rushing EPA against Tulane’s defense
UTSA offense, 82nd percentile · Tulane defense, 36th
What’s at stake
Make the playoff
Win the conference
Win the title
CFP odds as of October 23, 2026
The series
UTSA leads the series 2-1
3 meetings since 2013 · UTSA won the last meeting
- 2025UTSA 48-26
- 2023Tulane 29-16
- 2013UTSA 10-7
Each line is Tulane’s chance to win through that meeting. Older meetings have no play by play, so no line.
Face-off
What each fanbase carries into this one.
UTSA
The chipThe fanbase's chip isn't aimed at a rival or the media — it's the founding insult, the years outsiders assumed San Antonio's seventh-largest-city market would never field a real team. Every bowl win is the answer they keep needing to give.
What this game touches
The plateau after the breakthrough. After back-to-back 12-2 and 11-3 seasons that announced UTSA as the model FBS newcomer, the Roadrunners settled into the muddle of the middle — a 7-6 finish in 2025 that only became a winning year by routing FIU 57-20 in the First Responder Bowl. The fear in San Antonio is that the rocket-ship rise has leveled off.
Tulane
The chip · vs big brotherAcross town and up the road sits LSU, the SEC giant that swallowed all of Louisiana's football oxygen after Tulane walked away from the conference. Fans believe the state forgot the Green Wave existed — and that crashing the Playoff was the loudest possible way to remind everyone New Orleans has a team of its own.
What this game touches
Talent that keeps leaving as soon as it works. Tulane finally got good again — a 2022 Cotton Bowl run, an 11-3 2025, back-to-back AAC titles — but the success keeps walking out the door: Willie Fritz left for Houston, then Jon Sumrall left for Florida the moment he reached the Playoff, forcing Tulane to promote Will Hall and start the cycle again.
Best players
UTSA
- Brandon Tucker Jr. (LB) · 53 tackles
- Darion White (LB) · 45 tackles
- Owen McCown (QB) · 1,578 passing yards
Tulane
- Dickson Agu (LB) · 56 tackles
- Kevin Adams (S) · 54 tackles
- Jack Tchienchou (S) · 37 tackles
What to watch
Player to watch: Will Henderson III (RB) — UTSA’s leading rusher (560 rushing yards) takes on Tulane’s run defense (36th percentile allowed).
The betting line, and the fans
Tulane fans are in a better mood than UTSA fans (50th vs 4th among FBS fanbases), even with UTSA favored.
UTSA favored by 3 · Total 51.5
UTSA by 3: where a favorite like this usually runs
Half of games8 in 10 games
UTSA’s chance through the game, if this goes like the 256 games since 2025 with a favorite of under 3.5 points.
Weather at kickoff
Mild. No coat needed.
UTSA at Tulane · Saturday, Oct. 24 · 8 pm ET · ESPNU · Yulman Stadium.
- 68°feels like
- 0%average rain chance
- 9 mphwind gusts
- 100weather score, Ideal
Forecast, read Fri Oct 23, 9:20 am ET. It can change until kickoff.
Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50. Gusts count toward the score (up to 15 points). Average rain chance: the hourly chances of rain over the first 3 hours and 20 minutes, averaged.
Tied for the highest forecast of this Saturday's 33 TV games with a forecast
- Baylor at Kansas: 100, Ideal
- Boston College at Georgia Tech: 100, Ideal
- Colorado at Oklahoma State: 100, Ideal
- Eastern Michigan at Ohio: 100, Ideal
- Indiana at Michigan: 100, Ideal
- Iowa State at Arizona: 100, Ideal
- Kansas State at Arizona State: 100, Ideal
- LSU at Auburn: 100, Ideal
- Michigan State at UCLA: 100, Ideal
- North Texas at Navy: 100, Ideal
- Oklahoma at Mississippi State: 100, Ideal
- Oregon at Illinois: 100, Ideal
- Tennessee at South Carolina: 100, Ideal
- Texas A&M at Alabama: 100, Ideal
- Texas Tech at Cincinnati: 100, Ideal
- USC at Wisconsin: 100, Ideal
- UTSA at Tulane: 100, Ideal
- West Virginia at TCU: 100, Ideal
- Western Michigan at Toledo: 100, Ideal
- California at SMU: 99, Comfortable
- Vanderbilt at Kentucky: 98, Comfortable
- Boise State at Washington State: 97, Comfortable
- Iowa at Minnesota: 97, Comfortable
- Utah State at Texas State: 96, Comfortable
- Ole Miss at Texas: 95, Comfortable
- Syracuse at North Carolina: 95, Comfortable
- Virginia Tech at Clemson: 95, Comfortable
- Houston at Utah: 93, Comfortable
- North Dakota State at New Mexico: 93, Comfortable
- San Diego State at Colorado State: 91, Comfortable
- BYU at UCF: 88, Mixed
- Pittsburgh at Miami: 85, Mixed
- Rice at Florida Atlantic: 85, Mixed
Tap a dot to read the game.
Forecast, read Fri Oct 23, 3:20 am to 9:20 am ET (each game has its own read time). It can change until kickoff.
If it kicked off at
Typical at Yulman Stadium: noon Saturdays score 77, 3:30 pm 81, 7:30 pm 92.
- noon: 77, Mixed
- 3:30 pm: 81, Mixed
- 7:30 pm: 92, Comfortable
Typical weather score at each kickoff time.
Typical means the average of regular-season Saturdays at this stadium, 2018 to 2025. It is not a forecast for this game.
Home field
Tulane is worth +6.1 points (±3.7) more at home than on the road since 2018 — top third of FBS, 82nd percentile.
70% at home, 49% on the road against FBS opponents (35-15 home, 25-26 away).
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +3.9 at home vs. away over 106 games — inside the ±5.8 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.
Night kickoff — historically worth about half a point more to the home side against the number, and not much more than that. The visitors travel about 503 miles to get here.
Season profile
Week by week
Tulane
- Wk 2Wvs South Alabama28-24
- Wk 3Lat Kansas State20-31
- Wk 4Wvs Southern Miss24-21
- Wk 6Lat Army17-20
- Wk 7Wvs Memphis31-17
UTSA
- Wk 3Lat Texas6-30
- Wk 4Wvs Colorado State59-45
- Wk 5Wat Rice16-14
- Wk 6Wvs South Florida31-24
- Wk 7Wvs Navy38-34
Power rating by week
UTSA is rated 5.4 points ahead as of week 8. Our power rating by week; higher is better.
The market
The spread moved 1 point toward Tulane.
The total rose 1 point.
Spread: +4 → +3 · Total: 50.5 → 51.5
The books’ cut: 4.1%, the margin built into the odds
Conference standings
Place in the conference, then conference record.