Tulsa - Ball State

the GMAC Bowl Tuesday, January 6th, 8:00pm Mobile, Alabama

Tulsa (10-3)______CUSA______180.52 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 UAB -151.09 W, 45-22 2 North Texas -381.64 W, 56-26 4 New Mexico -123.28 W, 56-14 5 Central Arkansas -403.92 W, 62-34 6 Rice 220.67 W, 63-28 7 SMU -365.12 W, 37-31 8 UTEP -86.41 W, 77-35 9 Central Florida -159.79 W, 49-19 10 Arkansas -15.82 L, 23-30 12 Houston 122.76 L, 30-70 13 Tulane -308.79 W, 56-7 14 Marshall -127.88 W, 38-35 15 East Carolina 200.81 L, 24-27

Ball State (12-1)______MAC_____332.62 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Northeastern -449.50 W, 48-14 2 Navy 142.03 W, 35-23 3 Akron -103.45 W, 41-24 4 Indiana -199.41 W, 42-20 5 Kent State -213.78 W, 41-20 6 Toledo -235.02 W, 31-0 7 Western Kentucky -351.99 W, 24-7 9 Eastern Michigan -259.16 W, 38-16 11 Northern Illinois -60.77 W, 45-14 11 Miami (OH) -365.44 W, 31-16 13 Central Michigan 67.81 W, 31-24 13 Western Michigan 138.13 W, 45-22 15 Buffalo 66.37 L, 24-42

These two played the easiest and second easiest schedules in D-1A college football this year, but only Ball State had multiple good wins. Only one loss, in the MAC Championship, is solid too. Tulsa fell apart a bit at the end of the season, going 2-3 - can they finish strong?

Stats Matchup
Team	Tulsa	Ball State
Points (rank)	180.52 (#29)	332.62 (#10)
Record	10-3	12-1
Opp. Points (rank)	-1,862.17 (#120)	-1,737.09 (#119)
Opp. Record	55-91	61-86
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	47.4 (158%)	36.6 (134%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	29.1 (126%)	18.6 (74%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	254.8 (146%)	192.7 (119%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	133.5 (125%)	141.8 (88%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	310.2 (136%)	266.7 (126%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	257.7 (112%)	206.2 (101%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	565.1 (141%)	459.4 (120%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	391.2 (109%)	347.9 (96%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	137.8 (112%)	109.7 (90%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	176.7 (140%)	140.5 (124%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	4.7 / 39.8	2.8 / 26.8
TO's / TO Margin	2.3 / -8	1.2 / +8

Both can score, but Ball State has the better D by far. They also have the edge in penalties and turnovers. It might be a fun, high-scoring game, but I think the Cardinals will run away with it.

The Line: Tulsa -2.5

The Call: Ball State by 10

The Result: Tulsa 45-13

Or maybe Tulsa will. I guess if you're going to play in a torrential downpour, it's a good thing to be named the Hurricanes. Props to them for getting it done and on a great overall season. Ball State, like Alabama, rolled through the regular season only to drop their conference championship and bowl games. But still, they have a lot to be proud of, coming back from losing a star player, and rolling over most teams in their path. Great year.