AAC Week 12 Betting Odds: Surprising Tulane Looks to Rebound From First Conference Loss

Tulane, Cincinnati Look to Set Up Huge Week 13 Showdown

When looking at the AAC Week 12 betting odds, there are three teams tied at the top of the American Athletic Conference standings with just two games left to play so there is no margin for error for UCF, Tulane and defending champion Cincinnati.

Tulane, coming off its first conference loss of the season, appears to have the toughest task in Week 12 as the pass-happy SMU Mustangs come to town. Cincinnati and UCF are heavy favorites against Temple and Navy. Tulane and Cincinnati are set to square off in Week 13 with the game likely deciding one of the two spots in the conference title game.

Fans should enjoy these games while they can because this conference will look much different with Cincinnati, UCF and Houston will be joining the Big 12 after the end of this season. At least one of those teams have appeared in all but one of the AAC conference championship games.

UCF is the current favorite to win the AAC title for the first time since 2018. Cincinnati and Tulane are priced at +200 and +600.

The totals in Week 12 range from 50.5 in the Cincinnati-Temple game to 67.5 when Houston travels to East Carolina.

UCF comes in at No. 17 and Cincinnati is 22nd in the NCAAF rankings this week.

Game of the Week

Tulane is the top defensive team in the American Athletic Conference, allowing 323 yards each time out while Southern Methodist is second in the conference with an average of 484 yards per game.

Tulane (8-2, 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference) finished with just two victories, including one conference win last season. Now the Green Wave can secure a spot in the AAC championship game by winning out.

A key will be slowing down SMU’s Rashee Rice, the conference leader with 1,167 receiving yards for the Cougars (6-4, 4-2). The Green Wave allowed UCF to convert on 10 of 18 third-down plays in a 38-31 loss to UCF that knocked Tulane out of sole possession of first place.

SMU has covered against the college football betting lines in five of the last seven meetings with Tulane.

Other Games to Watch

After reaching the American Athletic Conference championship game a season ago, Houston needs to win out and get some help to return to the title tilt.

Picking up a key road win would keep the hopes alive even though Houston has lost to two of the three teams ahead of them in the standings.

Quarterback Clayton Tune leads the conference with 3,024 yards and 31 touchdown passes while Nathaniel Dell is the conference leader with 85 catches for Houston (6-4, 4-2).

East Carolina (6-4, 3-3) ranks in the middle of the AAC in passing defense. ECU is second in the conference with nine interceptions with three of them being recorded by Jireh Wilson.

Houston has covered against the college football spreads in just two of its last six contests.

So what happens when mediocre offenses meet up with generous defenses?

USF (1-9, 0-6) has the worst defense in the conference, allowing 508 yards per game and giving up 7.4 yards per play. Tulsa (3-7, 1-5) is just under 400 yards allowed per contest.

The Bulls and Golden Hurricanes are eighth and ninth in total offense. Tulsa is 5-1 straight up and 4-2 against the spread in the last six conference games as a double-digit favorite. The football teams will have a hard time topping last season’s 32-31 thriller.

With the Bulls ending the season against a powerful UCF team, this is likely the final chance to avoid finishing the 2022 season winless in conference play. The Week 12 AAC betting odds saw the Moneyline for Tulsa move from -450 to -520.

Navy (3-7, 3-4) threw a scare into Notre Dame before falling 35-32. Can the Midshipmen do the same against the UCF team that is tied for first place in the American Athletic Conference standings.

UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee ran for a season-high 176 yards against Tulane, the top defensive team in the conference. What will he do against a Navy defense that has allowed the fewest rushing yards in the conference?

Navy’s rushing offense might not be challenging for the national lead as has been in the case in previous seasons. but the Midshipmen are coming off a 255-yard effort against the Fighting Irish.

UCF (8-2, 5-1) is averaging 498 yards of offense per game, the most of any of the teams from the Group of Five conferences. When looking at the AAC Week 12 betting odds, UCF is now priced at -850 to beat the Midshipmen after opening at -700.

Facing a one-win team from a lower division shouldn’t pose much of a challenge for Memphis.

The Tigers (5-5) are led by sophomore quarterback Seth Henigan. He’s hit a bit of a rough patch with seven touchdown passes and six interceptions over his last four games. North Alabama is led by sophomore running back Shunderrick Powell’s 1,472 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.

After rolling through the conference a season ago, it has been a tougher journey for the Bearcats in 2022. Four of the last five games have been decided by four points or less and that included a narrow escape against East Carolina the last time out.

Cincinnati (8-2, 501) is second in the AAC in total defense, but the offense has been pretty pedestrian.

For Temple (3-7, 1-5), quarterback E.J. Warner is coming off a 486-yard effort in last week’s loss to Houston.

After failing to cover in the previous five NCAAF matchups with Temple, Cincinnati left little doubt in the 2021 meeting with a 52-3 win as a 30-point favorite.

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