Tulsa has a bevy of problems for opposing teams to figure out in 2023. How will that affect their season and ultimately what the quarterback situation turns out to be has the biggest impact on the Tulsa season predictions this fall.
Tulsa Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the American Athletic Conference and across the country.
Find Every AAC Season Prediction per team: Charlotte | ECU | FAU | Memphis | Navy | North Texas | Rice | SMU | Temple | Tulane | Tulsa | UAB | USF | UTSA
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, how do the Tulsa predictions look for 2023?
Week 1 – Tulsa vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff: Win, 27-12
The Golden Hurricane get an easier season opener ahead of a two-game stretch against top-tier non-conference opponents. Fine-tune the program, iron out any kinks and get your offense up to speed under new quarterback Braylon Braxton.
The defense for Tulsa will be able to showcase their length and defensive prowess against an underappreciated Arkansas-Pine Bluff unit but the gap here will be depth and strength on both sides of the ball for Tulsa.
Week 2 – Tulsa @ Washington: Loss, 12-40
There aren’t many more difficult non-conference road games this season for any team nationwide than this one. Tulsa’s moral victories will even be hard to come by in this one as the Washington Huskies return arguably the most prolific passing attack in the country.
Michael Penix Jr. rekindled his fire and showcased his growth as a passer back in Kalen DeBoer’s offense. The Huskies also have the nation’s top receiving combination in Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan as well as a host of other talented pass catchers. It’ll be a chore to keep up with this Washington offense for more than two quarters, let alone two halves.
Week 3 – Tulsa vs. Oklahoma: Loss, 15-40
After a tough game in the Pacific Northwest, the solace here for Tulsa is at least they host the Oklahoma Sooners like they were supposed to those years ago. Tulsa gets the Sooners and yet another tough passing attack with Dillon Gabriel leading the charge.
The talent gap is large here, but not quite as big as the Washington contest and this could be one of those first-half shocking scores for those not watching closely. In the end, however, the roster depth overcomes all for the Sooners here.
Week 4 – Tulsa @ Northern Illinois: Win, 26-24
The non-conference slate ends with a MAC opponent and a road game against Northern Illinois. The Huskies return one of the nation’s most electric players in Trayvon Rudolph this season and he could provide enough spark to edge their AAC foe.
However, Braxton has the goods to give this NIU defense trouble and the height advantage — at least on paper — should be too much to overcome for Northern Illinois.
Week 5 – Tulsa vs. Temple: Loss, 23-29
The high-flying Temple Owls come to town for the AAC opener for Tulsa. It’s a wide-open race after the top two or three teams in the conference, and bettors are aware of the fact that Tulsa and Temple are right in the throws for that third, fourth, and fifth spot in the standings.
Temple gets the advantage here as E.J. Warner returns as the quarterback and the Owls’ coaching staff did an amazing job of utilizing the transfer portal to build around their budding star at quarterback.
Week 6 – Tulsa @ FAU: Win, 23-21
There may be some things to like about this FAU roster in their rebuild. However, as of right now, they’re just Casey Thompson hoping to elevate the talented left on the roster around him.
This has the makings of Tulsa’s secondary showing up in South Florida and shutting off the lights in Boca Raton their second straight opponent named for a creature of the night.
Week 8 – Tulsa vs. Rice: Win, 22-19
It’s a third game in a row against an “Owl,” and this time, it’s Rice in Tulsa’s crosshairs. Rice brought in JT Daniels at quarterback through the transfer portal and should be much improved over years past.
However, Tulsa has the speed in their linebacking corps to stop Luke McCaffrey and the size outside to contend with Bradley Rozner at wide receiver. This is a close one but favors the Golden Hurricane.
Week 9 – Tulsa @ SMU: Loss, 17-30
SMU is as fast as they come and what they may lack in size, surely have answers for elsewhere. The quarterback situation for SMU is their lone question but Preston Stone showed promise and their new cast of athletes should help aid his development.
The Mustangs are as fast as they come and a trip to Dallas is going to end up for losses for the majority of SMU’s opponents this year.
Week 10 – Tulsa vs. Charlotte: Win, 24-18
The rebuild is on for Charlotte under first-year head coach Biff Poggi and wins are going to be hard to come by this season for the 49ers. They absolutely can compete in the majority of their contests but even with their work in the portal, should find it difficult to contend with rosters that are much more well-established like Tulsa’s.
Week 11 – Tulsa @ Tulane: Loss, 19-30
The defending AAC Champion Tulane Green Wave return their most important player from a year ago: Michael Pratt. With his return, Tulane brings back a top-10 quarterback nationally and should be the favorites in essentially every game this year.
The defense lost key parts but they have the returning pieces to field an incredibly competitive defense. Tulane has a few problems for any defense to try and stop and they know how to exploit opposing defenses.
Week 12 – Tulsa vs. North Texas: Loss, 17-20
The North Texas offense should certainly be a high-flying unit and a fast one at that. However, their offense may run through their running game and that ground game mitigates Tulsa’s biggest strength on defense.
This is a close one for seeding purposes and a win here for either team will go a long way toward their bowl appearances.
Week 13 – Tulsa @ ECU: Win, 23-19
For the first time in a half a decade, someone else will be finishing the season as ECU’s quarterback than Holton Ahlers. While they’ll have answers at their key positions by this meeting, the fact remains: No one on the Pirates roster gives them an advantage like Ahlers or even Keaton Mitchell would have a year ago.
ECU’s multiple defense throws a wrench in an easy pick for Tulsa here, but Braxton’s legs could go a long way at determining this outcome.
