Gasparilla Bowl Prediction Sees Tulane Losing to Florida in Disappointing Fashion
Tulane is going to have their hands full when they face SEC program Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 20.
Not only do they have to battle some internal disappointment of not playing in the College Football Playoff - despite being a longshot - and not winning the AAC title game, but they are dealing with a rash of transfer portal entries that will affect how this game is played.
The major headline was star quarterback Darian Mensah putting his name down for transfer consideration.
After a great freshman season this past campaign, perhaps it shouldn't be too surprising that schools around the country came calling, but when he committed to Duke, that certainly changed how the Green Wave are going to operate.
Thankfully, despite also putting his name into the portal, Ty Thompson is going to play in the Gasparilla Bowl against a Florida team that is looking to build some momentum after they overachieved and their head coach Billy Napier kept his job.
It's an interesting matchup on paper.
Normally in these types of games, it's the Power 4 school who isn't interested in playing and it's the Group of 5 team that is the motivated one, however, there are a lot of moving parts in New Orleans that could play a major factor in this one.
That's why David Kenyon of Bleacher Report has the Gators beating the Green Wave, 31-21, in his latest prediction.
"Ready for a hype train? Florida upset LSU and Ole Miss before smacking rival Florida State to salvage what looked like a disastrous year, and the Gators should be a comfortable win to reach 8-5. Tulane will be without quarterback Darian Mensah, who transferred to Duke," he writes.
Not much analysis, but that's really the gist of it.
Florida is coming in with momentum, and their star freshman quarterback, DJ Lagway, looks like he is the future down in Gainesville.
On the other end, Tulane's star freshman quarterback was interested in other opportunities.
The Green Wave could certainly win this game if they have everything going for them and their defense is able to force turnovers, but it's going to be a tall task.
If they aren't able to come away from this one with a victory, three straight losses to close the year which would give them a 9-5 record would be tough to swallow considering where they were at just three weeks ago.
