NCAA Football
2025-12-20 - Tulane Green Wave at Mississippi Rebels
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football Playoff First Round
Saturday 20th December 2025 - Scheduled 3:30pm
8:30pm (British Time)
Preview
Weak Conferences have allowed a couple of Champions from the Power 5 Conferences to earn spots in the College Football Playoff in 2025.
An upset in the American Conference Championship Game has earned the Tulane Green Wave (11-2) a place in the First Round, but the successes under Head Coach Jon Sumrall has gotten the attention of bigger schools. He is going to depart to take over at the Florida Gators, but Sumrall Coached the win over North Texas in the Conference Championship Game and he will get the chance to sign off with the Green Wave.
They are big underdogs going up against the Mississippi Rebels (11-1), although there has been plenty of upheaval around the team after Lane Kiffin finally decided to leave as Head Coach for a job at the LSU Tigers. It is a decision that has not gone down very well with anyone associated with the Rebels, but the players look focused after it was announced that Kiffin will not be Coaching in the post-season.
Instead Pete Golding has been promoted from within to take over as Head Coach and the hope is that there is some continuity that allows the Rebels to finish 2025 with a flourish. Some of the Coaches that will be departing for LSU along with the former Head Coach have been given a reprieve to stand on the sidelines in the Playoffs, but there is still some uncertainty about how the Rebels will perform.
They are big favourites, which is not a surprise considering the disparity in talent level between a team from the SEC and the American Conferences, while the Rebels have already blown out Tulane in this Stadium in the regular season.
You have to think the Green Wave will have been watching tape of that regular season meeting and looking to make adjustments, while avoiding turnovers is absolutely key in any upset bid.
The Green Wave struggled to run the ball efficiently in the regular season game and that could be the situation for them again, which means the pressure is on Jake Retzlaff. The Quarter Back had 56 passing yards and completed just 5/17 throws in the regular season loss and there will be some wariness about facing a Mississippi Secondary that finished the regular season making big play after big play.
At a lower level, Tulane's Defensive Line have played well and they have been able to clamp down on the run in recent victories, but it isn't too often that they will be coming up against SEC Offensive Lines. The Rebels Offensive Line have been helping establish the run all season and they managed to help the team put up 5.7 yards per carry in a 241 yard day in the win over Tulane in the regular season.
Trinidad Chambliss has been reported to be thinking about his options for next season after a strong year under Center for the Mississippi Rebels.
The Quarter Back should be able to have a comfortable day with the team expected to keep him in front of the chains and he had over 300 passing yards and 2 Touchdown passes already against this Tulane Secondary.
Unsurprisingly the spread is bigger for this First Round Playoff game than it was in the regular season with the line now crossing another key number 17.
However, the Mississippi Rebels do look considerably stronger than the American Champions and that should show up- the players are likely going to be pretty focused to remind people of their quality and move past the Lane Kiffin era and it may be tough for the Green Wave to keep up, much like it was when the teams met back in September.
Prediction
Lay the points with the home favourite.
The Pick :
Mississippi Rebels 40-17 Tulane Green Wave
