TOM STRYKER’S FREE FOOTBALL SELECTION MONDAY, DECEMBER 20TH
#219 TULSA (-8) over Old Dominion at 2:30 PM EST
Since losing by only eight points at No. 2 Cincinnati, Tulsa has quietly ripped off three straight wins and covers over Tulane, Temple, and SMU, and the Golden Hurricane will have no trouble in this matchup against Old Dominion. The overachieving Monarchs enter Monday’s Myrtle Beach Bowl on a blistering 5-0 SU and ATS run, and head coach Ricky Rahne and his boys will hit a brick wall here.
Tulsa is no stranger to postseason play. The Golden Hurricane will be making their 12th bowl appearance in the last 19 seasons, and they have quietly won five of their last eight postseason battles. Equally impressive, when entering a game with steam off two or more straight up wins, head coach Philip Montgomery’s boys own a blistering 23-11 SU and 25-9 ATS mark in their last 34 battles including an elite 19-2 ATS provided they are not going into revenge. Finally, as a guest or at a neutral site checking in off a pointspread victory, Tulsa owns a spectacular 33-16 ATS record including an elite 16-6 ATS in this run provided its opponent enters off a straight up win.
After not having a season in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Old Dominion finds itself in a bowl game for just the second time in the school’s history. The Monarchs faced Eastern Michigan in the 2016 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl and picked up a nice 24-20 win. Respect is given to ODU’s five-game SU and ATS run, and the job head coach Ricky Rayne has done down in Norfolk. Unfortunately, this will be a difficult encore for Old Dominion. Since 1984, college bowlers own a miserable 26-48-3 ATS mark provided they check in off five or more pointspread wins. If our “play against side is lined up against a foe that arrives with steam off a SU and ATS victory, this postseason situation falls to a woeful 13-26-2 ATS. That spells trouble for the Monarchs.
The AAC was a competitive conference this season with seven of the 11 schools holding a team won/loss percentage of .500 or better. Comparatively speaking, the CUSA had 14 teams and eight of them owned a team won/loss percentage of .500 or worse. The Golden Hurricane assembled a solid 49-23 SU mark as a member of the CUSA from 2005-20013 and they’ll flex their muscles once again in this mismatch. Take Tulsa. Thanks and best of luck, Tom.
TOM’S 17-0 ATS NFL MONDAY NIGHT PERFECT PLAY
Stryker went 2-2 ATS on posted plays yesterday and cashed his top-rated 7* NFL Game of the Year on BUFFALO (-) over Carolina WON 31-14. This key release is supported by one outstanding 17-0-1 ATS power angle along with a highly profitable 30-7 ATS team trend. Grab Tom’s NFL Monday Night Perfect Play for $30.