When the College Football Playoff selection show debuted, Memphis was in the field as the projected Group of Five representative at the time. But things change quickly with a loss when a team is in that position, and that’s exactly what happened on Friday night with the Tigers, who fell to Tulane.
That had to be a deflating loss for Memphis, who went from in the field, to immediately having no shot at the CFP. Now the Tigers have to go on the road with a dinged up quarterback in Brandon Lewis and try to salvage whatever positives they may have the rest of the season. Lewis is generally a pretty mobile QB, but now dealing with an injury, we have to wonder if he’ll take fewer risks with his legs.
East Carolina is 4-1 at home this season, with the lone loss to BYU. While Memphis has been a terrific road team, my lean towards the Pirates would be completely based off of them playing with house money here against a team that just had the wind let out of their sails.
At first it was a bit surprising to see Memphis in the underdog role here. But when you handicap for the situational spot here, it’s clear there’s a lot working against the Tigers. I haven’t ultimately bet the game yet, but lean strongly to ECU. It also might be worth watching this game and placing a live wager — we should be able to tell early if Memphis is ready to go or not.
CFB Pick: East Carolina -3 (-110)
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