We’re already into Week 3 of the college football season, which means we’re beginning to see the hierarchy of the sport settle. On Saturday at 12 p.m. ET, the Kansas State Wildcats welcome the Tulane Green Wave to Manhattan for a matchup that could be one of the more interesting ones on the slate.
Here’s a preview, prediction and pick for Tulane vs. Kansas State in Week 3 of the 2026 college football season.
Tulane vs. Kansas State prediction, preview
Tulane had an awesome 2025 campaign, ending up nationally ranked with an American Conference title and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. They lost head coach Jon Sumrall over the offseason and promoted Will Hall from in-house to serve in the same position – through two games, the new era has gotten off to a 1-1 start.
It’s not shocking this team lost to Duke, an ACC program that has many more resources. The 17-3 final score wasn’t even that bad, all things considered, but after giving up 250 yards on the ground, the matchup did expose some gaps in the Green Wave’s run defense. That trend continued in Week 2 against South Alabama as Tulane gave up 182 yards on the ground and was out-gained on the day 478 to 424. In the end, though, they battled back from a 10-point deficit in the first quarter to escape with a win, largely on the back of running back Jaylin Lucas and his 14 carries for 217 yards and a score. It’s notable that the quarterback play hasn’t been great under Kadin Semonza, who transferred in from Ball State and has just 352 yards with one touchdowns thus far. Really though, the offense as a whole is yet to totally click, and the defense appears much weaker than it did last year.
Kansas State lost previous head coach Chris Klieman to retirement back in December, but new leader Collin Klein has enjoyed an excellent start to his first campaign at the helm in 2026. The Wildcats went just 6-6 last season but may be on the upswing moving forward after beginning the new year unbeaten at 2-0, largely dominating both of those games.
The 71-3 win to open the season against Nicholls State was something to behold. Avery Johnson, back under center, threw for 199 yards and three touchdowns while going 15-for-21 while six different players recorded a rushing touchdown. K-State ended the day with 559 yards of offense and held the opposition to just 122 in total. A blowout is largely expected against an FCS opponent, but it wasn’t that long ago that the Colonels were competing into the postseason at their own level, so this level of dominance was quite nice for Wildcats fans to see. Washington State was a tougher opponent in theory, hailing from a rebuilt Pac-12. While Kansas State won only 34-7 – still a blowout by all means – the offense was humming with 487 yards while the defense kept the Cougars to only 166 in turn. This Wildcats defense looks good so far, but it’s difficult not to adjust for the level of competition they’ve faced.
Tulane vs. Kansas State pick, best bet
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Kansas State enters as a 20.5-point favorite with -1450 odds on the Moneyline. Tulane holds +850 odds of an outright upset. The game total sits at 49.5 combined points between these teams.
This is a pretty wide spread for the Wildcats to cover, so I’m admittedly a little bit hesitant taking them in this one. They’ve looked great on both ends so far, but the defense hasn’t legitimately been tested to this point given the quality of the first two opponents the team faced. Theoretically, Tulane is the best one yet, but hasn’t really shown it. The Green Wave’s offense appeared sluggish in the opener, and while they bounced back with a better effort in Week 2, Semonza hasn’t looked all that good. In a game like this one, the underdogs need a quarterback who can step up to deliver a monster day in order to hang around, but it’s tough to tell whether he’s capable of doing so.
That’s not even getting into the possibility of Kansas State running all over the opposition. The Wildcats posted 312 and 295 rushing yards in their first two games; the Green Wave allowed 250 and 182. That sounds like a recipe for disaster that should allow K-State to run wild at home. If that aspect of the game winds up as lopsided as I think it will, I’m more than happy to take the home side’s team total for over 34.5 points.
Best Bet: Kansas State over 34.5 points (-120)
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