This is Tulsa's type of bowl game.

When TU gets to go to a real vacation spot against a team that the Hurricane should beat, and is better than, the odds are in Tulsa's favor.

When thinking about all the depressing spots where Tulsa could have been sent, playing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is one of the best destinations. Especially when they aren't going to one of the top bowls.

Tulsa has an outstanding chance, favored by 9.5 points, of defeating Old Dominion when they play in the Myrtle Beach Bowl at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 20 in Myrtle Beach. S.C.

"Excited about the opportunity to play in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. I know our guys are fired up about it," said Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery.

"The experience of the bowl is something that is special to every college football player."

Especially when going to a fun place.

In the watered down bowl era, where going to bowl games is usually guaranteed with a winning or .500 regular season record, Tulsa has done better in the places where there is actually what most people would call a winter vacation spot.

To explain: Hawaii, Miami, Memphis or Mobile - check. Dallas/Fort Worth, Boise or Shreveport - yikes.

Since 2003, Tulsa has gone to 12 bowl games in 19 seasons in the watered down bowl era, being bowl eligible 12 times.

Contrast that from 1941 (the first year Tulsa went to a bowl game) through 2002, TU went to only 11 bowl games. By today's standards, Tulsa would likely have gone to 37 bowl games in those 62 years, since it would have been bowl eligible 37 times in that era.

Of the 12 bowl games since 2003, Tulsa is 0 for 5 combined in Dallas/Fort Worth (0 for 3), Boise (0 for 1) and Shreveport (0 for 1).

No offense meant to Dallas/Fort Worth, usually a fun area, but for a bowl game, it is nice to go someplace out of the normal. Too many players from Texas and nearby Oklahoma.

There is zero excitement when Tulsa plays a bowl game in the Metroplex. And Tulsa has played like it as well. Note last year's disaster.

Boise and Shreveport aren't exciting either, and Tulsa has not had success in those places for bowl games. Overall, Tulsa is 0 for 3 in Shreveport for bowl games, having lost there in 1976, 1989 and 2015.

But when you add a little vacation excitement, bet on the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa is 6-0 combined in Memphis (2-0), Mobile (2-0), Hawaii (1-0) and Miami (1-0).

Also, in those 6 bowl victories, only one has come over a so-called Power 5 team - Iowa State in 2012. Of those 5 bowl losses, all have come against teams that are currently or will be Power 5 conference members.

The trip to Myrtle Beach should be refreshing for Tulsa players and its fans. Add that to the fact that its opponent, Old Dominion, isn't a world beater, and the odds are in Tulsa's favor.

Many probably didn't know Old Dominion had a football team. They didn't for 68 years from 1942 until 2009, and only started playing in the FBS level in 2013.

Putting aside past history, how does Tulsa (6-6, 5-3 AAC) match up with Old Dominion (6-6, 5-3 Conference USA)?

Yes, Old Dominion has won its last 5 games, but none of those victories were impressive. The caliber of competition was mediocre. The Monarchs have played only one game against a good opponent, getting hammered 42-10 in the season opener against current No. 17 Wake Forest.

Tulsa's 3 close road losses where the Golden Hurricane scared the heck out of 3 top 10 teams, on the other hand, were impressive. Tulsa has played well on the road this season - better than at home.

Tulsa is coming off a quality win over formerly ranked SMU - a place where SMU hasn't lost much lately. And its only two losses against teams that ended up not ranked were the season opener against UC Davis, where TU had a bunch of suspended players, and against annoying option offense Navy - a team that improved over the year despite a 4-8 final record.

On offense for Tulsa, Davis Brin has had an up and down season. He is averaging 248.7 yards passing per game, completing 58.9 percent of his passes, and had 16 TD passes and a nation-high 16 interceptions.

Brin has done some really good things and made some clutch plays, but has some really bad interceptions. He must avoid the bad interceptions against ODU.

His favorite target this year, Josh Johnson, will be playing his last game for the Golden Hurricane. The former Iowa State transfer has had an outstanding senior season and will be playing in the East-West Shrine All-Star game after the season. Johnson has 75 catches for 985 yards and 5 touchdowns this season.

Shamari Brooks has done a nice job leading TU's running attack after missing last season due to an ACL knee injury. Brooks has 922 yards and averages 4.8 yards per carry. Brooks is currently second on TU's all time rushing list, and has carried the ball more than any TU player in history.

The performance of Anthony Watkins has been eye-opening, averaging a nation-leading 7.7 yards per carry, rushing for 521 yards.

On defense, Tulsa has been playing well, although it obviously will have to contend with losing its defensive coordinator. Nevertheless, the Jaxon Player led defense is very capable.

The good news is that Old Dominion's quarterback, redshirt freshman Hayden Wolff, is not a run threat. At all. He has only one positive gain - for 3 yards - all season. He has 11 attempts for minus 88 yards on all other carries/sacks in 9 games this season.

Player and Anthony Goodlow are going to need to bring pressure on sitting duck pocket passer Wolff, who actually has done a good job getting rid of the ball and avoiding sacks.

The 6-foot-5 Wolff, since taking over as the starting quarterback in the last 6 games, has averaged 269.5 yards passing in those games with 9 TD passes and 6 interceptions. In his last game against Charlotte, Wolff was 17 of 26 for 328 yards with 3 TD's and 2 picks while leading the Monarch's offense to 52 points.

Ali Jennings is ODU's top receiver with 56 catches for 992 yards and 5 TD's.

The key to stopping ODU's offense, besides stopping Wolff, will be containing a credible running game, which is led by Blake Watson, who has 1,035 yards rushing in 10 games for 5.1 yards per carry. Elijah Davis has 568 yards at 5.5 yards per rush.

For Montgomery, it is his 4th bowl game in 7 years. The game is big for his legacy at TU, as a bowl win gives TU a winning record at 7-6 in 2021 - his second consecutive winning season, and third in seven seasons at TU. A loss would have pundits saying it is another losing season, and mentioning nothing else.

And a TU win would give players and fans a chance to finally put behind last year's bowl debacle that ended in a fight that caused mass suspensions which likely caused the season-opening loss this year.

There is no reason for TU to not have a much better bowl experience this year and come out with a victory.