Tulane football has a shot at making program history

Tulane football, now ranked No. 18 in the nation after its 27-24 win over Cincinnati, is looking to win its 11th game of the season this weekend against UCF. For the first time since 1998, the Green Wave could capture a conference title and lay claim to the AAC.

AAC Championship game

The last time Tulane won its conference was in 1998 when the Green Wave was still a part of Conference USA. In 2012, the American Athletic Conference brought in Tulane football as a member, and the Green Wave are yet to do much since.

Over the past 11 seasons, Tulane football has had three winning seasons, including this year. In 2014 the Green Wave went 7-6; they did the same in 2018, and finally made it to 10-2 this year.

The AAC Championship could be Tulane’s first-ever AAC title, its first conference title this millennium, and potentially spark a new era of Green Wave football.

Tulane has not finished a season ranked since its 12-0 season in 1998. The Green Wave finished 7th in the nation then, and this year could finish as high as 12-2 — perhaps good enough for a top-10 spot. That being said, as the Group of Five’s top-ranked team right now, I expect the Green Wave to play in the Cotton Bowl, which I am not too optimistic about.

You never know, though, so I will hold my tongue on that for the time being.

Tulane reaches 10 wins… finally

It has been a long time since Tulane football reached 10 wins in a single season. In the history of Green Wave football, the program has had three 10-win seasons… ever. Tulane has played DI football since 1893 and won three SEC Championships from 1934 to 1949.

The Green Wave have reached 10 wins twice since the 1950s: in 1998 and 2022. Maintaining this success will be a challenge on its own, but for now, I am optimistic about the Green Wave’s program going forward.

Tulane has a handful of high-quality wins this year, including a thrilling 17-10 win at Kansas State, who is currently ranked No. 10. On top of that, Tulane beat Houston 27-24 (OT) at Houston and has soundly won in nearly all of its other wins this year.

Tulane’s two losses are to Southern Mississippi, and UCF — the Green Wave take on UCF in the AAC Championship game this weekend. We should be in for a good rematch, one that I favor Tulane in right now. UCF’s win was only by a touchdown, and as the saying goes, “it’s hard to beat the same team twice.”

History of Tulane football

Tulane has been in this position once before. In 2018, when the Green Wave went 7-6 overall and 5-3 in the AAC, they shared the division title but did not play in the conference title game.

This year, Tulane football will play in its first EVER conference title game, perhaps win its first conference title since 1998, and have a shot at winning the program’s first AAC Championship.

On top of that, Tulane has the opportunity to finish the season ranked for the first time since 1998 and even win a New Year’s Six Bowl game for the first time since the 1934 season (won the Sugar bowl 20-14 over Temple).