How Tulane Green Wave Could Host Another Conference Football Title Game
The Tulane Green Wave have two more games left this season, and each is critical for many reasons.
Saturday’s game with Navy might be more critical, as the Midshipmen are one game behind the Green Wave (8-2, 6-0 in AAC) in the conference standings. With a win, Tulane would effectively clinch a spot in the AAC title game. With a loss, well, the Green Wave would not only lose the game but the tiebreaker with Navy that comes with it.
So, there are stakes, to be sure. But, what if the Green Wave can get to the finish line undefeated in league play for the second straight season? If so, that would means win over Navy and Memphis, the latter of which was the preseason AAC favorite.
It would also mean an AAC title game showdown with Army West Point, which at the moment is undefeated for both the season and in conference play. The Black Knights (9-0, 7-0) have just one league game remaining against UTSA on Nov. 30. So, there is still a chance that the Green Wave could win out, Army could lose its AAC finale and the game would be in New Orleans once again.
But, if both Army and Tulane are undefeated in AAC play, who would host?
Well, since there is no head-to-head matchup between the pair, there are rules set forth by the conference to determine the site. And, there are only nine sub-rules, all the way down to a commissioner’s coin flip.
The first step is each team’s College Football Playoff selection committee ranking, if they’re ranked. In this case, it’s easy. The team that is ranked higher will host. Right now that would be Army, which is No. 25. Tulane just joined the AP Top 25 at No. 25 but is not in the CFP rankings. The next rankings come out on Tuesday.
With Army still undefeated, it’s likely it will be ahead of Tulane if it’s able to crack the CFP Top 25.
Computer rankings come into play if one of the participants was ranked in the latest CFP rankings but loses in the final weekend of regular-season conference play and the teams are still tied. In that case a composite average of four computer rankings — Anderson & Hester, Billingsley, Colley, and Wolfe are used to determine the host.
The use of the computer rankings also apply if the two teams are tied but neither is ranked in the CFP Top 25.
If the computer rankings don’t do it, then the tiebreaker is the best win percentage against all common conference opponents. Then it’s best overall winning percentage for the season, excluding exempt games. Then, it’s a coin flip.
