Tulane Green Wave Could Have College Football Playoff Ceiling Capped
After a rocky start to the season, the Tulane Green Wave has gotten things on track and looks to be one of the best college football teams in the country.
The Green Wave rose to No. 20 on both the AP Top 25 and the College Football Playoff rankings released Nov. 19. They moved up five spots from their debut last week in the playoff rankings.
Some of their early season struggles, such as on the defensive end, have disappeared. The offense has been clicking on all cylinders led by star running back Makhi Hughes and redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Mensah.
While they didn’t defeat their power conference opponents, the Kansas State Wildcats or Oklahoma Sooners, they proved they can hang with them. It helped build the foundation and confidence for what has come over the following weeks.
Tulane is currently riding an eight-game winning streak, destroying any opponent they have matched up against. The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and North Texas Mean Green are the only teams to lose by single digits.
In five out of the eight games, they have scored at least 41 points, including 52 and 71-point outbursts against the Temple Owls and South Florida Bulls. They have given up only one touchdown in their three matchups, as they are dominating in every facet of the game.
With a spot in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game already clinched against the Army West Point Black Knights, the Green Wave is looking to crash the College Football Playoff.
However, that goal still requires Tulane to win out and look for other chips to fall. In the latest CFP rankings, they are the third highest Group of Five team behind No. 19 Army, and No. 12 Boise State. The Green Wave sit above the last G5 team included, No. 24 UNLV.
Defeating the Memphis Tigers in their final regular season game and beating a potentially undefeated Army team would give Jon Sumrall’s group a pretty strong resume. Right now, they are ranked No. 2 in the Group of 5 power rankings that Heather Dinnich of ESPN shared.
“The Green Wave is ahead of undefeated Army because they have played better over the past few weeks, with three of the past four wins being true road games. Tulane has won each of its past three games by at least 30 points, while giving up a total of nine. This will be settled on the field in the AAC title game.”
Tulane currently has a 77.5 percent chance of winning the AAC, which would keep them alive for a spot in the College Football Playoff. However, the path to earning that spot is out of their control.
For that to happen, they would need the Boise State Broncos to get tripped up likely twice before the season ends. Right now, Dinnich has them projected for a first-round bye in the playoff, meaning there is a ton of ground to make up for a program such as Tulane.
Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.