Tulane Green Wave Football Faces Difficult Run to Conference Title Game
Tulane has reached the American Athletic Conference championship game each of the last two seasons. The Green Wave is hoping for a third straight berth under their first-year coach Jon Sumrall.
The Green Wave was off this weekend, giving the team a chance to rest and recover from a difficult six-game stretch to start the season. Tulane has won three straight games and is undefeated in American Athletic Conference play.
But they're not the only ones.
As Tulane (4-2, 2-0 in American) prepares for Saturday's game against rice, it is one of the five undefeated teams in conference action entering mid-October. Due to some interesting scheduling, the race could come right down to the wire.
For one thing, both service academies are well ahead of the game. Army West Point (6-0, 5-0) is having an incredible season. The Black Knights already have five conference wins. Navy (5-0, 3-0) is also undefeated.
Like Tulane, Navy was idle this weekend while Army hosted UAB and blew out the Blazers, 44-10.
Army and Navy have a unique arrangement with the conference. Their annual rivalry game is not a league showdown. So, conceivably, Army and Navy could go undefeated in conference, play one another in the league title game at a home site and then play their annual neutral site rivalry game the following weekend.
Tulane doesn’t play Army this season. But the Green Wave does go to Navy on Nov. 16. It’s part of what has evolved as a gauntlet in which Tulane will face three league opponents that are, currently, undefeated in league action.
Like the Navy game, those other games are also on the road. The Green Wave travels to North Texas (5-1, 2-2) on Oct. 26 and then to Charlotte (3-3, 2-0) for a Halloween night game five days later.
None of that includes the season-ender against Memphis (5-1, 1-1) on Thanksgiving Day. The Tigers have a loss in league play against Navy. The Tigers aren’t out of the race but losing that tiebreaker doesn’t help them.
Finally, five of Tulane’s final six games are against teams that are currently on winning streaks. That includes this coming opponent, Rice (2-4. 1-2), on Saturday at Yulman Stadium. The Owls beat UTSA (2-4. 0-2), 29-27, at home, for their first league win. The Owls have had no success on the road this season. They’re 0-2.
The only game that looks like it could be a gimme is the home contest with Temple (1-5, 0-2) on Nov. 9. Those Owls have won just one game this season.
If the Green Wave want that third straight trip to the league title game, it won’t be an easy path. In fact, it’s gotten more difficult by the week.
