Tulane Green Wave On Cusp of Top 25 After Latest Win
The Tulane Green Wave continued their run of dominance through the American Athletic Conference on Saturday with their 52-6 win over the Temple Owls.
It marked the second time in as many weeks that the Green Wave held their opponent to 10 points or fewer, and the fourth time in their last six games.
The win saw Tulane break into the top 25 of the AP Poll, landing at number 25, while falling just shy of the top 25 in the Coaches Poll with 85 votes and the 25th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones holding 92.
The Green Wave are on the cusp of another top 25 ranking, too, as Chris Vannini of The Athletic dropped the latest iteration of his college football power rankings Monday morning, with Tulane landing in the 26th spot, four spots higher than last week's ranking of 30th.
"Tulane has quietly been rolling and is up to No. 26," writes Vannini, "very much in the race for the Group of 5’s guaranteed Playoff bid if Boise State stumbles."
It will take more than just the Boise State Broncos stumbling, however, as the Army Black Knights are also ranked higher than the Green Wave as they are undefeated and in the same conference.
Saturday's win was another in a long line of dominant efforts on both sides of the ball for Tulane, as the team held the Owls to only 158 total yards of offense, 56 through the air and 102 on the ground.
Offensively, the Green Wave rolled over Temple with ease, racking up 589 total yards of offense in their own right with 262 coming through the air and 327 coming on the ground.
The Owls only scored when the game was far out of reach, with a touchdown coming with 7:24 left on the clock in the fourth quarter and Tulane up 52-0, ending the Green Wave's bid at their second shutout of the year.
Tulane has now outscored opponents 410-187, more than doubling their opposition's combined output, and has allowed 30 or more points in a single game this year only three times, two of those coming against Power Four opponents.
The Green Wave's path is not finished, as the next two games come against the Navy Midshipmen and the Memphis Tigers, two teams that were ranked earlier in the year, and are now both only out to play spoiler for Tulane's chances at better positioning themselves for a berth in the College Football Playoffs.
