Tulane Green Wave's Uncertainty Causes Tumble in Final Preseason Rankings
The Tulane Green Wave football program is facing some major changes this year and will have to win over some critics under their new staff.
When Jon Sumrall took over the Green Wave, it was assumed that things would take a little bit to get used to. Just how much of the program's good reputation would need to be rebuilt was another question.
Chris Vannini of The Athletic recently released the final major preseason rankings list, The Athletic 134. In this list, Vannini ranks all 134 teams around the country.
After finishing last season in the Top 25, Tulane has now fallen all the way down to No. 42 to start this new campaign.
Teams like the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Auburn Tigers, Boise State Broncos and Virginia Tech Hokies have all jumped ahead of the Green Wave between the offseason and fall camp hype.
Tulane is the second-highest ranked team in the AAC, following the Memphis Tigers at No. 41.
One big reason that the Green Wave may have seen such a fall is that with the new coaching staff, there still isn't a clear starting quarterback just under two weeks out from the first game of the season.
Things started out as a competition between Ty Thompson and Kai Horton.
Thompson is a formerly high-ranking recruit coming over from the Oregon Ducks after spending a few seasons not able to crack the starting spot. He should have the talent, but is a relative unknown.
Horton is the guy that's been around for a while, was Michael Pratt's backup, but hasn't looked more than serviceable most of the time when he has gotten the chances.
The situation grew even crazier when freshman Darian Mensah became a clear third competitor just a few weeks ago.
Shakeup is expected, especially when bringing in new coaches, but no quarterback asserting themselves after a few weeks in a room full of unproven players is certainly a cause for concern.
The players that they'll be throwing to are a lot of names that have similar stories to Thompson.
While the run game and Makhi Hughes are cause for celebration, pretty much everything else about the offense is a question mark.
The defensive side of the ball is facing some change, too, but are given much more grace due to Sumrall's track record and some impressive talent being brought over to compliment what they already had.
On paper, they should be able to compete, but some work will need be done to climb back to the Top 25.
DYLAN SANDERS