Tulane Green Wave's Path to College Football Playoff Has Become Much Clearer
The Tulane Green Wave may not have played football this weekend, but that does not mean their path to the College Football Playoff did not get any clearer.
After a 49-14 loss by the Army Black Knights at the hands of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Green Wave now stand as the last remaining unbeaten team in American Athletic Conference play, with one game left in the regular season, and a showdown with the Black Knights for the conference championship on the horizon.
It has been a storybook season for Tulane and first-year head coach Jon Sumrall as they have battled back from a 1-2 record to start the season, to putting together an eight-game win streak that has them firmly in position to earn a berth in the College Football Playoff.
They will need some outside help to officially earn that berth in the form of a loss by the Boise State Broncos.
The Broncos hold the lead in the Mountain West Conference with their 10-1 overall record and 7-0 record in conference play. Their only loss this year coming at the hands of the Oregon Ducks who have been the No. 1 team in the country for many weeks now.
They remained competitive in that matchup, losing only 37-34, and have only one game left in the regular season against the Oregon State Beavers.
Their conference championship matchup is currently slated to come against the UNLV Rebels, who hold the tiebreaker over the Colorado State Rams and who Boise State has faced already this year and was only able to beat 29-24.
Superstar running back Ashton Jeanty has been dealing with injuries and possibly some fatigue over the last couple of weeks, though it has not proved to be detrimental to his production since he has continued to be the catalyst for the Broncos' success.
With the familiarity that the Rebels have with Boise State and Jeanty, however, they could be the first team to hold the running back in check and secure the Mountain West Championship.
UNLV has had the most success against Jeanty this year, as they were able to hold him to only 3.9 yards per carry in their Oct. 25 matchup, with his next lowest total this year coming in at 4.8 yards per carry.
The Green Wave's fate does not lie in their own hands as it stands, though the path to the College Football Playoff is all but closed.
Tulane must keep winning, including the conference championship, and hope that either the Broncos lose one of their two games. or enough Power 4 programs continue to lose for the Green Wave to climb the ranks.
