Tulane Green Wave’s Prospects of National Ranking Rise After Beating UAB
Conference wins are always impressive on some level. But what the Tulane Green Wave did to UAB was nothing short of jaw-dropping.
The Green Wave (4-2, 2-0 in American) throttled the UAB Blazers (1-4, 0-2), 71-20, in a blowout that sent Tulane fans in Birmingham home happy.
It was probably the easiest game the Green Wave will play all year. Quarterback Darian Mensah threw for 134 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Yulkeith Brown caught two touchdown passes. Running back Makhi Hughes rushed for 119 and two touchdowns. The Green Wave forced three interceptions and three different defenders had at least one sack.
Rayshawn Pleasant scored his third touchdown of the season, his second on a kickoff return.
But, will the win help sway voters in the Associated Press Top 25 to start voting for Tulane?
The Green Wave’s biggest problem is that they didn’t receive any votes last week. The first team left out of the Top 25 was Arizona, which received 106 points. No. 25 UNLV had 122 points. That’s the gap Tulane must, potentially, make up.
Entering the weekend, just two non-power conference teams were ranked — Boise State at No. 21 and UNLV. The Rebels lost to Syracuse on Friday, meaning they’ll probably drop out of the poll. The No. 21 Broncos blew out Utah State, 62-30.
The Rebels will likely drop out. The Broncos will likely move up, thanks to the most chaotic weekend of the season to this point.
Five of the Top 11 teams in this week’s poll lost. That included No. 1 Alabama, who fell to Vanderbilt, 40-35. It was a victory so monumental in the history of the Commodores’ football program that they tore down a goal post and walked it more than two miles through Nashville and dumped it in the Cumberland River.
Two other SEC teams lost. No. 4 Tennessee lost to Arkansas, 19-14, in Fayetteville. No. 9 Missouri lost its first game of the season, as they were throttled, 41-10, by No. 25 Texas A&M.
Two Big Ten teams fell, too. No. 10 Michigan absorbed its second loss as the Wolverines fell, 27-17, to Washington. Later, No. 11 USC lost for the second time, falling to unranked Minnesota, 24-17.
There were also some shake-up among power conference teams in the bottom half of the poll. No. 22 Louisville fell to SMU, 34-27. SMU only received four votes last week. The Mustangs may crash the Top 25 after that victory.
Plus, teams outside the Top 25 making a case. Pitt, for instance, received 42 points last week and was right behind Arizona outside the Top 25. The Panthers went on the road and defeated North Carolina.
Tulane may be hurt by the sheer chaos of the weekend as voters try to determine where everyone should be sorted. But, when the poll drops Sunday afternoon, the expectation is that the Green Wave should be getting some votes after what can only be described as a statement victory on the road.
