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Tulane in Top 25 for First Time Since ’98

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Rowan Donaghey | Last updated 10/17/22

For the first time in 24 long years, Tulane has cracked the AP Top 25 list. After recording its sixth win of the season on Saturday, bringing its record to 6-1, the Green Wave come into Monday as the No. 25 team in the nation.

Season Expectations

Coming into the season after a 2-10 record last season, the team’s projections and expectations across the country were low.

Little did they know Coach Willie Fritz had something different planned for this team. After dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in August of 2021 the Green Wave came into the season off-balance and never got rolling.

This season, however, they came into game one focused on a mission. They took all the adversity and turned it into fuel.

After being projected to go 6-6 and be a bottom-of-the-barrel team, Tulane has done just the opposite.

Road to Number 25 in AP Top 25

This team has played some hard-fought games early, after blowing out their first two opponents to go 2-0, they shocked the world by beating Kansas State in a defensive battle 17-10.

The next week, the Green Wave had a letdown game, losing to Southern Mississippi 27-24. A game I am sure the entire country looking back would say they should have won.

At this point things were looking like the Green Wave would fall back into a .500 team.

However, they did just the opposite, beating an at-the-time-ranked Houston team in overtime on a Friday night. The buzz was back surrounding the Green Wave.

Winning their last two games in dominant fashion, bringing their record to 6-1 has earned them a spot in the national rankings.

AP Top 25 First time Since 1998

Most of this team was not even born yet the last time this program was ranked in the AP Top 25. Yet, they can tell their kids 25 years from now that they, the 2022 team were ranked.

With Shaun King at quarterback for the Green Wave, Tulane ran the board and ended the season 12-0. Capping off their season with a Liberty Bowl victory against BYU to solidify the undefeated mark.

Both the ’98 team and the ’22 team became ranked for the first time in the season on October 17th.

How Will Tulane Finish this Season

Tulane will have to stay focused to finish this season strong. With five games left, all to tough opponents, the odds of the Green Wave running the table are against them.

Will this team finish the season still ranked in the AP Top 25? They will end their season against two of the other top teams in their conference SMU and Cincinnati.

If they can go into those two games still with only one loss on the season, maybe they can ride that momentum all the way through.

That one loss against Southern Mississippi might end up biting this team’s conscious for years to come, knowing they could have run the table!

Rowan Donaghey is an NFL, NCAAF, and Betting insider for Gridiron Heroics. Follow him on Twitter for daily bets and content via @RowanDonaghey

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This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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