Tulane Green Wave football

The Tulane Green Wave football team represents Tulane University in the sport of American football. The Green Wave compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The football team is coached by Willie Fritz, and plays its home games in Yulman Stadium on its campus in Uptown New Orleans.[4]

Tulane Green Wave football
2020 Tulane Green Wave football team
First season	1893
Athletic director	Troy Dannen
Head coach	Willie Fritz 4th season, 23–27 (.460)
Stadium	Yulman Stadium (Capacity: 30,000)
Year built	2014
Field surface	UBU Speed Series S5-M[1]
Location	New Orleans, Louisiana
NCAA division	Division I FBS
Conference	The American
Division	West
Past conferences	SIAA (1896–1922) SoCon (1922–1932) SEC (1932–1965) Independent (1966-1995) C-USA (1996–2014)
All-time record	533–654–38 (.451)
Bowl record	6–7 (.462)
Conference titles	9 SIAA: 1920[2] SoCon: 1925, 1929, 1930, 1931 SEC: 1934, 1939, 1949 C-USA: 1998
Rivalries	LSU (rivalry) Southern Miss (rivalry) Auburn (rivalry) Ole Miss (rivalry)
Consensus All-Americans	5
Colors	Olive Green and Sky Blue[3]
Fight song	The Olive and the Blue
Mascot	Riptide
Marching band	Tulane University Marching Band
Outfitter	Nike
Website	TulaneGreenWave.com

History

Conference affiliations

Tulane has been both an independent and affiliated with multiple conferences.[5]^:183–210

• Independent (1893–1894)[6]
• Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1895–1921)[7]
• Southern Conference (1922–1932)[8]
• Southeastern Conference (1933–1965)[9]
• Independent (1966–1995)[10]
• Conference USA (1996–2013)[11]
• American Athletic Conference (2014–present)[12]

Championships

Conference championships

Tulane has won nine conference football championships in four different conferences. Its three Southeastern Conference titles are more than seven current members of the SEC: Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt.[13]

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conf. Record
1920^†	SIAA	Clark Shaughnessy	6–2–1	5–0
1925^†	SoCon		9–0–1	5–0
1929		Bernie Bierman	9–0	6–0
1930^†			8–1	5–0
1931			11–1	8–0
1934^†	SEC	Ted Cox	10–1	8–0
1939^†		Red Dawson	8–1–1	5–0
1949		Henry E. Frnka	7–2–1	5–1
1998	C-USA	Tommy Bowden	12–0	6–0

† Co-championship

Division championships

Season	Division	Coach	Opponent	CG result
2018†	The American West	Willie Fritz	N/A lost tiebreaker to Memphis

† Co-championship

Bowl games

Tulane has played in 14 official bowl games, with the Green Wave garnering a record of 6–8. Tulane also played in the Bacardi Bowl in 1909, playing the Havana Athletic Club, losing 11–0. This was not sanctioned by the NCAA, and thus the Green Wave do not recognize the bowl appearance. Notably, Tulane's first bowl win was the inaugural Sugar Bowl, played in their home stadium.

Season	Coach	Bowl	Opponent	Result
1931	Bernie Bierman	Rose Bowl	USC	L 12–21
1934	Ted Cox	Sugar Bowl	Temple	W 20–14
1939	Red Dawson	Sugar Bowl	Texas A&M	L 13–14
1970	Jim Pittman	Liberty Bowl	Colorado	W 17–3
1973	Bennie Ellender	Bluebonnet Bowl	Houston	L 7–47
1979	Larry Smith	Liberty Bowl	Penn State	L 6–9
1980	Vince Gibson	Hall of Fame Classic	Arkansas	L 15–34
1987	Mack Brown	Independence Bowl	Washington	L 12–24
1998	Chris Scelfo	Liberty Bowl	BYU	W 41–27
2002	Chris Scelfo	Hawaii Bowl	Hawaii	W 36–28
2013	Curtis Johnson	New Orleans Bowl	Louisiana–Lafayette	L 21–24
2018	Willie Fritz	Cure Bowl	Louisiana–Lafayette	W 41–24
2019	Willie Fritz	Armed Forces Bowl	Southern Miss	W 30–13
2020	Willie Fritz	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Nevada	L 27–38

Head coaches

The team has had 39 head coaches and 1 interim head coach since Tulane began playing football in 1893. 12 coaches have led the program to postseason bowl games: R. R. Brown, Bernie Bierman, Ted Cox, Red Dawson, Jim Pittman, Bennie Ellender, Larry Smith, Vince Gibson, Mack Brown, Tommy Bowden, Chris Scelfo, and Curtis Johnson. While Tommy Bowden led the 1998 team to a perfect 11–0 regular season and the 1998 Liberty Bowl, Chris Scelfo coached the team during that game.[14] Six coaches led the team to conference championships: Clark Shaughnessy (1 SIAA and 1 SoCon), Bernie Bierman (3 SoCon), Ted Cox (1 SEC), Red Dawson (1 SEC), Henry E. Frnka (1 SEC), and Tommy Bowden (1 C-USA).

Clark Shaughnessy and Chris Scelfo are tied as the all-time leaders in games coached at Tulane with 94 each. Clark Shaughnessy is the all-time leader in years coached (11) and total wins (59).

Home stadium

Yulman Stadium Student Section

The Green Wave have played their home games in Yulman Stadium on its Uptown campus since 2014. Prior to that season, Tulane played home games in the Louisiana Superdome for nearly 40 seasons, and in its previous on-campus venue, the third Tulane Stadium, before that. The Green Wave have also played at the second Tulane Stadium, first Tulane Stadium, Athletic Park and Crescent City Base Ball Park.[15]

Because Tulane's campus is landlocked within Uptown New Orleans, Yulman is tightly fit within its athletic footprint and directly abutting the surrounding neighborhood. The stadium has a capacity of 30,000 spectators and was constructed with the ability to expand.[16][17]

Rivalries

LSU

The 13th Battle for the Flag, a 0–0 tie in New Orleans on November 26, 1914.

Tulane's biggest and oldest rival was LSU. It began in 1893 with a 34–0 Green Wave victory over the Tigers. The teams stopped meeting every year in the Battle for the Rag in 2009. The rivalry became less competitive after 1948, until Tulane broke a 25-game non-winning streak in 1973 with a 14–0 victory in front of a Tulane Stadium record crowd of 86,598 in the final installment of the long-time rivalry played on Tulane's campus. Between 1979 and 1982, Tulane won three out of four games against the Tigers; the 1982 win was the last win to date. The two schools stopped playing annually after the 1994 game; however, they have met six times (1996, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009) since. As a condition of the broken series agreement made in 2006, a potential future game will be played in a future season in New Orleans.[18] LSU leads the series 69–23–7 through the 2019 season.[19]

Southern Miss

Known as the Battle for the Bell, Tulane's rivalry with Southern Miss was played yearly from 1979 until 2006 and alternates sites between New Orleans and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. As a result of Conference USA splitting into East and West divisions in 2005, the game was played two out of every four years.[20] The rivalry was put on hold as a result of Tulane's move to The American Athletic Conference in 2014, but in 2017 the schools announced new games slated for 2022, 2023, 2026, and 2027.[21] Southern Miss leads the series 23–8 through the 2019 season.[19]

Auburn

Tulane leads the series with Auburn 17–15–6 through the 2019 season.[22]

Ole Miss

Ole Miss leads the series 43–28 through the 2018 season.[23]

Culture

Marching band

TUMB and Shockwave perform at halftime in Yulman Stadium

The Tulane University Marching Band (TUMB) was founded in 1920 as a military band. It dissolved shortly after the team's move to the Superdome in the 1970s and did not formally return until 2006.[24] The TUMB performs at home games each fall and in Mardi Gras parades each spring.

Mascot

Riptide the Pelican debuted in 1998 with the re-branding of Tulane athletics. Prior to that, the school used an angry wave nicknamed "Gumby" by fans, and before that a John Chase creation named "Greenie."[24]

Individual honors

All-Americans

Tulane has had 19 players named to first-team All-America teams. Of those 19, five were consensus selections, with one being a unanimous selection.[25]

All-time record vs. AAC teams

Records current as of November 24, 2018 [26]

Opponent Games W L T Percentage Streak First UCF 8 2 6 0 .250 Lost 1 2001 Cincinnati 17 11 6 0 .647 Lost 3 1909 Connecticut 3 2 1 0 .667 Won 1 2014 East Carolina 16 5 11 0 .313 Won 2 1991 Houston 23 6 17 0 .261 Lost 1 1968 Memphis 35 12 22 1 .357 Won 1 1954 Navy 23 12 10 1 .543 Won 1 1949 South Florida 2 1 1 0 .500 Won 1 2017 Southern Methodist 25 13 12 0 .520 Lost 4 1943 Temple 4 1 3 0 .250 Lost 3 1935 Tulsa 15 4 11 0 .267 Won 2 1968 Totals 168 67 99 2 .405

Future opponents

Non-conference

Announced schedules as of November 20, 2019.[27]

2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029
Southeastern Louisiana	Oklahoma	UMass	Ole Miss	Southeastern Louisiana	Northwestern	at Duke	Louisiana	at Iowa State	at North Texas
at Northwestern	Morgan State	Alcorn State	at Southern Miss	Kansas State	at South Alabama	South Alabama	at Southern Miss	North Texas	Iowa State
at Mississippi State	at Ole Miss	at Kansas State	South Alabama	at Oklahoma	Duke	at Kansas State	at Wake Forest
Army	UAB	Southern Miss	Mississippi State	at Louisiana	at Ole Miss	Southern Miss

See also

• American Athletic Conference
• List of NCAA Division I FBS football programs

References

1. "Tulane University Football Making Waves for 2014 Season". PR.com. July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
2. "SIAA Conference Champions". CFDataWarehouse.com. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
3. 2017–18 Tulane Athletics Branding Style Guide (PDF). August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
4. Tammy Nunez (December 8, 2011). "Tulane plans to build a 30,000-plus seat on-campus football stadium". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
5. "2018 Media Guide" (PDF). tulanegreenwave.com. Tulane Athletics.
6. "2019 Tulane Football Media Guide" (pdf). Issuu.inc. p. 124. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
7. "2019 Tulane Football Media Guide" (pdf). Issuu.inc. p. 124. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
8. "2019 Tulane Football Media Guide" (pdf). Issuu.inc. p. 124. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
9. "2019 Tulane Football Media Guide" (pdf). Issuu.inc. pp. 124–125. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
10. "2019 Tulane Football Media Guide" (pdf). Issuu.inc. p. 125. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
11. "2019 Tulane Football Media Guide" (pdf). Issuu.inc. p. 125. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
12. "2019 Tulane Football Media Guide" (pdf). Issuu.inc. p. 125. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
13. "Football SEC Champions". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
14. "Player Bio: Chris Scelfo". Tulane University Athletics. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
15. "The History of Tulane Stadium(s)". bestofneworleans.com. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
16. "Tulane University Yulman Stadium". Woodward Design+Build. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
17. Christopher Dabe (September 4, 2014). "High demand for Tulane football tickets could lead to Yulman expansion, AD Rick Dickson says". nola.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
18. "LSU, Tulane in discussions to play each other in football in 2013". nola.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
19. http://www.winsipedia.com/tulane/vs/lsu
20. Richie Weaver (2010-11-05). "Football to "Battle for the Bell" Saturday vs. C-USA Rivals Southern Miss". TulaneGreenWave.com. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
21. "Football Announces Four-Game Series with Southern Miss". TulaneGreenWave.com. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
22. http://www.winsipedia.com/tulane/vs/auburn
23. http://www.winsipedia.com/tulane/vs/ole-miss
24. "Tulane University Traditions". Tulane.edu. Retrieved 2012-12-05.
25. "Tulane Green Wave All-America Selections". Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
26. "Tulane Records by Team". cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
27. "Tulane Green Wave Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved November 20, 2019.

External links

• Official website