The 2022 Tulane Green Wave football team represented

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

in the

2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season will be the 153rd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision ( ...

. The Green Wave played their home games at

Yulman Stadium Yulman Stadium is the on-campus venue for football at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. It currently has a capacity of 30,000 spectators, with 4,500 premium seats in two fan clubs – the Westfeldt Terrace and the Jill H. and Avram A ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and competed in the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

(The American). They were led by seventh-year head coach

Willie Fritz Willie Fritz (born April 2, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Tulane. Fritz served as the head football coach at University of Central Missouri from 1997 to 2009, Sam Houston State University ...

. They finished the season 12–2, 7–1 in AAC play to earn a trip to the AAC championship game. The Green Wave defeated UCF to win the AAC championship, the school's first conference championship since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and its first AAC championship. They received a bid to the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

to play No-10 ranked USC. It was their first major bowl game since the

1940 Sugar Bowl The 1940 Sugar Bowl featured the top-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, and the fifth-ranked Tulane Green Wave. The game was played at Tulane's home field, Tulane Stadium. Background Texas A&M entered the game with an undefeated record and a ranking of #1 ...

. Tulane defeated USC in the Cotton Bowl 46–45, scoring 16 points in the final four minutes to win the game. In the game, with 4:30 remaining and the team facing a 15-point deficit, Tulane's win probability stood at a measly 0.2%, yet the Green Wave pulled off the incredible comeback. Following a 45–31 win against South Florida, Tulane was ranked in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

for the first time since 1998. It was also the fastest Tulane has ever clinched bowl eligibility in school history at October 15. November 12's home game against UCF was the first Tulane home game between two ranked opponents since 1949. For the first time since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, Tulane beat an opponent ranked in the AP top 25, although Tulane did beat

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 2019 when they were ranked No. 25 in the Coaches Poll. The ten-win turnaround from two wins in 2021 to twelve in 2022 is the best in NCAA history. The Green Wave were ranked 9th in the final AP Poll, the highest ranking of the Green Wave since 1998.

Previous season

The

Green Wave A green wave occurs when a series of traffic lights (usually three or more) are coordinated to allow continuous traffic flow over several intersections in one main direction. Any vehicle traveling along with the green wave (at an approximate spee ...

finished the 2021 season 2–10, 1–7 in AAC play to finish in a three-way tie for last place.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Schedule

Tulane and The American announced the 2022 football schedule on February 17, 2022.

Roster

Game summaries

vs UMass

vs Alcorn State ( FCS)

at Kansas State

vs Southern Miss

at Houston

vs East Carolina

at South Florida

vs Memphis

at Tulsa

vs No. 22 UCF

vs SMU

at No. 24 Cincinnati

vs No. 22 UCF ( AAC Championship Game)

vs No. 10 USC ( Cotton Bowl)

Rankings

References

{{American Athletic Conference football champions

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

Tulane Green Wave football seasons American Athletic Conference football champion seasons Cotton Bowl Classic champion seasons

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 ...