The date was December 21, 2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. This was the last time that the University of Tulane’s football team took a snap in a bowl game.
Their 24-21 defeat at the hands of the Lousiana-at-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns marked the beginning of another bowl-game drought; that streak is nothing, though, compared to the one the Wave are riding since their last win in such a game.
Tulane beat Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl back in 2002 — its last victory in a FBS bowl matchup.
As 2016 arrives in the Big Easy, however, Green Wave fans are hopeful for their team’s long-awaited return to this national stage. The recent release of Tulane’s upcoming schedule lays forth, not the blueprint, but instead the path that the team must take in order to acquire a berth in one of the many sought-after bowl games college football has to offer.
It all begins for the Green Wave on September 1, when they travel to Wake Forest for their first game of the year. However, in the long run, if Tulane is to look back at its season and pinpoint instances in which it paved the way for a bowl game or even conference title game appearance, it will not necessarily look at the opener on the road.
Instead, Tulane must focus on an early three-game home stand that the schedule makers have graced them with. Games against FCS Southern, Navy, and UL-Lafeyette will be crucial to the Wave. Early success here can mean one of several things: a very possible win in their first conference matchup of the year, a potential above-.500 start, and a strong sense of confidence heading on the road and into the rest of the season.
It is in those road games that Tulane must find a way to step up and come away with victories. Two such contests should stand out to the club. The first of these is its October 7 matchup against UCF, which brought up the tail-end of the AAC a year ago at 0-12 overall. This marks the first of four road conference games for the Wave.
The final of those four is also one that Tulane should zero in on. Its season wraps up against the UConn Huskies in late November with the all-real chance of a final victory and a potential bid in a postseason game of some sort.
The road won’t be easy by any stretch, though, as this Tulane team must first overcome all of its internal obstacles before it can tackle oppositional ones. A new coach, new quarterback, and all-around new-look Green Wave team will find itself dueling within its own organization before doing battle with powerhouses like defending AAC champion Houston and a Temple program on the rise.
That being said, if the Wave can overcome their own challenges as well as the ones set forth by the schedule, then 2016 might just be the year that the fans in New Orleans see their beloved Tulane team in another bowl.
The road to a late-December or January game for any team is never easy, but it is able to be navigated. The same can be said for the Green Wave. If personal difficulties are handled in a timely fashion, then the opportunity to see the University of Tulane in a bowl game come year’s end is very much there.
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