Where Does Tulane Look for its Next Rivalry?

As I stated in a previous column, for the first five decades of the 20th century, Tulane and LSU was on equal footing as rivals on the gridiron as both teams were competitive on the gridiron. Then, as Tulane began to scale back on athletics, the gap between the Tigers and the Green Wave widened considerably in commitment to football as well as in contests between the schools as the Green Wave lost 25 straight games to LSU from 1948 to 1972 and 43 of the last 47 meetings to their rivals in Baton Rouge.

When Tulane joined Conference USA in the 1990s, it was able to build a rivalry with Southern Miss, which began in 1979 when both schools were independents. And much like their series with LSU, the rivalry between the Green Wave and the Golden Eagles was pretty one-sided, with Tulane only coming out victorious seven times in 30 tries. And although Memphis and New Orleans was separated by five hours via Interstates 55 and 10, Tulane was never able to build a geographical rivalry with the Tigers.

Which brings us to the topic of this column, who should Tulane fans view as a rival in their new conference home?

1. Houston Cougars

While New Orleans and Atlanta may be rivals in the pro football world, the city of Houston is where people in New Orleans go to get away from the Crescent City.

That being said, because the cities are so close to each other and for years have been rivals in the oil game as well as culturally, maybe Green Wave fans should put the Cougars at the top of their hate list.

2. Tulsa Golden Hurricane

From 1941 to 1950, Henry Frnka coached at both Tulsa and Tulane, winning three Missouri Valley Conference titles and the last SEC championship for the Green Wave in 1949. Along with that, Frnka coached the Golden Hurricane to two straight Sugar Bowls and winning the 1945 Orange Bowl.

Had it not been for a blowout loss at Notre Dame as well as a loss against LSU in 1949, Frnka probably would have given the Pelican State its first major national championship.

So why should Tulane and Tulsa be rivals?

Both schools are private institutions that are overshadowed by larger state universities as well as small on-campus stadiums and Tulane’s current athletic director, Rick Dickson, who is also a Tulsa native, served as the school’s athletic director from 1990 to 1995.

3. Memphis Tigers

The two programs have played 31 times since 1976, with a bulk of them coming as members of Conference USA and Memphis leading the all-time series 19-11.

So why the Tigers are on this list?

Memphis and New Orleans are separated by five hours, home to two of the most iconic streets in America as well as two football programs on the rise in the AAC.