(This article is part of our College Football ‘22 Year in Review series. For other articles, please click here.)
If you’ve listened to our podcast for any length of time, you’d know that we were ecstatic with the result of the 2023 Cotton Bowl, as the vaunted Tulane Green Wave took down the mighty Trojans of Southern Cal, 46-45 on Jan. 2.
It was a game for the ages. By all measures, it was a David vs. Goliath matchup. Tulane came in with an 11-2 record, having gone 2-10 the previous season. A small unit made up of key players that while unheralded, were incredibly talented. USC boasted the Heisman trophy winner and sat on the precipice of the College Football Playoff until a collapse in the PAC-12 Championship Game relegated them to Dallas.
It should’ve been a blowout, and for a minute or two, it looked like it would be. USC held a 14-point lead on multiple occasions, and each time Tulane came back to even it.
Two programs that were powers in college football’s early days that took vastly different paths over the last 50 years. Tulane, once a member of the mighty Southeastern Conference, spent the last half-century as a football nomad of sorts upon leaving the conference in 1965. USC, on the other hand, boasts 11 national championships, 37 conference championships, and over 800 wins since the program’s inception. One of the dominant forces in college football in the 200s, the Trojans fell on hard time following NCAA penalties for improper benefits, and it’s dominant mid-2000s era tarnished as it left coaches on tarmac, hired ones that were not a great fit, and struggled to be worthy of Will Ferrell’s borderline-unhinged fandom—only to rise back to national conversation last season.
For USC, a Cotton Bowl was almost unworthy of their appearance. A CFB Playoff bid came up short with a loss to Utah. For Tulane, it was a shot in the spotlight after years of wandering in the shadows.
The Green Wave delivered. In a big way.
While we try to be as objective as possible with this site and the podcast, part of what makes us unique is we embrace the heart of the fan. And this writer would be lying to you if I said I was just hoping for a good game.
No. I wanted Tulane to win. Not because I wanted USC to lose; but because I didn’t want the Green Wave’s time in the sun to be for naught.
When I was 10, I came across Tom Harmon’s college football guide in a stack of books in a classroom. It was for the 1965 season, and I immediately flipped to the SEC and ACC pages—like a good Southerner. I was surprised when I got to the SEC and saw Tulane listed, and Tom told of how Tulane was leaving the SEC. I had no clue they were ever in the conference, and even in the late 90s, knew that was a decision that looked better in 1965 than it did in 1998. And I felt sad for Tulane.
Over time, I really dove into the history of the program, and how the Olive and Blue held its own as a true Southern football power early on. But a decision to reduce the importance of football and emphasize the importance to academics in 1951, sent the program into a state of decline until it’s departure from the SEC in 1966. (The Tulane Hullabaloo has a great article on the program’s history worth a read.)
With the lack of a conference—and subsequent lack of conference revenue sharing—the program dwindled and wandered, with the school even contemplating shutting it down in the 80s.
So to watch the Green Wave flourish under Coach Willie Fritz, well, it’s hard not to want them to succeed. Moving from the empty Superdome to a perfect-sized on-campus stadium was a smart choice, and one that is being emulated by other smaller programs across the country.
The culmination of these efforts came when Michael Pratt hit Alex Bauman to put the Green Wave even with the Trojans 45-45 with nine seconds left. Valentino Ambrosio’s extra point gave Tulane a 46-45 lead and essentially the win.
The little team that could, did.
We tout the Green Wave, and have for years, because of the history of the program. And the hope that one day, they could be good again. It seemed like a long shot, but honestly, that’s the beauty of sports. Anything is possible.
And for a moment, Tulane football was the talk of the country again. Arguably it’s biggest moment since winning the 1949 SEC Championship—definitely since a 1998 undefeated season—the Green Wave finally seemed to find its way back into the spotlight after six decades of wandering in the proverbial desert.
Who knows what happens next, but for one moment, the Tulane Green Wave and its faithful gave us a glimpse of what was, and could be again.
And we were so glad to see it.
The Message Pitch 