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Saturday afternoons in the Mercedes Benz Superdome are routine for the Tulane Green Wave. The Green Wave has called the Dome home for 39 seasons. This will be the last; Tulane is scheduled to start 2014 play in a newly built stadium on their campus just a few miles away from the home of the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
Hometown Favorite
Tulane leads Conference USA’s West Division. Conference USA has 6 bowl invites and Tulane is sure to have its eyes on the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. What better way to say goodbye to the Dome than with a great post season game in front of a huge hometown audience?
Tulsa as a spoiler?
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane has struggled this season. The Hurricanes have caused a stir in more than one game but have fallen to a 2-4 record. To their credit, the Hurricanes were tamed by Rice, Oklahoma and Iowa, all tough opponents. Tulsa held its own against two Mountain Conference teams, topping both Colorado State and Texas El Paso. This is Tulsa’s final season with C-USA and will move to the AAC in 2014. Tulsa can still find themselves in Bowl contention with many conference games remaining. Playing spoiler to Tulane, a win for Tulsa can move them closer to post season play.
Two Teams Have a History
Often times weather patterns are predicted using history. Hurricanes are no exception. The Tulsa Hurricanes have stirred the Green Wave’s water 9 times. Tulane beat Tulsa just one time in the 1960’s. After that game in 1968 they didn’t meet again until 2005. The Hurricane’s have tamed the Green Wave 8 consecutive times.
Tulsa has scored more than 30 points in each of the last 8 games and scored 45 or more in three of those games. Tulsa has won by an average of 30.8 points in that same period. Currently the Tulane defense is holding its opponents to just over 26 points per game. This is almost 12 points fewer than the last 6 seasons averaged. Defense will be key to hold the Hurricanes back. On the other side of the ball, Tulsa has averaged only 26 points per game through their first 6 games. Tulane’s QB, Nick Montana, is comfortable throwing or handing to a roster full of running backs. With over 1100 yards in the air, his RB’s have run for almost 900 on the ground. Tulane will have trouble keeping the Green Wave from crashing ashore.
Bowl Bound
The folks who predict Bowl Game contenders say that Tulane is a favorite for the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Matching up the New Orleans team with Lafayette’s Ragin Cajuns makes for a great story in Louisiana. To get that post season game at home, in front of family and friends, Tulane has to change history and pick up the win.
CBS Sports will air this via GameTracker Saturday at 2:30 CT.
Don’t forget to vote in our poll above, who do you think wins this week?
