1998 Tulane Green Wave football team

1998 Tulane Green Wave football
1998 Tulane Green Wave football
C-USA champion; Liberty Bowl champion
Liberty Bowl, W 41–27 vs. BYU
Conference	Conference USA
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 7
Record	12–0 (6–0 C-USA)
Head coach	Tommy Bowden (2nd); Chris Scelfo (interim, bowl game);
Offensive coordinator	Rich Rodriguez (2nd season)
Home stadium	Louisiana Superdome; (Capacity: 69,028)
	Seasons ← 1997 1999 →

1998 Conference USA football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 7 Tulane $	6	–	0	12	–	0
Southern Miss	5	–	1	7	–	5
Louisville	4	–	2	7	–	5
East Carolina	3	–	3	6	–	5
Army	2	–	4	3	–	8
Houston	2	–	4	3	–	8
Memphis	1	–	5	2	–	9
Cincinnati	1	–	5	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 1998 college football season. The Green Wave finished with a record of 12 wins and no losses, one of only two NCAA Division I-A teams to complete the season undefeated, the other being the BCS champion Tennessee Volunteers. It was the third undefeated and untied season in school history.

Despite finishing undefeated, the Green Wave were not considered for a BCS game, let alone a berth in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl—that year's national title game—because it was felt their strength of schedule was too weak to justify a berth in a higher-tier bowl. They did not play a single ranked team all season, and the only Automatic Qualifying conference member on their schedule was a Rutgers team that finished tied for sixth in the Big East. They defeated Brigham Young University in the Liberty Bowl. The Green Wave finished the season ranked seventh in the nation in both the AP Poll and Coaches' Poll—in both cases, its highest rankings in school history since the 1939 Tulane football season when they were ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll.

The Green Wave won all of their games by six points or more. The combined 538 points set a single-season school record.^[1]

Personnel

Coaching staff

Roster

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	6:00 PM	at Cincinnati		Nippert Stadium Cincinnati		W 52–34	20,721
September 12	7:00 PM	at SMU*		Cotton Bowl Dallas		W 31–21	12,316
September 26	2:30 PM	Navy*		Louisiana Superdome New Orleans		W 42–24	19,371
October 3	2:30 PM	Southern Miss	No. 25	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans (Battle for the Bell)		W 21–7	32,527
October 17	2:30 PM	Louisville	No. 24	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	FSN	W 28–22	26,217
October 24	11:00 AM	at Rutgers*	No. 22	Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, New Jersey		W 52–24	20,714
October 31	2:30 PM	Southwestern Louisiana*	No. 19	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans		W 72–20	25,177
November 7	1:00 PM	at Memphis	No. 15	Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee		W 41–31	18,192
November 14	12:00 PM	at Army	No. 14	Michie Stadium West Point, New York		W 49–35	39,083
November 21	2:30 PM	Houston	No. 12	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	FSN	W 48–20	26,978
November 26	2:30 PM	Louisiana Tech*	No. 11	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans		W 63–30	37,391
December 31	12:30 PM	vs. BYU*	No. 10	Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee (Liberty Bowl)	ESPN	W 41–27	52,197
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[2]^[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	—	—	RV	RV	25	25	24	22	19	16T	14	12	11	9	10	7
Coaches Poll	—	—	RV	RV	25	25	24	23	18	16	14	13	11	9	10	7
BCS	Not released								19	16	16	16	11	10	10	Not released

Game Summaries

at Cincinnati

Tulane at Cincinnati

	1	2	Total
Green Wave			0
Bearcats			0

Location: Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Game start: 6:00 PM
Game attendance: 20,721

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8-3	1997	TUL, 31-17

at SMU

Tulane at SMU

	1	2	Total
Green Wave			0
Mustangs			0

Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX
Game start: 7:00 PM
Game attendance: 12,316

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6-4	1992	TUL, 13-12

Navy

Navy at Tulane

	1	2	Total
Midshipmen			0
Green Wave			0

Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Game start: 2:30 PM
Game attendance: 19,371

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6-4-1	1996	NAVY, 35-21

Southern Miss

Southern Miss at No. 25 Tulane

	1	2	Total
Golden Eagles			0
No. 25 Green Wave			0

Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Game start: 2:30 PM
Game attendance: 32,527

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5-14	1997	USM, 34-13

Louisville

Louisville at No. 24 Tulane (Homecoming Game)

	1	2	Total
Cardinals			0
No. 24 Green Wave			0

Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Game start: 2:30 PM
Game attendance: 26,217
Television network: FSN

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1-5	1997	TUL, 64-33

at Rutgers

No. 22 Tulane at Rutgers

	1	2	Total
No. 22 Green Wave			0
Scarlet Knights			0

Location: Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, New Jersey
Game start: 11:00 AM
Game attendance: 20,714

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0-3	1995	RUT, 45-40

SW Louisiana

SW Louisiana at No. 19 Tulane

	1	2	Total
Ragin' Cajuns			0
No. 19 Green Wave			0

Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Game start: 2:30 PM
Game attendance: 25,177

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18-4	1997	TUL, 56-0

at Memphis

No. 15 Tulane at Memphis

	1	2	Total
No. 15 Green Wave			0
Tigers			0

Location: Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee
Game start: 1:00 PM
Game attendance: 18,192

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9-10-1	1997	TUL, 26-14

at Army

No. 14 Tulane at Army

	1	2	Total
No. 14 Green Wave			0
Cadets			0

Location: Michie Stadium, West Point, New York
Game start: 12:00 PM
Game attendance: 39,083

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3-2-1	1997	TUL, 41-0

Houston

Houston at No. 12 Tulane

	1	2	Total
Cougars			0
No. 12 Green Wave			0

Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Game start: 2:30 PM
Game attendance: 26,978
Television network: FSN

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1-3	1997	TUL, 44-10

Louisiana Tech

Louisiana Tech at No. 11 Tulane

	1	2	Total
Bulldogs			0
No. 11 Green Wave			0

Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Game start: 2:30 PM
Game attendance: 37,391

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7-0	1936	TUL, 22-13

vs. BYU

BYU vs No. 10 Tulane

	1	2	Total
BYU			0
No. 10 Tulane			0

Location: Liberty Bowl, Memphis, Tennessee
Game start: 12:30 PM
Game attendance: 52,197
Television network: ESPN

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL Team
Shaun King	Quarterback	2	50	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Dennis O'Sullivan	Long Snapper	-	-	New York Jets / Houston Texans^[4]

^[5]

References

^ Notre Dame has been treated well during the BCS era, ESPN, March 22, 2008.
^ "Tulane University - 1998". College Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
^ "1998 Season in Review". Tulane University Department of Athletics. July 29, 1999. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
^ "Dennis O'Sullivan: Career Stats at NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
^ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1999.htm

This college football 1990s season article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Notre Dame has been treated well during the BCS era, ESPN, March 22, 2008.

[2] "Tulane University - 1998". College Football Reference. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

[3] "1998 Season in Review". Tulane University Department of Athletics. July 29, 1999. Retrieved October 11, 2012.

[4] "Dennis O'Sullivan: Career Stats at NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved 2016-08-27.

[5] ttps://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1999.htm

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