| 1998 Tulane Green Wave football | |
|---|---|
 | |
Liberty Bowl, W 41–27 vs. BYU C-USA Champions | |
| Conference | Conference USA |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 7 |
| AP | No. 7 |
| Record | 12–0 (6–0 C-USA) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Rich Rodriguez (2nd season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Rick Smith (2nd season) |
| Home stadium | Louisiana Superdome |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1998 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A 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. Moreover, they were the only team in Conference USA with fewer than five overall losses.
Prior to defeating Brigham Young in the Liberty BowlTulane won the CUSA championship. 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]
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 5 | 6:00 pm | at Cincinnati | W 52–34 | 20,721 | ||||
| September 12 | 7:00 pm | at SMU* | W 31–21 | 12,316 | ||||
| September 26 | 2:30 pm | Navy* | W 42–24 | 19,371 | ||||
| October 3 | 2:30 pm | Southern Miss | No. 25 |
| W 21–7 | 32,527 | ||
| October 17 | 2:30 pm | Louisville | No. 24 |
| FSN | W 28–22 | 26,217 | |
| October 24 | 11:00 am | at Rutgers* | No. 22 | W 52–24 | 20,714 | |||
| October 31 | 2:30 pm | Southwestern Louisiana* | No. 19 |
| W 72–20 | 25,177 | ||
| November 7 | 1:00 pm | at Memphis | No. 15 | W 41–31 | 18,192 | |||
| November 14 | 12:00 pm | at Army | No. 14 | W 49–35 | 39,083 | |||
| November 21 | 2:30 pm | Houston | No. 12 |
| FSN | W 48–20 | 26,978 | |
| November 26 | 7:00 pm | Louisiana Tech* | No. 11 |
| W 63–30 | 37,391 | [2] | |
| December 31 | 12:30 pm | vs. BYU* | No. 10 | ESPN | W 41–27 | 52,197 | ||
| ||||||||
Rankings
| 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
|
At SMU
|
Navy
|
Southern Miss
|
Louisville
|
At Rutgers
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SW Louisiana
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At Memphis
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At Army
|
Houston
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Louisiana Tech
|
Vs. BYU
|
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[5] |
References
- ↑ Notre Dame has been treated well during the BCS era, ESPN, March 22, 2008.
- ↑ "Tulane ends regular season unbeaten". Hattiesburg American. November 27, 1998. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "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. Archived from the original on December 6, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
- ↑ "Dennis O'Sullivan: Career Stats at NFL.com". www.nfl.com. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
- ↑ "1999 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.