College Football Week 1 is officially kicking off this week. The Tulane Green Wave football team will start their season off against UMASS on Saturday. The Green Wave are projected by experts to go 6-6 on the season. However a lot of games on the schedule give them close to a 50% chance to win.
Last season was a total failure for Tulane Green Wave football. They had expectations of contending for a bowl game. Instead of taking the next step forward, turnovers caused them to only have 2 wins total.
New Year Means a Fresh Slate
This season Head Coach Willie Fritz and returning starting quarter back Michael Pratt intend on silencing any notion of last season repeating itself.
With a better understanding of what the offensive schemes this season, Pratt will look to cut down on the turnovers. This offense is coined to be a high powered, NFL style, “let it fly” offense. However by throwing interceptions and not converting on 3rd and longs, you are putting a lot of pressure on your defense.
A defense that is not great nor horrible, it is average; good at best. The way the Green Wave can take advantage of their strengths is giving the defense as much rest as possible. Also field position could help a ton for this defense who had to defend a short field on a regular basis last season.
Biggest Games of the Season
After the first two games where Tulane has a 94 and 95% chance of winning, respectively, things will get tough. The first two games could be and should be huge confidence boosters for them to go into the rest of the season. Opening the season as 30 point favorites against UMASS shows the Green Wave should start off the season with a good win for their confidence.
This season, Tulane has 5 games against top 50 ranked teams in the country. Three of those games against teams ranked in the top 35.
Facing off against ranked teams starts in Week 3 against Kansas State, a game in which they have a 21% chance to win. Then in week 5 taking on a tough Cougar team in Houston. This is followed by a four game break from top 50 ranked opponents before ending the season on a three game run against UCF, SMU, and Cincinnati.
Season Overview and Gut Feeling
Even though Tulane is projected to go 6-6. The win percentage on each game combined with how their schedule is set up makes me very optimistic about this 2022-23 season. With the right momentum and confidence this team can win 8 or maybe even 9 games this season.
This team is poised to pull off some upsets this season. Tulane’s offense is set up to score a bunch of points and score them fast. I know it sounds like a stretch, yet Michael Pratt is prepared to do something special on the football field. He will lead this team into war every weekend with the expectation of coming out the victor.
(win % and projections according to team rankings website)
Rowan Donaghey is a NFL, NCAAF, and Betting insider for Gridiron Heroics. Follow him on twitter for daily bets and content via @RowanDonaghey