The Tulane Green Wave are the athletic teams that represent

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

, located in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. Tulane competes in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I as a member of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(The American). There are 14 Green Wave intercollegiate programs, two of which compete outside The American. Beach volleyball and bowling, women's sports that are not sponsored by The American, compete in

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

(CUSA).

Nickname

Tulane's nickname was adopted during the 1920 season, after a song titled "The Rolling Green Wave" was published in the '' Tulane Hullabaloo'' in 1920. From 1893 to 1919 the athletic teams of Tulane were officially known as "The Olive and Blue", for the official school colors. In 1919 the ''Tulane Weekly'', one of Tulane's many student newspapers at the time and the predecessor of the ''Tulane Hullabaloo'', began referring to the football team as the "Greenbacks", an unofficial nickname that also led to another: the "Greenies".

History

Early history

The university was a charter member of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC), formed in 1932. Prior to this, they had competed in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

. During its time in the SEC, the men's tennis program won 18 conference championships, while the football program won conference championships for the 1934, 1939, and 1949 seasons. During the 1948 season, Tulane football led the SEC in home game attendance, with an average of 37,058 spectators per game.

Athletics deemphasis and SEC departure

Starting in 1951, Rufus Carrollton Harris, the university's president, initiated a deemphasis of athletics. That year, Harris reduced the number of football athletic scholarships from 100—an average amount in the SEC at the time—to 75. Prior to the deemphasis, many football players studied

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

(PE) at Tulane, which did not require college athletes to pursue an

academic major An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''con ...

and allowed them to spend 50 hours per week on PE coursework. However, Tulane under Harris reclassified PE as an

academic minor An academic minor is an secondary area of study of an undergraduate college or university student, in addition to their "major". The institution lays out a framework of required classes or class types a student must complete to earn the minor ...

, further requiring college athletes to pursue

bachelor's degrees A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Neo-Latin, Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and university, universities upon completion of a course of study lasting ...

. Salaries for coaches and athletic personnel were also decreased and limits were placed on coaches' ability to

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

. This deemphasis caused Tulane to field a less competitive football program. From 1952 to 1965, Tulane recorded a record, averaging below three wins per season. The football program had four head coaches during this time and only recorded two seasons with a winning record. In conference play, the Green Wave recorded a record, and from 1957 to 1965, Tulane did not win more than one conference game per season. In September 1963, the university announced that they would remain in the SEC while studying possible alternatives. Around this time, there were rumors that Tulane would form a " Southern Ivy League" with schools such as

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, and

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

, though this never came to fruition. On December 31, 1964, Herbert E. Longenecker, Tulane's president and the vice president of the SEC, announced that the university would be leaving the conference in June 1966. While Longenecker announced that the cost of the football program was not a factor in the decision to leave the SEC, the '' Tulane Hullabaloo'' reported in 1965 that the football program was losing the university roughly half a million dollars per year. The ''Hullabaloo'''s sports editor Stuart Ghertner wrote that some Tulane fans thought the university was simply " saving face" by leaving, as it was possible that the university would have been expelled from the SEC the following year. According to ''

The Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating ...

'' newspaper, one reason for the departure was the transition that Tulane had overtaken in the previous few years from a regionally renowned to a nationally renowned university, with the university believing that athletic independence would allow for more games across the country.

Tommy O'Boyle Thomas Joseph O'Boyle (August 21, 1917 – July 19, 2000) was an American football player, coach, scout, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Southwest Missouri State College—now known as Missouri State ...

, the head coach of the football team at the time, said of the departure, "It sure can't do us any harm. Tulane is a national university. Now we can play a national schedule".

Post-SEC departure

Following its departure, Tulane continued its in-state rivalry with the LSU Tigers, who had remained in the SEC. In its first few years as an independent, the football program enjoyed an increase in attendance and recorded three winning seasons in seven years, with its first season as an independent being its first winning season in ten years. However, increased costs associated with university athletics, such as

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

compliance and increased salaries for coaches, hurt the athletics department, and its status as an independent damaged several longstanding conference rivalries and eliminated the possibility of competing for conference championships, which hurt public interest. In 1975, Tulane joined the

Metro Conference The Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all in urban metropolitan areas, though its later members di ...

for all sports except football. From 1985 to 1989, the university did not have a basketball program, and the university nearly voted to end its football program in 1985. In the late 1980s, Tulane expressed interest in rejoining the SEC, but the interest was not reciprocated by the conference, which was under the commissionership of Harvey Schiller. However, the discussions led the SEC to pursue conference expansion, eventually leading to the admission of the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

and the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

into the SEC. In 1995, the Metro Conference merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form

. Tulane became a full member in this new conference for all sports, including football. In 2014, the university left Conference USA and joined the

Conference affiliations

NCAA

Tulane has been both an independent and affiliated with multiple conferences. * Independent (1893–1894) *

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

(1895–1921) *

(1922–1932) *

(1933–1965) * Independent (1966–1974) *

(1975–1995) (all sports except football) *

(1996–2013) *

(2014–present)

Sports sponsored

Baseball

The Tulane baseball team, also established in 1893, is managed by head coach Jay Uhlman. The program has appeared in the NCAA tournament 22 times and in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

twice. They play home games on campus at Turchin Stadium.

Men's basketball

The men's basketball team, established in 1905, is coached by Ron Hunter, who was hired following the 2018-19 season. They play their home games in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse, named after a donation that enabled extensive renovations in 2012–13. It is the 9th-oldest active basketball venue in the nation.

Women's basketball

The women's team has been coached since 1995 by Lisa Stockton, who has led the program to 15 postseason tournaments, including 10 NCAA tournament appearances. They play their home games in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse, named after a donation that enabled extensive renovations in 2012–13. It is the 9th-oldest active basketball venue in the nation.

Women's beach volleyball

The Tulane Green Wave women's beach volleyball team competes in NCAA Division I beach volleyball in

(CUSA), having joined that conference as an associate member in 2022. The team was founded in 2011.

Football

The Tulane football team, established in 1893, competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Green Wave football teams have won 10 conference championships, including three in the SEC and one each in CUSA and The American, and have appeared in 12 postseason bowl games. They are coached by Jon Sumrall and play home games in

Yulman Stadium Yulman Stadium is the on-campus venue for football at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. It currently has a capacity of 30,000 spectators, with 4,500 premium seats in two fan clubs – the Westfeldt Terrace and the Jill H. and Avram A. ...

Men's tennis

The Tulane Green Wave men's tennis team competes in NCAA Division I tennis and is part of the

. The team won the NCAA tennis team championship in 1959. The men's tennis team also won eight singles team non-NCAA recognized national championships and two doubles team non-NCAA recognized national championships. It also won an individual indoor singles national championship.

Women's tennis

The Tulane Green Wave women's tennis team competes in NCAA Division I tennis and is part of the

Women's volleyball

The Tulane Green Wave women's volleyball team competes in NCAA Division I volleyball and is part of the

. They play their home matches at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.

Championships

Men's conference championships

*Baseball : 1948 • 1997 • 1998 • 2001 • 2005 • 2016 ::Tournament : 1979 • 1982 • 1992 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2001 • 2005 • 2023 • 2024 *Basketball : 1924 • 1944 • 1976 • 1992 *Cross Country : 2001 *Football : 1920 • 1925 • 1929 • 1930 • 1931 • 1934 • 1939 • 1949 • 1998 • 2022 *Tennis : 1997 • 2001 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2018

Women's conference championships

*Basketball : 1997 • 1999 • 2007 • 2010 ::Tournament : 1997 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2010 *Golf : 2004 • 2005 • 2009 • 2010 • 2013 • 2014 • 2022 *Swimming/Diving : 2005 *Tennis : 2001 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 *Volleyball : 2008 ::Tournament : 2008

NCAA team championships

Tulane has won one team national championship granted by the NCAA.

Men's (1)

*NCAA

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

: 1959

Other national team championships

One national team title was bestowed by

USA Rugby USA Rugby (formally the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby ...

: * Women's Rugby : 2016 (Division II spring), lost full-year title game Nine national team titles were bestowed by the

Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America (ICSA) is a volunteer organization that serves as the governing authority for all sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. ...

and other sailing associations: *

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

: ** ICSA (4): 1973 (coed dinghy), 1974 (sloop, overall), 2022 (coed dinghy) ** Douglas Cup (match racing) (3): 1969, 1970, 1989 ** Kennedy Cup (offshore large boats) (2): 1970, 1971

Individual or event championships

Men's

* Tennis Singles : 1930 • 1932 • 1936 • 1937 • 1949 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 * Indoor Tennis Singles : 2015 * Tennis Doubles : 1957 • 1959 *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

: 1925 • 1926 • 1939 *

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

: 1932 (heavyweight)

Women's

*Sailing : 2023 (singlehanded)

Athletic facilities

Current facilities

— Football * Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse — Men's and women's basketball, Volleyball *

Greer Field at Turchin Stadium Greer Field at Turchin Stadium is a baseball stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the on-campus home of the Tulane University Green Wave college baseball team. From 1893 to 1989, Tulane's home ballpark was Tulane Diamond, which was locate ...

— Baseball * City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center — Men's and women's tennis * Colonial Lanes — Women's bowling * English Turn Golf and Country Club — Men's and women's golf * Reily Student-Recreation Center Natatorium — Women's swimming and diving *

Southern Yacht Club The Southern Yacht Club is located in New Orleans, Louisiana's West End, New Orleans, West End neighborhood, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Established on July 21, 1849, it is the second oldest yacht club in the United States and a foundin ...

— Sailing * Tad Gormley Stadium — Men's and women's track and field * White Sands Volleyball Courts — Beach volleyball

Practice facilities

* Hertz Center, Basketball/Volleyball Practice Facility — Men's and women's basketball, Volleyball

Former facilities

* Crescent City Base Ball Park (1893–1900) — Football * Athletic Park (1901–08) — Football * First Tulane Stadium (1909–16) — Football * Second Tulane Stadium (1917–25) — Football * Third Tulane Stadium (1926–74) — Football *

Louisiana Superdome Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...

(1975–2013) — Football * AMF All Star Lanes (Kenner) — Women's bowling * Danny Thiel Track and Barney Mintz Auxiliary Field — Track and Field * George G. Westfeldt Complex — Soccer * Goldring Tennis Stadium — Tennis * Tulane Diamond (1893–1989) — Baseball * Tulane Gymnasium (1905–1933) — Men's basketball

Non-varsity athletic facilities

* Reily Student-Recreation Center — Badminton, Basketball, Indoor soccer, Indoor track, Natatorium (Swimming), Racquetball, Rowing, Squash, Volleyball and Weightlifting **Brown Field — Flag football, Soccer and Rugby **Tennis courts — Tennis

Traditions

Logo and mascot

Halftime show at Yulman Stadium at Tulane University

Tulane officials commissioned John Chase in 1945 to illustrate the covers of its football game programs. He came up with Greenie, a mischievous boy who would be considered an unofficial mascot by many fans. Chase illustrated Greenie on program covers until 1969. In 1963 the Athletics Director and Eldon Endacott, manager of the university bookstore, contacted Art Evans, a commercial artist who already had designed the

Boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

mascot for

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Trojan, to create a new mascot for Tulane athletics. His design for a mean-looking

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

wave-crest was officially adopted in 1964. A new logo consisting of a white block "T" with green and blue waves crossing its center was adopted in 1986 as the primary symbol for official uniforms, though the "Angry Wave" cartoon continued to be used in licensed products, and a costumed wave nicknamed ''Gumby'' also served as the mascot. A full redesign of all athletics logos and marks was commissioned in 1998, replacing the "angry wave" and "wavy T" designs with a green and blue oblique ''T'' crested by a foamy wave. ''Gumby'' was replaced with a new pelican mascot, recalling the university seal, and the fact that a pelican was often used in the first half of the century as the emblem of Tulane's athletics teams. The pelican is also the Louisiana state bird and is found on the

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occas ...

and state seal. The name "Riptide" was selected for the performing pelican by the administration after a vote of the student body in which the students actually voted that the pelican be named "Pecker." The pelican mascot name may have been so voted as the student body had also overwhelmingly voted for Poseidon to be the mascot. Poseidon was rejected by the administration and student body government because it could be portrayed as a white male. In 2014, Tulane changed the color of the "wave" above the "T" from a seafoam green to a color closer to

lime green Lime is a color that is a shade of yellow-green, so named because it is a representation of the color of the citrus fruit called lime (fruit), limes. It is the color that is in between the web color chartreuse (color), chartreuse and yellow on ...

. In 2017, Tulane announced that the "T-Wave" would be replaced as the primary logo by a redesigned "Angry Wave".

Notable sports alumni

Football

* Shaun King (

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

) * Patrick Ramsey (

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

) * J. P. Losman (

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

) * Anthony Cannon (

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

) * Mewelde Moore (

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

) * Matt Forte (

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

) * Cairo Santos (

) * Orleans Darkwa (

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

) * Robert Kelley (

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

) *

Darnell Mooney Darnell Mooney (born October 29, 1997) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was selected by the Chicago Bears ...

(

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

) * Tyjae Spears (

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

) * Michael Pratt (

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

)

Baseball

* Andy Cannizaro (

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

) * Tommy Manzella (

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

) * Micah Owings (

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

) * Brandon Gomes (

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

)

Green Wave Club

The Green Wave Club, formerly known as the Tulane Athletics Fund, is the official fundraising arm of Tulane Green Wave, supporting Green Wave student-athletes in their academic, athletic, and community pursuits by providing unrestricted annual funds to the Athletics department. In 2007 the fund set a record for membership with 2,210 donors contributing. In 2011 it spearheaded the "Home Field Advantage" campaign to fully fund the $73 million construction of

on the Uptown campus through private donations.

Athletics reform

After coming off a winning season and a Hawaii Bowl victory in 2003, it was leaked that Former President Scott Cowen and the Board of Trustees was planning to vote on either doing away with a commitment to Division 1 football, or propose scaling down to Division 3 due to their concern for the long-term financial viability of sustaining a Division 1 athletic program in the changing BCS landscape. When the news leaked, the outrage by fans, alumni, and boosters forced the Board of Trustees to pivot and claim it actually intended to undertake a comprehensive "review" of athletics. The outcome of the review was a commitment to maintaining a Division I athletic program, and also included points to address academic performance, graduation rates, financial viability, and support for athletics within the overall University mission. (In 2003 Tulane's graduation rate for student-athletes stood at 79%, ranking 14th among all Division I programs.) Scott Cowen began a dialog with other university presidents calling for a change to the existing system that rewards established powers at the expense of less successful programs. His criticisms, in particular of the

Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...

(BCS) in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, led to the creation of the Presidential Coalition for Athletics Reform and opened the door for hearings on college athletics revenues in the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

in October 2003. On February 29, 2004, the BCS met in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and agreed to amend revenue distribution and open the series to more opportunities for BCS non-AQ teams. As a member of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, Cowen was active in decision-making regarding the future of college football.

Effects of Hurricane Katrina

As a result of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

in August 2005, Tulane's varsity sports teams, with the exception of cross country and track and field, moved to four universities in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

for the remainder of that academic semester, while continuing to represent Tulane in competition: *

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

: football *

: men's and women's golf *

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

: men's basketball, women's swimming and diving, women's volleyball, women's soccer, men's tennis, and women's tennis *

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

: baseball and women's basketball For its fortitude in the face of Katrina, the 2005 Tulane football team received Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award and the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

Annual Courage Award. The university's Renewal Plan called for the suspension of some of its sports, and it did not return to a full 16 teams until the 2011–12 school year.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Tulane Green Wave, color=white , list = {{American Athletic Conference navbox {{Conference USA navbox {{Louisiana Sports

Nickname

History

Early history

Athletics deemphasis and SEC departure

Post-SEC departure

Conference affiliations

NCAA

Sports sponsored

Baseball

Men's basketball

Women's basketball

Women's beach volleyball

Football

Men's tennis

Women's tennis

Women's volleyball

Championships

Men's conference championships

Women's conference championships

NCAA team championships

Men's (1)

Other national team championships

Individual or event championships

Men's

Women's

Athletic facilities

Current facilities

Practice facilities

Former facilities

Non-varsity athletic facilities

Traditions

Logo and mascot

Notable sports alumni

Football

Baseball

Green Wave Club

Athletics reform

Effects of Hurricane Katrina

See also

References

External links