DALLAS, Texas (WGNO) — Coming off a magical 2022 season that resulted in the team’s first American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship title and a thrilling victory over USC in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl, the Tulane football team was picked to win the AAC in the annual preseason media poll.
Tulane totaled the most points in the preseason poll with 457 plus had the most first-place votes with 20. Ranking behind the Green Wave is one of the six new schools joining the conference this season in UTSA. The Roadrunners picked up 440 points and nine first-place votes. SMU totaled three first-place votes and 397 total points to rank third. Memphis earned a first-place vote and 362 points to rank fourth. UAB, who are also new to the conference this season, earned the last first-place vote and ranked eighth overall with 209 points.
This season, Tulane brings back four of the team’s five starters on the offensive line (Sincere Haynesworth, Prince Pines, Josh Remetich, Rashad Green), two of the team’s top three rushers (Michael Pratt and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson), the starting quarterback (Michael Pratt), two of the top four receivers (Jha’Quan Jackson and Lawrence Keys III), the team’s punter (Casey Glover), the team’s kicker (Valentino Ambrosio), the team’s leader in interceptions (Jarius Monroe) and three of the five leading defensive players in tackles for loss (Patrick Jenkins, Darius Hodges and Keith Cooper Jr.)
In 2022, Tulane’s football team completed an unprecedented 12-2 campaign, culminating with an American Athletic Conference title and a 46-45 win over USC in the Cotton Bowl. At season’s end, the Green Wave finished with a ninth overall ranking, the second-highest in program history. Tulane opens the 2023 season at Yulman Stadium hosting South Alabama on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.
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