Tulane ran its record to 11-2 on Saturday by winning the American Athletic Conference Championship Game, 45-28, over UCF.
The victory clinched a Cotton Bowl bid for the Green Wave.
WE DID IT!!! @American_Conf Football Champions#RollWave 🌊 pic.twitter.com/c2eBEvDOW4
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) December 4, 2022
And it has been a long time since Tulane has played in a major bowl. How about more than 80 years?
The last time the Green Wave played in a major bowl was in 1940 when it was in the Sugar Bowl on that New Year’s Day, losing to Texas A&M 14-13.
THE GREEN WAVE MAKES HISTORY
Tulane will return to a major bowl game for the first time since the 1939 Sugar Bowl.
Tulane is your conference champion of the AAC.
✅ Road win over B12 champion Kansas State
✅ First AP Top 25 wins since 1984
✅ 11-2 record
✅ COTTON BOWL pic.twitter.com/fT1idhGPn6
— Fear the Wave (@FearTheWaveBlog) December 4, 2022
The victory in the American Athletic Championship was not as comfortable as the final score sounds.
Quarterback Michael Pratt accounted for more than 440 yards and 5 touchdowns as Tulane accounted for 649 yards of offense. However, a 31-14 lead in the fourth quarter turned into a three-point lead when the Knights scored two touchdowns.
Pratt then led to a pair of scoring drives in 4:14.
He threw a 60-yard TD pass to Shae Wyatt and iced the game with an 18-yard run.