Tag: Tulane Green Wave

Jalen Cook won’t make season debut for LSU vs. Alabama State despite ruling against NCAA

While Jalen Cook will likely be granted eligibility soon, he is still out despite the NCAA’s decision on Wednesday to allow two-time transfers to play.

After a federal court issued a temporary ruling against the NCAA’s two-time transfer waiver process on Wednesday, the association announced that it would no longer be enforcing its two-time transfer rules this season.

While the ruling and subsequent decision from the NCAA seemingly cleared the way for LSU’s [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag] to play, he will not make his debut in his return to Baton Rouge on Wednesday night against Alabama State.

According to 247Sports’ Glen West, there are still some hangups at the SEC level that prevent Cook from suiting up for now, but in light of the ruling, it seems his return will be imminent.

Cook is a Walker, Louisiana, native who began his career at LSU before transferring to Tulane. A two-year starter for the Green Wave, he averaged a team-high 19.9 points and 4.9 assists last season.

With LSU’s struggles early in the season, Cook’s addition to the lineup could be just the boost Matt McMahon’s team needs.

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Tulane expected to hire Troy’s Jon Sumrall as its next head coach

The Trojans coach has led Troy to a 23-4 record over the past two seasons and was linked to SEC openings previously this offseason.

Tulane is expected to hire Troy’s Jon Sumrall as its next head coach, according to reports from 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz and Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

Sumrall has spent the past two seasons with the Trojans. After three straight five-win seasons from 2019-21, Sumrall led the team to 23 wins over the past two seasons. He is 15-2 in Sun Belt conference games and won back-to-back Sun Belt Conference Championship games, beating Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State by a combined 45 points in the two appearances.

The hire would also be a homecoming, as Sumrall served as Tulane’s co-defensive coordinator from 2012-14. He coached the Green Wave’s defensive line for two years before he coached the linebackers in his last year.

Sumrall, just 41 years old, also has SEC experience after he spent 2018-2021 on the Ole Miss and Kentucky coaching staffs as a linebackers coach. He served as the Wildcats co-defensive coordinator in 2021 before he took the Troy job.

Dellenger added that Sumrall was considered for Mississippi State’s opening before the Bulldogs hired Jeff Lebby, and Kentucky had its eyes on the Trojans head coach if they needed to replace Mark Stoops.

Sumrall will replace Willie Fritz, who had been Tulane’s coach since 2016. After winning 23 games over the past two seasons, Fritz was announced as the next Houston head coach.

Bama vs. Georgia, Washington vs. Oregon and more Championship Weekend Predictions

Championship weekend is finally here in college football, so let’s take a look at how we think it will play out.

While the Oklahoma Sooners finished their regular season at 10-2, they did not make it to the [autotag]Big 12 Championship[/autotag]. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t games that matter to the Sooners this weekend.

For instance, the [autotag]SMU Mustangs[/autotag], a team Oklahoma beat, will take on the [autotag]Tulane Green Wave[/autotag]. That matters because if SMU wins, they most likely will be ranked and represent the Group of Five in a New Year’s Six bowl game. That would go down as a ranked win for Oklahoma and boost their resume.

Also, if the Texas Longhorns win and then make the College Football Playoff, that could also boost Oklahoma’s resume and maybe get them into a New Year’s Six game as well. So, there is still a lot for Oklahoma fans to keep an eye on and cheer for this weekend.

So, let’s take a look at how I think the games will play out, and we’ll go in the order of when they will be played.

Penn State bowl projections entering Week 13

The most recent bowl projections appear to have Penn State on a New Years Six or bust path this week against Michigan State.

With one game remaining in the regular season, Penn State is trending favorably for a spot in a New Years Six bowl game. And there appear to be two prime bowl destinations in play for the Nittany Lions according to this week’s updated assortment of bowl projections.

There is also a decent mix of potential opponents to look forward to as we come down the final stretch of the college football season. This week’s updated projections have Penn State facing one of the top teams from the SEC, this year’s Group of 5 representative in the New Years Six, or the Pac-12 runner-up.

Penn State’s updated College Football Playoff ranking on Tuesday night keeps Penn State in the running for a possible at-large berth for an open New Years Six spot. The Orange Bowl appears to be out of reach for Penn State at this point, but a trip to Atlanta or Glendale could be on the line this week when Penn State wraps up the regular season in Detroit against Michigan State this Black Friday.

Here is an updated look at Penn State’s current bowl projections entering the final week of the regular season.

Penn State bowl projections entering Week 12

The latest bowl projections still have Penn State sitting ina great spot for a NY6 bowl game.

With two losses on the books, Penn State’s hopes of playing for the Big Ten championship and creating a path to the College Football Playoff have officially been dashed. But the Nittany Lions are still in a good position to play in a New Years Six bowl game at the end of the season.

The recent update to the College Football Playoff rankings from the selection committee released this week dropped Penn State to no. 12, which puts them in a favorable position with just two regular-season games remaining. At no. 12, and with a few teams ranked ahead of Penn State guaranteed to take a loss due to upcoming head-to-head matchups, Penn State is in prime position for an at-large bid to a New Years Six as long as it doesn’t get tripped up by Rutgers this week or Michigan State next week.

Here is a look at some of the latest bowl projections heading into Week 12 against Rutgers for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State moves ahead of falling Oklahoma in updated US LBM Coaches Poll

After five ranked teams took a loss this weekend, here’s how the updated US LBM Coaches Poll looks following Week 9.

There was some turbulence in the weekend college football schedule in Week 9. Five ranked teams took a loss this weekend, leaving some room to rework the rankings a bit just days before the first release of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings this week. The US LBM Coaches Poll had some changes to address after this weekend’s college football results.

Oklahoma was the only team ranked in the top 10 to suffer a loss. The setback by the Sooners against Kansas was a notable development in the Big 12, although the Sooners remain on top of the Big 12 standings going into November, and don’t forget that they own a key head-to-head victory over Texas and Iowa State.

With Oklahoma dropping five spots this week, that allowed Penn State to move up one from no. 10 last week to no. 9 this week. Penn State sits one spot behind Alabama, who maintained its ranking from a week ago at no. 8. No. 7 Oregon passed the Crimson Tide this week after a dominating win at Utah.

There were no changes with the top five with Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, and Washignton keeping their rankings, respectively.

Losses by North Carolina and Duke also led to some changes in the bottom half of this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll top 25 with Duke dropping out entirely. And a late-night loss by Oregon State left some room for more reshuffling of the rankings this week.

Here is a look at this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll.

Penn State falls behind Washington in new US LBM Coaches Poll

The new US LBM Coaches Poll is out. Penn State drops despite a blowout win this week. Here is the new top 25.

While Penn State was busy taking care of business at home against a clearly overmatched opponent, the Washington Huskies were coming through with one of the biggest wins so far this regular season in all of college football. Washignton’s thrilling victory over rival Oregon on Saturday afternoon led to the Huskeis moving up one spot in the brand new US LBM Coaches Poll released Sunday following the results of Week 7. As a result, Penn State stepped down one spot in the coaches poll as Penn State and Washington flipped spots within the top 10.

Penn State stepped down to no. 6 in this week’s coaches poll. Washington moved up to no. 5 after their big win over Oregon.

Georgia remains the top team in this week’s coaches poll with a decisive 58 first-place votes in their favor. Michigan remains no. 2 and Ohio State comes in at no. 3 once again. Penn State will visit Ohio State this weekend for a chance to shake up the top of the rankings a little bit more in next week’s voting.

The bottom of the top 10 saw some movement as well after Oregon and USC each took losses on the road. Texas and Alabama are actually tied for no. 8 in the new US LBM Coaches Poll this week (we’ll give the tiebreaker to Texas due to their head-to-head win). Texas moved up three spots to rejoin the top 10 at no. 8, tied with Alabama. North Carolina rounds out this week’s top 10 after their win over Miami on Saturday night.

Oregon fell three spots to no. 11 but USC was dropped hard from no. 9 all the way down to no. 16 after getting blown out by Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish moved up just three spots in this week’s coaches poll though, from no. 21 up to no. 18, thanks to having two losses already.

Washington State, Kentucky, and Kansas all fell out of this week’s coaches poll. That left room for Iowa to come back into the mix at no. 23. Air Force also cracked the top 25 at no. 22 and Tulane has returned with the no. 24 spot in this week’s poll. Future Big Ten member UCLA barely held on to the no. 25 spot after its second loss of the year. They are just three points ahead of James Madison, the top team in the others receiving votes category.

Here is the full US LBM Coaches Poll for Week 7.

2024 NFL Draft prospect Michael Pratt shows flashes, how knee injury is still affecting him into Week 5

Tulane QB Michael Pratt continues to be limited after his return from a knee injury.

Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt entered the 2023 season as one of the top-rated signal-callers ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.

He’s since fallen some spots in the national rankings — in some outlets more than others — after he was sidelined for the biggest game of the season both on the Tulane schedule and for his own draft stock.

That contest was the eventual 37-20 loss to Ole Miss in what some believed would have been a winnable game if Pratt had been able to play and he was also ruled out of the game against Southern Miss, though head coach Willie Fritz did indicate that he was close to being able to play.

The reasoning behind Pratt’s absence was a knee injury he sustained in garbage time in the fourth quarter when Tulane has already built an extensive lead in the 37-17 victory over South Alabama in Week 1.

Since Pratt has come back, he’s had some uncharacteristic misses due to the way lower-body injuries affect a quarterback considering that accuracy starts from the ground up with sound lower-body mechanics.

Looking at the film between when Pratt was at full capacity in 2022 as well as the season opener in 2023 compared to the past two games tells the story of an issue that can only be attributed to the limitation of injury, rather than something more specific within his own control.

Among the misfires that stood out the most was an underthrown pass in the end zone that was intercepted by Nicholls State defender Markeyvrick Eddie in Week 4 after he had nearly thrown an interception to Eddie earlier in the game.

Pratt had multiple passes that sailed outside of the reach of his receivers during the 35-23 win in UAB in Week 5 as he was limited beyond his usual capacity on the ground as well due to the injury, though he did have two strong highlights in a 26-yard rush to move the chains for Tulane and a beautifully thrown 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Lawrence Keys to put the game on ice in the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, I think any injury at any position is kind of tough,” Pratt said after the game when asked about how the injury was affecting him. “You just have to kind of take it day by day and do what you can and I think the knee is getting a lot better, so I’m excited about that.”

The transition from the 2021 season to the 2022 season in which Pratt led the most remarkable turnaround in college football history was the perfect showcase of just who he is as a player when he can remain healthy.

With a better supporting cast both that season and in the midst of this one, he’s going to need to continue to make preserving his health top priority to remain a prospect who can be in the mid or late-round conversation in the upcoming draft or the one after that.

Pratt has an additional couple of weeks to get healthy as he and the Green Wave have an open date in the upcoming week with what is set to be their toughest in-conference matchup against the Memphis Tigers on Friday, Oct. 13.

Oklahoma Sooners drop one spot in latest AP Poll; remain a top 20 team

Oklahoma gets leapfrogged by Colorado and Ole Miss in latest AP Poll.

Despite winning their game on Saturday, the Oklahoma Sooners dropped in the latest AP Poll that dropped on Sunday.

Oklahoma fell to No. 19 and was passed by Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes, who moved up four spots to No. 18.

Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels also passed the Sooners after they dispatched  Tulane, the only Group of Five team in the top 25.

At the top, there were a few new top-five teams. After dismantling Ball State, Georgia remains the top dog in the NCAA. Michigan is No. 2. FSU moves up to No. 3 while Oklahoma’s biggest rival, Texas, finds itself at No. 4. The Longhorns made the trip to Tuscaloosa and manhandled the Alabama Crimson Tide.

USC slides into the top five while Ohio State ranks No. 6. Penn State, Washington, Notre Dame and Alabama round out the top 10.

Big 12 foe Kansas State stays steady at No. 15, while UNC, Duke, and Miami all give the ACC nice representation at the bottom of the top 25.

At this rate, the Sooners will not take on a ranked opponent until they meet the Texas Longhorns in Dallas. That game will have major College Football Playoff and Big 12 implications if both schools stay undefeated until the Red River Rivalry.

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5 under-the-radar candidates for the Heisman Trophy after Week 1

Is Shedeur Sanders among the sleepers for the Heisman Trophy after one game?

Week 1 of the 2023 college football season is officially in the books, and even at the tip-top of the schedule, the Heisman Trophy picture has already been shaken up some.

The projected frontrunners like USC quarterback Caleb Williams, Florida signal-caller Jordan Travis and UNC passer Drake Maye all remain intact as expected, but some other names made huge waves.

Here’s a look into five players to watch who may not be largely listed in the top spots in the Heisman odds for right now, but could potentially make a run for it.