Tulane adds former USC and Alabama receivers in transfer portal

The Tulane Green Wave bolstered their offense Monday with two transfer portal additions. Former USC wide receiver Mario Williams and former Alabama wide out Shazz Preston, both former top 100 recruits, committed to Tulane.

The Tulane Green Wave bolstered their skill group Monday with the additions of former USC wide receiver Mario Williams and former Alabama wide receiver Shazz Preston.

The two receivers will join head coach Jon Sumrall, who was named the next head coach of the Green Wave after former head coach Willie Fritz left to fill the vacant role with the Houston Cougars.

Sumrall was 23-4 as the Troy head coach over the past two seasons, and he will look to keep Tulane in the mix as one of the top teams outside the Power 5 conferences.

Williams and Preston are both former top-75 recruits. Williams spent one season at Oklahoma before he transferred to the Trojans to join head coach Lincoln Riley.

In three college seasons, Williams caught 104 passes for 1,316 and added 11 receiving touchdowns. He racked up 29 receptions for 305 yards and two touchdown catches in the 2023 season at USC.

Preston featured primarily on special teams for the Crimson Tide and has yet to record a reception in college.

Williams and Preston are the latest transfers as Sumrall overhauls the Tulane offense. On Jan. 5, Tulane added former Oregon quarterback Ty Thompson to be the team’s new signal caller.

Thompson, a former top-50 recruit, spent two seasons with the Ducks. He’s thrown for 456 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions on a 64% completion percentage in limited action for Oregon.

With SMU leaving for the ACC, the path for Tulane to get back to the American Athletic Conference Championship and compete for a College Football Playoff spot has become more reasonable.

Former Oregon quarterback Ty Thompson commits to Tulane

Ty Thompson, a former four-star prospect from the class of 2021, will play for new Green Wave coach Jon Sumrall in his first season with Tulane.

Former Oregon quarterback Ty Thompson will join the Tulane Green Wave in 2024, according to a Friday report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The Ducks quarterback has spent the past three seasons in Eugene. He’s thrown 66 passes, completing 42 of them for 456 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions.

He threw for 297 yards and four touchdowns this past season, both the best single-season marks of his career. His best game came against Hawaii when he accumulated 85 yards and a touchdown on just six attempts.

Thompson was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2021, and 247Sports ranked him as the ninth-best quarterback in a class that included Quinn Ewers, Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and J.J. McCarthy. The Arizona native stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220 pounds.

Thompson will join first-year coach Jon Sumrall with the Green Wave. Sumrall spent the past two seasons as Troy’s coach and he led the Trojans to a 23-5 record and back-to-back Sun Belt titles.

The Green Wave won 23 games the past two seasons with head coach Willie Fritz, who left to be the head coach for Houston.

Transfer cornerback from Tulane plans to visit Florida Gators

A transfer cornerback from Tulane plans to visit the Florida Gators in January

Florida Gators football have the potential to land a cornerback from the transfer portal.

Tulane Green Wave redshirt senior [autotag]DJ Douglas[/autotag] entered the portal back in December and is wasting no time setting up visits to school campuses across the nation.

Douglas announced to Gators Online that he’ll be paying a visit to the University of Florida on Jan. 3.

This will be the second time Douglas utilizes the transfer portal in his collegiate career, transferring from the Alabama Crimson Tide to get more playing time with the Green Wave. He originally joined the Crimson Tide as a walk-on freshman.

The plan came to fruition, and Douglas suited up for three seasons with Tulane, collecting 39 tackles, four interceptions and deflecting seven passes. Three of those pickoffs occurred in the 2023 season.

Landing Douglas will be substantial as the Florida Gators try to rebuild its football program, who has been falling apart since the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.

According to On3, Douglas is predicted to make the move to either West Virginia or Texas A&M.

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5 takeaways from the Oklahoma Sooners 2024 schedule

Oklahoam received its first schedule as SEC members and here our five takeaways from the daunting slate.

It is here, and it is glorious. Wednesday was a busy day for Oklahoma as a program.

The Sooners landed a commitment from transfer running back Sam Franklin, prepping for the [autotag]Alamo Bowl[/autotag] began and recruiting high school and [autotag]transfer portal[/autotag] players was in high gear.

To end the night, the Sooners received a look at what Oklahoma will be going up against in their first year as SEC members. ESPN released the schedules for SEC teams, and Oklahoma now knows when and where it will play in its first SEC season.

Here’s a full look at the 2024 schedule and now we’ve got five instant takeaways from Oklahoma’s first SEC schedule.

Oklahoma Sooners 2024 football schedule

A look at the Oklahoma Sooners full schedule for 2024, their first in the SEC.

The SEC unveiled its schedule for the 2024 season, so now we know when the Sooners will play their new conference foes next season.

The schedule was always going to be daunting. You don’t move to the SEC without an understanding that you’re playing the best of the best nearly every week. But there are some positives in the Sooners’ schedule, such as the bye week before the Red River Showdown and another before the closing two-game stretch against Alabama and LSU.

The Sooners start with four consecutive games at home before going on the road to Auburn, Alabama, for their first SEC road game in their new conference.

Here’s a look at the Oklahoma Sooners’ full 2024 football schedule.

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.