Tulane Green Wave
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| Tulane Green Wave | |
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| Athletics founded | 1893 |
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| Conference | Conference USA |
| NCAA | Division I |
| Athletics director | Rick Dickson |
| University | Tulane University |
| Location | New Orleans, LA USA |
| Stadiums | Louisiana Superdome Turchin Stadium Goldring Tennis Stadium |
| Arena | Avron B. Fogelman Arena |
| Mascot | Pelican named "Riptide" |
| Colors | Olive and Blue |
| Homepage | www.tulanegreenwave.com |
- This article is about an American college athletics program. For other uses, see Green Wave.
Green Wave, the nickname of the sports teams of Tulane University, was adopted during the 1920 season, after a song titled The Rolling Green Wave was published in Tulane's student newspaper in 1920. Prior to that, the teams were known officially as "The Olive and Blue" and unofficially referred to as "The Greenies" or "The Greenbacks."
Tulane is a member of Conference USA in athletics. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the university fielded NCAA Division I teams in 16 sports. As part of the university's Renewal Plan some sports were suspended. Tulane currently has six Division I-A programs—football, men and women's basketball, baseball, women's volleyball, and women's track—which compete in eight sports; however, they plan to field 16 sports by 2011.[1]
Contents |
[edit] NCAA intercollegiate sports
[edit] American football
Tulane's earliest athletic traditions are tied to its football team, which began playing in 1893 and hit its stride in 1900 with a perfect 5-0 season, beating the Southern Athletic Club, Alabama, Millsaps, LSU, and Ole Miss. In a 1912 game against Southwestern Louisiana, Tulane set records of 15 rushing touchdowns and 95 points that still stand. In 1925 the Green Wave again went undefeated, with only a tie against Missouri to blemish its record. The administration declined a Rose Bowl invitation, however, in order to keep the students in class. The next year saw the completion of a new stadium on campus. Tulane's third and fourth perfect regular seasons came in 1929 and 1931, with a single loss to Northwestern in Chicago, Illinois marring the 1930 campaign. The 1931 team did go to the Rose Bowl, losing 21-12 to USC.
In 1932 Tulane joined the Southeastern Conference as a charter member. In 1939 the team completed its fifth unbeaten season, losing a close 14-13 battle to Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl. Tulane left the SEC in 1966 amid a long series of disappointing campaigns. They had some success in the 1970s with three bowl invitations in the decade, including a memorable 17-3 victory in the 1970 Liberty Bowl over the heavily favored Colorado Buffaloes. In 1973, Tulane broke a 25-game losing streak to in-state rival LSU with a 14-0 victory. Between 1979 and 1982, Tulane won three out of four games against the LSU Tigers; the 1982 win was the last win to date over the Tigers, who were already slated to go to the Orange Bowl prior to game. In 1995, Tulane left the ranks of the independents and joined in a new all-sports league called Conference USA.
A seminal moment in the history of Tulane football occurred following the 1974 season, when the Green Wave moved all of its home games to the new Louisiana Superdome in downtown New Orleans, leaving its historic, 80,985 seat on-campus Tulane Stadium. Tulane Stadium, the first home of the New Orleans Saints, the original site of the Sugar Bowl and the venue for Super Bowls IV, VI and IX, was subsequently demolished in 1980. While Tulane has had the benefit of playing in a first class facility under a controlled environment in the Superdome, those who were opposed to the move are critical of the Dome's sterile atmosphere, which is not conducive to a real college football environment. In recent seasons, Tulane played a handful of games at Tad Gormley Stadium, a 26,500 seat multipurpose open-air facility in New Orleans' City Park; however, the vast majority of home games continue to take place in the Superdome.
The 1980s and most of the 1990s were mainly down seasons for Tulane, with the lone highlight season coming in 1987, where the Green Wave finished 6-6 under then head coach Mack Brown, and lost to Washington 24-12 in the Independence Bowl. The Green Wave that season were lead by dynamic quarterback Terrence Jones and wide receiver Marc Zeno. Brown subsequently left Tulane for the head coaching post at the University of North Carolina. He was succeeded at Tulane by his offensive coordinator Greg Davis. Davis failed to garner a winning season at Tulane and was fired in 1991 following a 1-10 campaign. Dartmouth head coach Buddy Teevens was hired to turn the program around, but he too failed to muster a winning season during his tenure at Tulane and was fired following the 1996 season.
Tulane's football program started fresh with a new coach Tommy Bowden in 1997. Using players recruited during the Teevens era, Bowden's first season produced a 7-4 season, its first winning regular season since 1987; however, the Wave did not participate in a bowl game that year. The dramatic turnaround was only a preview of what was to come in Bowden's second year as coach, as Tulane went undefeated for the first time since 1931. Quarterback Shaun King led the wave to a 12-0 record, a Conference USA championship and a final No. 7 national ranking. Despite a perfect regular season, the Green Wave was not invited to a BCS bowl game — an event which contributed to questions about how college football championships and revenues are managed. All the more remarkable about this season was that the quarterback King played with a cast on his left wrist, which was broken in the 3rd game of the 1998 season; that year, King set the all-time NCAA passing efficiency record for quarterbacks, a mark which was only recently broken by University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan in 2006.
Tommy Bowden left Tulane to become head coach at Clemson University. He was replaced by Georgia assistant and South Louisiana native Chris Scelfo, who was chosen in favor of popular Tulane offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the architect of the devastating spread offense that averaged 45 points per game during the 1998 season. Scelfo coached the Green Wave in the 1998 Liberty Bowl, a 41-27 victory over the BYU Cougars which completed the perfect 12-0 season; Rodriguez remained at Tulane until the completion of the Liberty Bowl, after which he followed Bowden to Clemson to serve as offensive coordinator. He subsequently was hired in 2001 as the head coach of West Virginia University, his alma mater, where he remains in that capacity today.
The Scelfo era was highlighted by a 6-5 record in 2000 and a 2002 Hawaii Bowl victory over the University of Hawaii, which completed an 8-5 overall season for the Green Wave. Unfortunately for Scelfo and Tulane fans, the 2002 season was the final winning season under Scelfo. Scelfo and his staff showed great resolve and courage in guiding Tulane football through an extraordinary 2005 season in which the Green Wave was displaced from New Orleans due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina and forced to play 11 games in 11 stadiums; the team finished the season at 2-9. After returning to a normal 2006 home schedule in the Superdome, Scelfo was fired by the University following a 4-8 season, his sixth losing season in eight years as head coach. Scelfo finished his career at Tulane with a 37-57 overall record.
Two quarterbacks developed by Scelfo and his staff, Patrick Ramsey and JP Losman, were selected in the first round of the 2002 and 2004 NFL Drafts, respectively. Mewelde Moore, a lightly recruited running back out of Belaire High School in Baton Rouge, LA, was signed by Scelfo in 2000 and ultimately finished his four year career as Tulane's all-time leading rusher, surpassing the legendary Eddie Price. Moore was selected in the 4th round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, where Moore is primarily used as a kick and punt returner.
On December 11th, 2006, former UCLA Bruin head coach and current University of New Mexico offensive coordinator Bob Toledo was selected as the 37th head coach in Tulane football history. Toledo, age 60, compiled a 49-32 overall record while at UCLA from 1996-2002, which included a Pac-10 title in 1998 and a 20 game winning streak between the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Prior to his time as Bruins head coach, Toledo served as offensive coordinator at UCLA (1994-95), Texas A&M (1989-93) and Oregon (1983-89). He also had stints as head coach at the University of Pacific and Cal-Riverside.
[edit] Baseball
The last few years have seen Tulane's college baseball team consistently ranked among the best in the nation.
In 2001, Tulane set a school record for wins and led the nation with 55 and made it to the College World Series in Omaha only to blow an 8-0 lead against Stanford University and lose the game 13-11. The Green Wave won its next game, 6-5, against Nebraska, but was eliminated in the third game by Cal-State Fullerton.
In 2005, the Green Wave had its best season in school history. Tulane started the season ranked first in the nation and held the top spot throughout most of the regular season. The Green Wave entered the postseason ranked No. 1 and beat Rice University to win its Super Regional. Tulane advanced to the College World Series for the second time in school history. The Green Wave defeated Oregon State, 3-1, in its first game, but then fell 5-0 to Texas, the eventual national champion. In an elimination game against Baylor University, the Green Wave led 7-0 in the 7th inning before the Bears scored 8 runs in the final three innings to win the game. Brian Bogusevic was named Louisiana Pitcher of the Year, was named to four All-American teams, including Louisville Slugger's first team, and was a semifinalist for three national awards. He was taken in the first round of the 2005 draft by the Houston Astros. Pitcher/first baseman Micah Owings was named Conference USA and Louisiana Player of the Year. He was drafted in the 3rd round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Third baseman Brad Emaus was named Conference USA and Louisiana Freshman of the Year. Head Coach Rick Jones was named Louisiana Coach of the Year.
In 2006, Tulane finished the regular season 39-17, and finished 3rd in Conference USA with a 15-9 record. Tulane made it to the NCAA regionals before losing to Mississippi to end the season.
[edit] Basketball
Men's
Tulane's men's basketball program fell victim to one of the biggest scandals of the 1980s in college sports when four players, including star forward "Hot Rod" Williams were accused of taking money and cocaine to alter the final point spreads of games they played in. Clyde Eads and Jon Johnson were granted immunity and testified against Williams, the alleged ringleader. Although he was indicted, the judge eventually declared a mistrial and no sentence was handed down. Williams spent the next nine years with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. Following the scandal, Tulane's administration decided to disband the men's basketball program. It was resurrected four years later under new head coach Perry Clark who rapidly rebuilt the program to unprecedented success, including a 1991-92 season that started 13-0 and ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 1992-93 and 1994-95 teams matched that team's success but never surpassed it, and Clark failed to coach the team to the tournament again before he resigned in 2000 to coach the Miami Hurricanes. The Green Wave failed to make any postseason tournament under Clark's successor, Shawn Finney, and currently prepares for its second season under former Maryland assistant Dave Dickerson.
Tulane is the only school remaining from the original Metro Conference to have remained in the original conference through the 1975 founding, the 1991 breakup that saw several schools form the Great Midwest Conference, the 1995 reunification that created today's Conference USA, and the 2004 realignment of conferences.
Women's
Tulane's women's basketball program has found recent success under the coaching of Lisa Stockton, who began at Tulane in 1995. That year, Stockton lead the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance and was named Metro Conference Coach of the Year. That first appearance then grew into 9 consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. The team has been regular-season C-USA champions three times, most recently in the 2006-2007 season, when they held a 24-5 record (13-3 in C-USA). In addition, they have won the C-USA tournament 4 times, once in 1997 and then three years in a row (from 1999-2001). Lisa Stockton is the winningest coach in C-USA history and was recently named 2006-2007 C-USA Coach of the Year.[2] 2006-2007 seniors Jami Montagnino (ranked 5th in NCAA Division I teams in free-throw percentage[3]) and D'Aundra Henry proved essential to the team's success, both hitting 1,000 points for their careers in that season.
The 2006-2007 team was upset by Rice, 64-52, in the C-USA semifinals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and did not receive an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. With a final record of 25-6, they became the first team with as few as 6 losses not to make it into the 64-team bracket.[4]
[edit] Athletics reform
In 2003 the University undertook a comprehensive review of its athletics department commitments in light of the long term goals and mission of the school. The outcome of the review was a renewed commitment to fielding a strong Division I athletic program, but also a resolution to make Tulane a model program in terms of academic performance, graduation rates, financial viability, and support for the overall university mission. (In 2003 Tulane's graduation rate for student-athletes stood at 79%, ranking 14th among all Division I programs.)
To that end, President 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 (BCS) in football, 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 in October 2003. On February 29, 2004 the BCS met in Miami, Florida and agreed to amend revenue distribution and open the series to more opportunities for non-BCS teams.
[edit] Effects of Hurricane Katrina
As a result of Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, all of Tulane's varsity sports teams, with the exception of cross-country and track and field, moved to four other universities in Texas and Louisiana for the remainder of that year, while continuing to represent Tulane in competition:
- Texas A&M University: men's basketball, women's swimming and diving, women's volleyball, women's soccer, men's tennis, and women's tennis
- Texas Tech University: baseball and women's basketball
- Southern Methodist University: men's and women's golf
- Louisiana Tech University: football
For its fortitude in the face of Katrina, the 2005 Tulane football team received the 2005 Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award and the Football Writers Association of America Annual Courage Award.
[edit] Fan traditions
[edit] Official fight song: The Olive and the BlueHere's a song for the Olive and the Blue [edit] Official cheer: "The Hullabaloo"A One, A Two, |
[edit] Unofficial Tulane fight songGreen Wave Green Wave, [edit] Green "Wave"
At the Tulane-TCU football game on August 30, 2003, student Sean McCloskey and some of his classmates started the Green "Wave" tradition at Tulane. McCloskey supplied green gloves for the student body to wear at the game, and the students then waved goodbye with their green hands every time the opposing offense left the field. This tradition was picked up by the Tulane University Athletic Department in 2005. It can be used in a similar manner as the Tomahawk Chop or Gator Chomp. |
[edit] Logo and mascot
In 1963 Rix Yard, then Athletic Director and Eldon Endacott, manager of the university bookstore contacted Art Evans, a commercial artist who had already designed the Boilermaker mascot for Purdue University, the Wisconsin Badgers and the University of Southern California Trojan, to create a new mascot for Tulane athletics. His design for a mean-looking anthropomorphic wave-crest was officially adopted in 1964.
In 1986 a new logo consisting of a white block "T" with green and blue waves crossing its center was adopted as the primary symbol for official uniforms, though the "angry wave" continued to be used unofficially in licensed products, and a costumed Green Wave, nicknamed Gumby, served as the mascot.
In 1998 a full redesign of all athletic logos and marks was commissioned which replaced 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 athletic teams. The name "Riptide" was selected for the performing pelican in a vote of the student body.
[edit] Notable sports alumni
- See the List of Tulane University people
[edit] References
- ^ Tulane Plans to Return Athletics to Full Strength (2007). Retrieved on January 24, 2007.
- ^ Tulane Coah Earns C-USA Honor (2007). Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
- ^ Tulane National Ranking Summary (2007). Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
- ^ Green Wave Women's Basketball... (2007). Retrieved on March 12, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Conference USA |
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| East Division: East Carolina • Marshall • Memphis • Southern Miss • UAB • UCF West Division: Houston • Rice • SMU • Tulane • Tulsa • UTEP |
