5 AAC teams ranked or receiving votes in the Coaches Poll - Tulane has an opportunity to make an impact

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Aberzombie1892
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The coaches poll was released today and 5 AAC teams received votes - Memphis, Houston, Tulsa, and Temple are all receiving votes, while USF is actually ranked. In addition, Army is receiving votes, and, of course, Oklahoma is ranked. As a result, all of the following teams on Tulane's schedule are either ranked or receiving votes for 2017:
Oklahoma
USF
Memphis
Houston
Tulsa
Army
As a result, there is an opportunity for Tulane to make a difference if it could pull off an upset or two even if it doesn't hit 6 wins.

On the other side of the coin, the Big 12 has 5 teams ranked - Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, WVU, Texas, and Kansas State - and 1 team receiving votes - TCU.


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tpstulane
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Aberzombie1892 wrote:The coaches poll was released today and 5 AAC teams received votes - Memphis, Houston, Tulsa, and Temple are all receiving votes, while USF is actually ranked. In addition, Army is receiving votes, and, of course, Oklahoma is ranked. As a result, all of the following teams on Tulane's schedule are either ranked or receiving votes for 2017:
Oklahoma
USF
Memphis
Houston
Tulsa
Army
As a result, there is an opportunity for Tulane to make a difference if it could pull off an upset or two even if it doesn't hit 6 wins.

On the other side of the coin, the Big 12 has 5 teams ranked - Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, WVU, Texas, and Kansas State - and 1 team receiving votes - TCU.
Our first 3 opponents were a combined 31-8 last year.
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winwave
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Wow. Didn't realize we play the toughest schedule in the country.
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Aberzombie1892
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It doesn't, but it's still unlikely to hit 6 wins.
winwave
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Seriously our schedule is not a tough one. It's ok to admit that. It is what it is. It's better than last year but that' the low bar syndrome. This is a football town and people see it for what it is. We are trying to build the program up and hope that we can start winning against this schedule. Then we'll build on that. That's honest and realistic and people can understand and appreciate that.
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winwave wrote:Seriously our schedule is not a tough one. It's ok to admit that. It is what it is. It's better than last year but that' the low bar syndrome. This is a football town and people see it for what it is. We are trying to build the program up and hope that we can start winning against this schedule. Then we'll build on that. That's honest and realistic and people can understand and appreciate that.
I think it is one of the tougher schedules in our league. A league where we have been at the bottom of for every year. I hope I am wrong but I think next year is the year we go bowling. However, I am really excited to see the improvement in year two of the WF era.
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Again that doesn't make it a tough D-1 schedule. If true that says more about their schedules than ours. It's an improvement but it's just not a tough schedule.
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Aberzombie1892
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Looking at other G5 schedules that are impacted by teams on the coaches poll, the coaches appear to believe that this is one of the toughest G5 schedules in the nation and that seems like a fair assessment.

No one said that it's tough by P5 standards, but, according to the coaches, they expect this to be Tulane's toughest schedule in recent memory.

EDIT: typo
Last edited by Aberzombie1892 on Thu Aug 03, 2017 3:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
mbawavefan12
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winwave wrote:Again that doesn't make it a tough D-1 schedule. If true that says more about their schedules than ours. It's an improvement but it's just not a tough schedule.
Comparing it to a P5 schedule is apples to oranges. For a G5 school, this is a tougher schedule than most.
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My comments are a response to things like our first three opponents are 31-8. That includes an FCS school and people see that. If that goes unchecked you'll end up with people saying things like that publicly and it's just embarrassing as they see right through it.
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Grambling finished #15 in FCS. Wonder where they'll be.
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Aberzombie1892 wrote:It doesn't, but it's still unlikely to hit 6 wins.
In Fritz I trust to get us to a bowl game.
Aberzombie1892
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GreenPuddleSplash wrote:
Aberzombie1892 wrote:It doesn't, but it's still unlikely to hit 6 wins.
In Fritz I trust to get us to a bowl game.
If he wins 6 with what he has against this schedule, he deserves and extension and a raise.
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Ruski wrote:Grambling finished #15 in FCS. Wonder where they'll be.
Which would put them around 145 overall for D1. The top 4 or so FCS schools are in the top 100-75 of D1 overall. Ahead of where we've been recently. I'm glad we're playing Grambling and not JMU.

This is a much tougher schedule than last year. I'll stand by my prediction that we somehow win 6 this year.

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winwave wrote:My comments are a response to things like our first three opponents are 31-8. That includes an FCS school and people see that. If that goes unchecked you'll end up with people saying things like that publicly and it's just embarrassing as they see right through it.
I had to laugh. I got that quote from the media. Doug Mouton had mentioned it as well as another media person doing a Tulane story. Both made comments on the schedule being a tough start for Willie Fritz.
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winwave
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Yep it's a joke. They are just placating Tulane. They were told that by a Tulane coach or administrator. I saw Mouton say it and would never repeat it b/c it's a joke. You can bet Mouton was laughing once he was off the air. He much prefers covering SLU to Tulane. That was him throwing a bone Tulane's way so they can't complain about him. Fresno plays Alabama, Washington and BYU. That'a tough schedule. Other than Oklahoma we have Grambling , Army and FIU. Like I said it's not a tough schedule. There is only one in the non-winnable category.
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DfromCT
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So the 2016 record of our opening opponents is NOT 31-8? It either is or is not. Yes, it's boosted by a 13-1 FCS team, which is misleading, but it's still the record of our opponents. Laugh all you want, but facts are facts. It's not beyond possible to be much improved from last year and start 0-3. More likely 1-2.
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Aberzombie1892
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winwave wrote:Yep it's a joke. They are just placating Tulane. They were told that by a Tulane coach or administrator. I saw Mouton say it and would never repeat it b/c it's a joke. You can bet Mouton was laughing once he was off the air. He much prefers covering SLU to Tulane. That was him throwing a bone Tulane's way so they can't complain about him. Fresno plays Alabama, Washington and BYU. That'a tough schedule. Other than Oklahoma we have Grambling , Army and FIU. Like I said it's not a tough schedule. There is only one in the non-winnable category.
The thread wasn't about what is and is not a tough schedule - it was that the coaches in aggregate believe that Tulane's schedule is not only one of the toughest G5s schedules this season, but also that this is Tulane's toughest overall schedule in recent memory (possibly since some time before 1998).

As for Fresno, it has 2 ranked teams and 3 teams receiving votes while Tulane has 1 ranked team and 5 teams receiving votes. It's hard to tell who has a tougher schedule until the games are played, as Tulane may not have the additional high end P5 that Fresno has, but it also doesn't have the same amount of lower end G5s (i.e. Nevada, UNLV, San Jose State, New Mexico, etc.). If more than 2 FBS teams on Tulane's schedule aren't bowl eligible, it would be somewhat of a shocker, while, in contrast, a quarter of Fresno's schedule could miss bowls and it wouldn't surprise anyone.
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DfromCT wrote:So the 2016 record of our opening opponents is NOT 31-8? It either is or is not. Yes, it's boosted by a 13-1 FCS team, which is misleading, but it's still the record of our opponents. Laugh all you want, but facts are facts. It's not beyond possible to be much improved from last year and start 0-3. More likely 1-2.
Never said it wasn't. We agree though that it's misleading . More importantly my point is that it would be embarrassing locally to go around trying to pass those numbers off as legit. That's all. The schedule is better than last year and hopefully we'll do better against a better schedule but we don't need to pretend the schedule is something it's not.
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winwave
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Aberzombie1892 wrote:
winwave wrote:Yep it's a joke. They are just placating Tulane. They were told that by a Tulane coach or administrator. I saw Mouton say it and would never repeat it b/c it's a joke. You can bet Mouton was laughing once he was off the air. He much prefers covering SLU to Tulane. That was him throwing a bone Tulane's way so they can't complain about him. Fresno plays Alabama, Washington and BYU. That'a tough schedule. Other than Oklahoma we have Grambling , Army and FIU. Like I said it's not a tough schedule. There is only one in the non-winnable category.
The thread wasn't about what is and is not a tough schedule - it was that the coaches in aggregate believe that Tulane's schedule is not only one of the toughest G5s schedules this season, but also that this is Tulane's toughest overall schedule in recent memory (possibly since some time before 1998).

As for Fresno, it has 2 ranked teams and 3 teams receiving votes while Tulane has 1 ranked team and 5 teams receiving votes. It's hard to tell who has a tougher schedule until the games are played, as Tulane may not have the additional high end P5 that Fresno has, but it also doesn't have the same amount of lower end G5s (i.e. Nevada, UNLV, San Jose State, New Mexico, etc.). If more than 2 FBS teams on Tulane's schedule aren't bowl eligible, it would be somewhat of a shocker, while, in contrast, a quarter of Fresno's schedule could miss bowls and it wouldn't surprise anyone.
Saying they only have one more ranked team than us on their schedule is again misleading. They have two top 10 teams. Big difference in caliber. We have all seen what happens when a number one team plays a #20 something ranked team. There's no comparison. We agree though that we won't know the toughness of the schedule till after the season. Our schedule is what it is. I'm much more concerned with how we play this year. This is the year you should see a noticeable jump in quality which means good things are coming shortly.
Last edited by winwave on Sat Aug 05, 2017 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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winwave wrote:
DfromCT wrote:So the 2016 record of our opening opponents is NOT 31-8? It either is or is not. Yes, it's boosted by a 13-1 FCS team, which is misleading, but it's still the record of our opponents. Laugh all you want, but facts are facts. It's not beyond possible to be much improved from last year and start 0-3. More likely 1-2.
Never said it wasn't. We agree though that it's misleading . More importantly my point is that it would be embarrassing locally to go around trying to pass those numbers off as legit. That's all. The schedule is better than last year and hopefully we'll do better against a better schedule but we don't need to pretend the schedule is something it's not.
Perhaps. Perhaps not. Locals might think you were pumping yourself up about the quality of the opponents' record but since it involves Grambling, my guess is they wouldn't say it out of neighborly good feelings. Don't you politely nod your head when your friend next door asks if her kids are good looking like yours?

Here is the real point. Tulane will get some legit respect from knowledgeable quarters if it has a winning record against this schedule. At least for one year, they won't be able to dismiss Tulane with the back of their hands as the same old poor football product.
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We agree that a winning record this year will start to get us some respect that we can then build on. Hoping and praying that happens.
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DfromCT
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winwave wrote: Saying they only have one more ranked team than us on their schedule is again misleading. We don't have a top 20 team on our schedule. They have two top 10 teams. Big difference in caliber. We have all seen what happens when a number one team plays a #20 something ranked team. There's no comparison. We agree though that we won't know the toughness of the schedule till after the season. Our schedule is what it is. I'm much more concerned with how we play this year. This is the year you should see a noticeable jump in quality which means good things are coming shortly.
Last I checked OU was a top 5 team, and favored to get into the playoff. The schedule is tough enough; if we were to go 9-3 we'd probably crack the top 25, or at least be in the "also receiving votes" category. It's not an SEC schedule, but it's one of the tougher G5 schedules. Certainly the toughest Tulane has had this decade.
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Oops. Thanks for the catch. For some reason I was thinking when zombie talked about us playing one ranked team he meant USF at #21. Like I said I'm not knocking the schedule. I am simply saying we don't have to overstate it.
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Aberzombie1892
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winwave wrote:Like I said I'm not knocking the schedule. I am simply saying we don't have to overstate it.
No one is saying that Tulane's 2017 schedule is a top 10 schedule, but (1) the coaches believe that this is one of the toughest G5 schedules in the nation and that warrants being noted and (2) this schedule will likely be tougher overall than Fresno's given how many teams on Fresno's schedule are unlikely to reach bowl eligibility. Basically, winning 6 games against this schedule is a big deal for a program like Tulane.
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