The Tulane Green Wave basketball team are heading to American conference play with a strong showing in their non-conference slate.
The Tulane Green Wave is rolling on the hardwood to begin its 2025-2026 campaign.
The team sits at 9-4 on the year through the non-conference portion of action, with plenty of key victories and a handful of tough losses. That record is currently among the best in the American Conference -- the Tulsa Golden Hurricane leads the way with a 12-1 record, and Tulane is tied with the North Texas Mean Green and the UAB Blazers for that coveted second place spot.
The Green Wave started the season with a dominant 13-point victory over the Samford Bulldogs, before taking down the Texas State Bobcats and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns -- all in the span of eight days.
The two toughest losses of the season came next, with the team suffering its first defeat of the season by a score of 85-63 against the New Orleans Privators. Tulane split a pair of games in the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic, taking another lopsided loss to the Utah State Aggies before fighting back for a key win over the Boston College Eagles in a 93-90 overtime thriller.
Tulane then benefitted from four consecutive games on its home court and went 3-1 over that stretch. The victories came against the Nicholls Colonels, Grambling State Tigers and Tougaloo College Bulldogs, with the one loss at the hands of the Akron Zips.
One more loss to the UC San Diego Tritons in the Jack Jones Classic followed that tough stretch, but since then, the Green Wave has resurged. The program is currently riding a two-game winning streak, with key victories over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and the Portland State Vikings.
All in all, the variety in competition and the wins -- which varied heavily from total blowouts to nail-biters -- has helped prepare Tulane for the next phase of competition. Non-conference play goes largely out the window once conference play starts, serving as nothing more than a resume booster if the Green Wave were to make it to the NCAA Tournament in March. Or, in some cases, tough non-conference losses could derail a season before it truly gets heated.
No American game will be easy, especially with a playing field that is largely evenly-matched. It's going to be a fight for every win, but Tulane is more than capable of coming out on top. The Green Wave had high expectations from the conference heading into the season, and time will soon tell if those expectations can be met.