Tulane shifted its home-and-home series with Iowa State to Week 0 in 2028 and 2029, gaining national exposure and a valuable extra bye week.
When it comes to scheduling, it arguably matters more than ever for Group of Six programs like the Tulane Green Wave.
Winning your conference is essential to any postseason goals. But despite being in the top G6 conference in the American in terms of pedigree and national branding, that’s not enough for those outside the Power Four.
Just take a look at the JMU Dukes from last season. They did make the College Football Playoff. But they didn’t beat the one P4 team they needed to beat, and that added scrutiny to their wins and losses columns.
The Green Wave split their Power Four matches last season.
This upcoming year, they have two as well in the Duke Blue Devils and the Kansas State Wildcats.
But past that, teams need to have P4 teams in the schedule in order to remain competitive.
Tulane has ensured that will be the case through at least 2030 – first with scheduling the LSU Tigers that year, and in the recently announced scheduling change with the Iowa State Cyclones out of the Big 12.
While they were originally already scheduled, they made an important change to move the home-and-home series to be played in Week 0 in both the 2028 and 2029 college football seasons.
By adjusting that, they’ll provide themselves with a national spotlight before Week 1 when the rest of FBS will begin their regular season slate.
There aren’t that many Week 0 games on the books, so any teams playing during that time will have favorable time slots and national eyes on them.
Moreover, it also offers a crucial second bye to those teams throughout the season.
That extra break can be critical for a team faced with a lot of injuries or simply run-down players who need some recovery time.
By moving to Week 0, that allows for an additional one.
The Green Wave will have just one bye week this upcoming season after they end their out of conference slate against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Sept. 26 and before they start American Conference play against the Army West Point Black Knights.
That’ll certainly be a game the Wave will need fresh legs for. But it does make the entirety of conference play daunting when there isn’t a moment to take their foot off the gas pedal.
So this is a smart scheduling update, both in the solidifying of the two-year deal with the Cyclones and by providing extra eyes and an extra bye week in tandem.
