Week One of the 2025 college football season is done, and the Tulane Green Wave looks like it could be on track for another big year on the gridiron.
The Green Wave throttled Big 10 opponent Northwestern to start the season, winning 23-3 and dominating nearly every statistic imaginable. BYU transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff was just as good as advertised, going 18-31 with 152 passing yards and one touchdown through the air, while adding 113 yards and another score on the ground. Defensively, Tulane forced five turnovers and held the Wildcats to just 237 total yards.
It’s a confidence-inspiring start and a big resume booster — one that could potentially propel the Green Wave towards a coveted spot in the College Football Playoff come December.
The problem? There’s one spot in the playoff reserved for a Group of Five conference member, and more than five dozen teams vying for it.
G5 teams arguably have a tougher road to climb when it comes to reaching the playoffs than Power 4 schools — they can’t be one of the best, they have to be the very best. In years past, Tulane has shown that it can compete among the top teams in the nation… so what must the program do to reach the CFP?
The next few weeks feature a few marquee matchups for the Green Wave. It starts with a September 6th matchup on the road against South Alabama: a Sun Belt squad that Tulane is projected to beat. It’s hard to label a game as a must-win this early in the season, but a loss in Mobile gives the Green Wave much less room for error as they move through a season that only seems to get tougher. Start 2-0, and the confidence just keeps on building.
Next come more out-of-conference statement games: at home against Duke and on the road against Ole Miss.
Tulane has the opportunity to add yet another win over a power school to its resume with a win over a talented Duke team that finished last season with a 9-3 record and a loss in the Gator Bowl. If the Blue Devils head into the game 2-0 with a win over 11th-ranked Illinois under their belt, it becomes an even bigger opportunity for the Green Wave.
The best chance for a season-defining win comes on September 20th up in Oxford, Mississippi, against Ole Miss. The Rebels were on the cusp of the CFP last season, and look poised to make a run for it once again this year. If Tulane could pull off a road win in a hostile environment against a top SEC opponent, it would be impossible for the committee to ignore.
From there, it’s a matter of winning the American. The Green Wave’s conference schedule features a mix of fellow contenders and programs that are on a downward slide, and it will be hard to lose much more than one game to be considered for the playoffs.
At best, Tulane finishes a perfect 8-0 as the regular season champions, then goes on to win the conference championship game. Alternatively, the Green Wave could realistically drop one game, finish in second place for the regular season and dominate the championship game. An 11-1 or 10-2 season could be just enough to get Tulane into the College Football Playoff.
Of course, we can continue to factor in all of the other G5 opponents that could be just as good and hurt the Green Wave’s chances. We can look at each team’s strength of schedule, common opponents and a million other factors, but that becomes too unpredictable. At this point in the year, all that matters is that Tulane competes — and wins — among the best of the best each week.