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Reigning AAC And Cotton Bowl Champion Tulane Debuts At No. 23 In Coaches Poll

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Football

Tulane's football team earned a No. 23 preseason ranking in the USA TODAY Sports/AFCA Coaches Poll, the organization announced.

The Green Wave totaled 225 points to place 23rd overall nationally. The program was one of two from the state along with LSU (No. 5) to be ranked in the top 25. Tulane's week two opponent, Ole Miss, is also ranked in the preseason poll at No. 22 and 303 points.

The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Football Coaches poll is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of 63 head coaches at Football Bowl Subdivision schools. The panel is chosen by random draw, conference by conference plus independents, from a pool of coaches who have indicated to the American Football Coaches Association their willingness to participate. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th.

Earlier in the summer, Tulane was voted as the preseason favorite in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in the annual media poll. The program also has preseason candidates for the Rimington Trophy (Sincere Haynesworth), the Paul Hornung Award (Jha'Quan Jackson), the Wuerffel Trophy (Michael Pratt), the Patrick Mannelly Award (Ethan Hudak), the Maxwell Award (Michael Pratt), the Outland Trophy (Haynesworth and Prince Pines) and the Bronko Nagurski Award (Darius Hodges and Jarius Monroe).

This season, Tulane brings back four of the team's five starters on the offensive line (Haynesworth, Pines, Josh Remetich, Rashad Green), two of the team's top three rushers (Pratt and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson), the starting quarterback (Pratt), two of the top four receivers (Jackson and Lawrence Keys III), the team's punter (Casey Glover), the team's kicker (Valentino Ambrosio), the team's leader in interceptions (Monroe) and three of the five leading defensive players in tackles for loss (Patrick Jenkins, Hodges and Keith Cooper Jr.).

In 2022, Tulane's football team completed an unprecedented 12-2 campaign, culminating with an American Athletic Conference title and a 46-45 win over USC in the Cotton Bowl. At season's end, the Green Wave finished with a ninth overall ranking, the second-highest in program history. Tulane opens the 2023 season at Yulman Stadium hosting South Alabama on Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.