# 1998 Tulane Green Wave football team

The 1998 Tulane Green Wave football team represented Tulane University in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Green Wave finished with a record of 12 wins and no losses, one of only two NCAA Division I-A teams to complete the season undefeated, the other being the BCS champion Tennessee Volunteers. It was the third undefeated and untied season in school history.
Despite finishing undefeated, the Green Wave were not considered for a BCS game, let alone a berth in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl—that year's national title game—because it was felt their strength of schedule was too weak to justify a berth in a higher-tier bowl. They did not play a single ranked team all season, and the only Automatic Qualifying conference member on their schedule was a Rutgers team that finished tied for sixth in the Big East. Moreover, they were the only team in Conference USA with fewer than five overall losses.
Prior to defeating Brigham Young in the Liberty Bowl, Tulane won the CUSA championship. The Green Wave finished the season ranked seventh in the nation in both the AP Poll and Coaches' Poll—in both cases, its highest rankings in school history since the 1939 Tulane football season when they were ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll.
The Green Wave won all of their games by six points or more. The combined 538 points set a single-season school record.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 6:00 pm | at Cincinnati | | Nippert StadiumCincinnati, OH | | W 52–34 | 20,721 |
| September 12 | 7:00 pm | at SMU* | | Cotton BowlDallas, TX | | W 31–21 | 12,316 |
| September 26 | 2:30 pm | Navy* | | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA | FSN | W 42–24 | 19,371 |
| October 3 | 2:30 pm | Southern Miss | No. 25 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA (rivalry) | FSN | W 21–7 | 32,527 |
| October 17 | 2:30 pm | Louisville | No. 24 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA | FSN | W 28–22 | 26,217 |
| October 24 | 11:00 am | at Rutgers* | No. 22 | Rutgers StadiumPiscataway, NJ | | W 52–24 | 20,714 |
| October 31 | 2:30 pm | Southwestern Louisiana* | No. 19 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA | | W 72–20 | 25,177 |
| November 7 | 1:00 pm | at Memphis | No. 15 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | | W 41–31 | 18,192 |
| November 14 | 12:00 pm | at Army | No. 14 | Michie StadiumWest Point, NY | FSN | W 49–35 | 39,083 |
| November 21 | 2:30 pm | Houston | No. 12 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA | FSN | W 48–20 | 26,978 |
| November 26 | 7:00 pm | Louisiana Tech* | No. 11 | Louisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans, LA | | W 63–30 | 37,391 |
| December 31 | 12:30 pm | vs. BYU* | No. 10 | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) | ESPN | W 41–27 | 52,197 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | — | RV | RV | 25 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 16T | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 7 |
| Coaches Poll | — | — | RV | RV | 25 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 7 |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 19 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 10 | Not released |

## Game summaries
### At Cincinnati

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Green Wave | | | 0 |
| Bearcats | | | 0 |

### At SMU

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Green Wave | | | 0 |
| Mustangs | | | 0 |

### Navy

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Midshipmen | | | 0 |
| Green Wave | | | 0 |

### Southern Miss

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Golden Eagles | | | 0 |
| No. 25 Green Wave | | | 0 |

### Louisville

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Cardinals | | | 0 |
| No. 24 Green Wave | | | 0 |

### At Rutgers

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| No. 22 Green Wave | | | 0 |
| Scarlet Knights | | | 0 |

### Southwestern Louisiana

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Ragin' Cajuns | | | 0 |
| No. 19 Green Wave | | | 0 |

### At Memphis

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| No. 15 Green Wave | | | 0 |
| Tigers | | | 0 |

### At Army

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| No. 14 Green Wave | | | 0 |
| Cadets | | | 0 |

### Houston

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Cougars | | | 0 |
| No. 12 Green Wave | | | 0 |

### Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| Bulldogs | | | 0 |
| No. 11 Green Wave | | | 0 |

### Vs. BYU

| | 1 | 2 | Total |
| BYU | | | 0 |
| No. 10 Tulane | | | 0 |

## Team players in the NFL

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL Team |
| Shaun King | Quarterback | 2 | 50 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Dennis O'Sullivan | Long Snapper | - | - | New York Jets / Houston Texans |