Football Moves Up To No. 20 in the College Football Playoff Rankings
Dec 2, 2025 | Football
NEW ORLEANS – Tulane football's team is ranked for the third consecutive week and moves up to No. 20 in the fifth edition of the 2025 College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings released on December 2.
Tulane is currently ranked ahead of No. 25 James Madison, No. 24 North Texas, No. 23 Iowa, No. 22 Georgia Tech, and No. 21 Houston. The program is just behind No. 19 Michigan, No. 18 Arizona, and No. 17 Virginia.
This is the fourth consecutive season that Tulane has earned a CFP ranking. The team entered the 2023 Goodyear Cotton Bowl ranked No. 16 by the CFP before upsetting then No. 10 USC by a 46-45 score. The team was ranked No. 24 by the CFP committee during the 2023 season. The program was ranked at No. 17 by the CFP on Nov. 26, 2024. The team was at No. 24 in each of the last two weeks of rankings released on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25 before moving to No. 20 in the last playoff rankings of the regular season on Dec. 2.
Tulane is one of only 10 teams that has been ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings in each of the last four years along with Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Texas, Louisville, and Tennessee.
While this is the second year of the 12-team playoff, the format is different than last season. The five highest-ranked conference champions will earn automatic bids, while the next seven-best non-conference champions will earn at-large spots. From there, the 12 teams in the field will be seeded by ranking, regardless of whether they won their conference championship. Therefore, the four highest-ranked teams in the field will earn byes, with seeds Nos. 5-12 playing in the first round of the Playoff.
First round
No. 5 team at No. 12 team
No. 6 team at No. 11 team
No. 7 team at No. 10 team
No. 8 team at No. 9 team
Quarterfinals
No. 1 team vs. No. 8/9 team
No. 2 team vs. No. 7/10 team
No. 3 team vs. No. 6/11 team
No. 4 team vs. No. 5/12 team
The Tulane football team is nationally ranked for the third consecutive week as the program comes at No. 21 in the Associated Press (AP) Poll and also No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll as was announced on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 30.
The program moved up after being ranked at No. 22 in the AP and No. 23 in the Coaches' Poll last week, Nov. 23. The team is also ranked at No. 24 in the College Football Playoffs rankings that was released on Nov. 25.
The team has started the 2025 season with 10 wins in the first 12 games including a pair of wins over Power 4 opponents in the regular season for the first time since 1988. The victory over Charlotte secures Tulane a tie for the lead in the conference regular season standings and a place in the American Conference Championship Game for a conference record fourth straight season.
The team earned 13 American All-Conference selections plus the Special Teams Player of the Year in Patrick Durkin. The program's All-Conference selections this season are Shadre Hurst (offensive line – 1st team), Santana Hopper (defensive line – 1st team), Jack Tchienchou (safety – 1st team), Durkin (kicker – 1st team), Alec Clark (punter – 1st team), Tre'Von McAlpine (defensive line – 2nd team), Sam Howard (linebacker – 2nd team), Derrick Graham (offensive line – 3rd team), Harvey Dyson (linebacker – 3rd team), Javion White (cornerback – 3rd team), TJ Smith (return specialists – 3rd team), Jason Arredondo (designated snapper – 3rd team), and Jahiem Johnson (cornerback – Honorable Mention)
Tulane ended the 2024 season playing in the program's third consecutive bowl game. It was also the sixth time in the last seven years that Tulane had been selected to play in a bowl game (2018 – Cure Bowl, 2019 – Armed Forces Bowl, 2020 – Famous Idaho Bowl, 2022 – Cotton Bowl, 2023 – Military Bowl and 2024 – Gasparilla Bowl). Overall, it was Tulane's 17th bowl appearance (1932 – Rose Bowl, 1935 – Sugar Bowl, 1939 – Sugar Bowl, 1970 – Liberty Bowl, 1973 – Astro Bluebonnet Bowl, 1979 – Liberty Bowl, 1980 – Hall of Fame Bowl, 1987 – Independence Bowl, 1998 – Liberty Bowl, 2002 – Hawaii Bowl, 2013 – New Orleans, 2018 – Cure Bowl, 2019 – Armed Forces Bowl, 2020 -Famous Idaho Bowl, 2022 – Cotton Bowl, 2023 – Military Bowl and 2024 – Gasparilla Bowl) with the program sporting an all-time record of 7-10 in bowl games.
The program sports a 42-12 record over the last four seasons.
Head Coach Jon Sumrall has been one of the most successful coaches in the country over the last four seasons with a record of 42-11, two Sun Belt Conference championships and a pair of double-digit winning streaks. He was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of Year and was twice named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year honor. Sumrall returned to Tulane after serving as the Green Wave's Co-Defensive Coordinator for three years (2012-14). In 2013, he was a crucial part of Tulane's run to the New Orleans Bowl, the program's first postseason appearance since 2002 and third since 1988. Sumrall also was named a finalist for FootballScoop Defensive Line Coach of the Year.
Next, the Tulane football team faces off against North Texas (11-1, 7-1 American) on Dec. 5 at Yulman Stadium in the American Conference Championship Game at 7 p.m. in a game that will also be broadcasted on ABC
TICKETS
Tickets for the football and the men's and women's basketball seasons can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow Tulane football on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.
- TulaneGreenWave -
Tulane is currently ranked ahead of No. 25 James Madison, No. 24 North Texas, No. 23 Iowa, No. 22 Georgia Tech, and No. 21 Houston. The program is just behind No. 19 Michigan, No. 18 Arizona, and No. 17 Virginia.
This is the fourth consecutive season that Tulane has earned a CFP ranking. The team entered the 2023 Goodyear Cotton Bowl ranked No. 16 by the CFP before upsetting then No. 10 USC by a 46-45 score. The team was ranked No. 24 by the CFP committee during the 2023 season. The program was ranked at No. 17 by the CFP on Nov. 26, 2024. The team was at No. 24 in each of the last two weeks of rankings released on Nov. 18 and Nov. 25 before moving to No. 20 in the last playoff rankings of the regular season on Dec. 2.
Tulane is one of only 10 teams that has been ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings in each of the last four years along with Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Oregon, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Texas, Louisville, and Tennessee.
While this is the second year of the 12-team playoff, the format is different than last season. The five highest-ranked conference champions will earn automatic bids, while the next seven-best non-conference champions will earn at-large spots. From there, the 12 teams in the field will be seeded by ranking, regardless of whether they won their conference championship. Therefore, the four highest-ranked teams in the field will earn byes, with seeds Nos. 5-12 playing in the first round of the Playoff.
First round
No. 5 team at No. 12 team
No. 6 team at No. 11 team
No. 7 team at No. 10 team
No. 8 team at No. 9 team
Quarterfinals
No. 1 team vs. No. 8/9 team
No. 2 team vs. No. 7/10 team
No. 3 team vs. No. 6/11 team
No. 4 team vs. No. 5/12 team
| Game | Date |
| First round (On-Campus) | Dec. 19 – 7 p.m. (ABC/ESPN) |
| First round (On-Campus) | Dec. 20 – 11 a.m. (ABC/ESPN), 2:30 p.m. (TNT/truTV/HBO |
| Max), 6:30 p.m., (TNT, truTV/HBO Max) | |
| Cotton Bowl (Quarterfinals) | Dec. 31 – 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Orange Bowl (Quarterfinals) | Jan. 1 – 11 a.m. (ESPN) |
| Rose Bowl (Quarterfinals) | Jan. 1 – 3 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Sugar Bowl (Quarterfinals) | Jan. 1 – 7 p.m. (ESPN |
| Fiesta Bowl (Semifinals) | Jan. 8 – 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Peach Bowl (Semifinals) | Jan. 9 – 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) |
| CFP National Championship | Jan. 19 – 6:30 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Hard Rock Stadium |
The Tulane football team is nationally ranked for the third consecutive week as the program comes at No. 21 in the Associated Press (AP) Poll and also No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll as was announced on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 30.
The program moved up after being ranked at No. 22 in the AP and No. 23 in the Coaches' Poll last week, Nov. 23. The team is also ranked at No. 24 in the College Football Playoffs rankings that was released on Nov. 25.
The team has started the 2025 season with 10 wins in the first 12 games including a pair of wins over Power 4 opponents in the regular season for the first time since 1988. The victory over Charlotte secures Tulane a tie for the lead in the conference regular season standings and a place in the American Conference Championship Game for a conference record fourth straight season.
The team earned 13 American All-Conference selections plus the Special Teams Player of the Year in Patrick Durkin. The program's All-Conference selections this season are Shadre Hurst (offensive line – 1st team), Santana Hopper (defensive line – 1st team), Jack Tchienchou (safety – 1st team), Durkin (kicker – 1st team), Alec Clark (punter – 1st team), Tre'Von McAlpine (defensive line – 2nd team), Sam Howard (linebacker – 2nd team), Derrick Graham (offensive line – 3rd team), Harvey Dyson (linebacker – 3rd team), Javion White (cornerback – 3rd team), TJ Smith (return specialists – 3rd team), Jason Arredondo (designated snapper – 3rd team), and Jahiem Johnson (cornerback – Honorable Mention)
Tulane ended the 2024 season playing in the program's third consecutive bowl game. It was also the sixth time in the last seven years that Tulane had been selected to play in a bowl game (2018 – Cure Bowl, 2019 – Armed Forces Bowl, 2020 – Famous Idaho Bowl, 2022 – Cotton Bowl, 2023 – Military Bowl and 2024 – Gasparilla Bowl). Overall, it was Tulane's 17th bowl appearance (1932 – Rose Bowl, 1935 – Sugar Bowl, 1939 – Sugar Bowl, 1970 – Liberty Bowl, 1973 – Astro Bluebonnet Bowl, 1979 – Liberty Bowl, 1980 – Hall of Fame Bowl, 1987 – Independence Bowl, 1998 – Liberty Bowl, 2002 – Hawaii Bowl, 2013 – New Orleans, 2018 – Cure Bowl, 2019 – Armed Forces Bowl, 2020 -Famous Idaho Bowl, 2022 – Cotton Bowl, 2023 – Military Bowl and 2024 – Gasparilla Bowl) with the program sporting an all-time record of 7-10 in bowl games.
The program sports a 42-12 record over the last four seasons.
Head Coach Jon Sumrall has been one of the most successful coaches in the country over the last four seasons with a record of 42-11, two Sun Belt Conference championships and a pair of double-digit winning streaks. He was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of Year and was twice named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year honor. Sumrall returned to Tulane after serving as the Green Wave's Co-Defensive Coordinator for three years (2012-14). In 2013, he was a crucial part of Tulane's run to the New Orleans Bowl, the program's first postseason appearance since 2002 and third since 1988. Sumrall also was named a finalist for FootballScoop Defensive Line Coach of the Year.
Next, the Tulane football team faces off against North Texas (11-1, 7-1 American) on Dec. 5 at Yulman Stadium in the American Conference Championship Game at 7 p.m. in a game that will also be broadcasted on ABC
TICKETS
Tickets for the football and the men's and women's basketball seasons can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow Tulane football on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram. Follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.
- TulaneGreenWave -
Players Mentioned
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/ FootballTulane Tuesday: LB Sam Howard - 12/2/25
Tuesday, December 02
Tulane Tuesday: HC Jon Sumrall - 12/2/25
Tuesday, December 02
Tulane Tuesday: OL Jack Hollifield - 12/2/25
Tuesday, December 02
Press Conference: AD David Harris - 11/30/25
Sunday, November 30
