One team is trying to forget a losing season. The other is trying to replace almost everyone from a historic one. Neither gets an easy answer in New Orleans.
Bush’s Picks
USATULN
USATULN
OverUnder
Best BetTulane
Tulane's still the program with the deeper talent base, even mid-rebuild — an 11-2 team that won a conference title doesn't fall off a cliff overnight just because the coach left. South Alabama is trying to answer for a 4-8 season with a defense that got remade from scratch. Take the Green Wave to win outright.
South Alabama
+Bishop Davenport returns with a full season starting
+New DC Todd Orlando hired to fix the defense
+Reloaded D-line via portal after last year's losses
−Coming off 4-8, first losing season since 2021
−Lost pieces late in the portal cycle again
−3-1 all-time vs Tulane, including a narrow home loss
Tulane
+11-2 in 2025, won second American title in 4 years
+First-ever Group of Five CFP appearance
+Won 3 of last 4 meetings vs South Alabama
−Lost coach Jon Sumrall to Florida
−Replacing 9 of 12 all-conference selections
−Overhauling an O-line that was elite in pass pro
South Alabama at least knows who's throwing the ball. Bishop Davenport started all 12 games last season, completing 68% of his passes for 2,072 yards and 12 touchdowns against 6 interceptions, and he's back to try to drag the Jaguars out of a rough year. Tulane doesn't have that certainty. Jake Retzlaff is gone, and new coach Will Hall is sorting through a QB derby led by Kadin Semonza, who threw 24 touchdowns two years ago in the MAC, against Houston transfer Zeon Chriss-Gremillion, who brings a heavier run element to the offense.
The bigger story on both sidelines is who isn't walking through the door. Major Applewhite got hit hard in the portal after South Alabama's 4-8 finish, its first losing season since 2021, and responded by bringing in Todd Orlando to run the defense and restocking the D-line with FCS transfers. Tulane's turnover is even more dramatic: Jon Sumrall left for Florida, taking the shine off a Cinderella season, and Hall inherits a roster that has to replace 9 of the Green Wave's 12 all-conference picks, including most of an offensive line that ranked among the nation's best in pass protection.
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USA South Alabama
TULN Tulane
Strip away the coaching carousel and this is still a rivalry with some juice. Tulane has won 3 of the last 4 meetings, but the most recent one wasn't close to comfortable — a 33-31 track meet in Mobile last September that Tulane escaped on the road. This year the site flips to New Orleans, and both programs show up with new hands on the wheel.
South Alabama Jaguars
Sep 5?vs SE Louisiana—
Tulane Green Wave
Sep 5?@ Duke—
Recent form.
Tulane's résumé still dwarfs South Alabama's on paper. The Green Wave went 11-2, won a second American Conference title in four years, and became just the second Group of Five program ever to reach the College Football Playoff before Ole Miss ended the run 41-10 in the first round. That's a program with a much higher ceiling walking into this one, even while it breaks in a new staff and a new quarterback room.
South Alabama Jaguars
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Tulane Green Wave
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
For South Alabama, this is as much about proving last year was a blip as it is about beating Tulane. A defense retooled around Orlando and a quarterback with a full season of starts under his belt gives Applewhite a real foundation, but foundations don't always show up in September against a team that's made a habit of winning conference titles.
