ESPN Gives Tulane Best Odds to Win American

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Though there's been some debate about whether or not the Tulane Green Wave has what it takes to repeat as American Conference Champions and College Football Playoff participants, one outlet seems to have plenty of faith in the team from Uptown.

 ESPN has given Tulane a 24.8-percent chance to win the conference this season, putting them ahead of the next-closest team by quite a bit. 

The Navy Midshipmen, a team that many consider to be the frontrunners, have an 18.9-percent chance to win the American according to ESPN. The East Carolina Pirates are at a 14.5-percent chance, the South Florida Bulls have a 10.9-percent chance and the Memphis Tigers have slipped a bit to an 8.6-percent chance. A few dark horse contenders — the North Texas Mean Green and the UTSA Roadrunners — have odds just under six percent. 

Interestingly enough, the teams that finished among the top last season are all entering new eras after losing their coaches to Power Four programs. Tulane is entering its first season under Will Hall after Jon Sumrall left to take the open Florida Gators position. Fellow former Southern Miss Golden Eagles head coach Charles Huff is the new coach at Memphis, as Ryan Silverfield is now leading the Arkansas Razorbacks. South Florida's Ryan Golesh left for the Auburn Tigers in the offseason, and Brian Hartline is now running with the Bulls. Lastly, Neal Brown is now leading North Texas after former head coach Eric Morris left for the Oklahoma State Cowboys following the 2025 season. 

With that being said, it does make sense why Navy and East Carolina are highly regarded heading into 2026: those programs are returning some standout players and have much more stability at the helm. However, confidence seemingly remains high that the Green Wave will pick up right where it left off last year.

The overall respect that the program has commanded is impressive, especially as it faces some uncertainty heading into the new season. Right now, the quarterback position seems up for grabs between Kadin Semonza and Zeon Chriss-Gremillion: the former of whom didn't record any playing time last year, and the latter of whom transferred to Uptown in the offseason. Both have plenty of upside, but it is going to be hard to replace former signal-caller Jake Retzlaff. A handful of other positions will also feature some new faces.

Tulane will look to make good on ESPN's predictions as it starts its 2026 season on the road against the Duke Blue Devils. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on September 5th. 

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