re: 1998 National Champions

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Back in the old days. Tulane won SEC titles once upon a time you know.

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To be fair, until 1987, they had more than Auburn did.

I am now demanding a 2003 Ole Miss SEC Western Division Champions shirt

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Was it really a rivalry?

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Yes. It was a big rivalry back in the day when Tulane was part of the SEC, and even after.

My first ever LSU game was in 1987 in the Superdome, LSU beat Tulane 41-36.

Tulane put less emphasis on athletics, and over the years LSU dominated the rivalry and ended up not playing them anymore because LSU got nothing out of it.

1998 National Champions

Probably should claim the one Bama did in the 1920's.

Tulane got the Rose Bowl invite but declined it for academics.

Tide went in their place and rolled the Rose Bowl.

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Sadly, Tulane probably would have beaten LSU that year.

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Beat me to it. They DEFINITELY would have beaten LSU that year. Shaun King was unstoppable. Fun team to watch that year. Video game offense.

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Tulane got the Rose Bowl invite but declined it for academics.

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That was Dartmouth. Not Tulane.

The two final teams in contention to represent the East in the Rose Bowl were Colgate and Alabama. Colgate tied Brown 14-14 in their final game while Alabama rolled Georgia 27-0 to finish off a perfect 9-0 season.

Tulane, however, felt they were just as deserving of an invite despite their tie to Missouri. They may have gotten the invite had Alabama declined, but they weren't being seriously considered by the Rose Bowl committee.

Source

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As justified as some of bamas titles.

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Yeah, you might not want to talk about dubious national championship claims if you're a Tennessee fan. Look up Tennessee's "claim" to 1967 and then get back to me.

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That was Dartmouth. Not Tulane.

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It was my understanding it was Tulane that had the invite but declined it so it went to Alabama.

Tulane was first in line LINK

1925: For the second year in a row, Tulane set a school record for wins in a season as Coach Clark Shaughnessy's finest Tulane team finished with a 9-0-1 record. The tie came against Missouri in game two and nobody else came within ten points of this juggernaut. All-American Charles "Peggy" Flournoy had one of the great seasons in Tulane annals. One of the game's great punters, Flournoy was also quite a threat toting the football as he established Tulane records for touchdowns and points in a season and in a game that endure to this day. The 1925 team exploded to a 77-0 win over Louisiana College in the season opener as captain Lester Lautenschlaeger returned two punts for touchdowns. Later in the season, Flournoy set two of his longstanding records with four rushing TDs and 31 points in a 37-9 win over Louisiana Tech. The 1925 team did not give up two TDs in any game and scored in double figures against everyone but Missouri. Guard Milton Levy and Flournoy were named All-Southern for the second season in a row as they stood out on a team full of stars that outscored the opposition by a combined 246-32. After the season, Tulane's administration turned down a Rose Bowl bid because of the time the long train trip would keep the team away from its studies.


This correlates what was told to me as a kid by family who went there. Not sure where you get they were not seriously considered as between Clark and Bernie the Green Wave would win 5 of the 10 conference championships in a decade. Bernie would go on to Minnesota where he would be the first CFB to 3 peat (the Saban of his era). As for not being good enough, you do realize Tulane played in the Rose Bowl a few years later (not turning down another invitation).

I know some Bama fans think they invented football, but in the early years it was the domain of the private schools and Tulane was no slouch. Sugar Bowl was built for Tulane, not LSU, and it was the finest stadium in the south back in the day.

Both Clark and Shaughnessy were from Minnesota so they had plenty of connections and a Rose Bowl bid would not be out of the question for either of them. Pretty sure both are in the Hall of Fame so not understanding why you do not accept teams at the bottom now were once at the top. Vanderbilt had about a dozen conference championships in the early days so it was not like they were always at the bottom of the football ladder.

Firstly, your link doesn't work, and secondly, there is no Alabama fan on here claiming we invented football. And besides, the newspaper clipping I linked you isn't even from an Alabama newspaper. It was written by a nationally syndicated sports editor based in New York in November 1925. It's possible that he could have had his facts wrong, but he seemed convinced that Washington and Alabama would get the invites for the Rose Bowl and contended that Tulane was going to attempt to argue their case for a Rose Bowl invitation.

Perhaps your link is the story Tulane came up with to save face when they didn't get the invite?