Tulane achieved one championship goal Friday and learned Sunday morning its potential path to another.
The newly minted American Athletic Conference champ Green Wave (11-2) were announced as the No. 11 seed in this year’s College Football Playoff bracket with an opening-round trip to No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1).
Coach Jon Sumrall and company were the fourth-highest ranked conference champion in the final CFP rankings and earned one of the automatic bids allotted to the nation’s five highest-ranked league champions.
The Green Wave’s playoff appearance will be the first in program history, coming in just the second year of the expanded 12-team format.
Tulane suffered their first loss of this season in Oxford, Miss., with a 45-10 loss Sept. 20.
The Rebels have since undergone a leadership change with coach Lane Kiffin leaving to take the reins at LSU.
Their defensive coordinator, Louisiana native Pete Golding, has been elevated to take over as head coach, and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., who will join Kiffin in Baton Rouge, will remain on staff this postseason as the team’s play-caller.
Sumrall has taken over the program at Florida, but will remain with Tulane through the course of the playoff run.
The bracket features four rounds, punctuated by a national championship scheduled for Jan. 19 in Miami.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FIELD
First-round byes
1. Indiana (13-0)
2. Ohio State (12-1)
3. Georgia (12-1)
4. Texas Tech (12-1)
First-round matchups
5. Oregon (11-1)
12. James Madison (12-1)
6. Ole Miss (11-1)
11. Tulane (11-2)
7. Texas A&M (11-1)
10. Miami (10-2)
8. Oklahoma (10-2)
9. Alabama (10-3)
Note: Higher-seeds will host the first-round matchups at on-campus sites.
