Part of my time with Sumrall yesterday was just conversational and off the record, but some of the interview was on the record. He chose not to talk about the Wave's latest commitments from the portal because they were not officially in class yet and he will talk about everyone on the Feb. 7 late signing day.

On what it has been like a little more than month into the job:

"It's been a whirlwind, juggling a lot of different things, trying to get as many things done as fast as you can but making sure you are doing it the right way more importantly than getting it done fast. That's staff. Thats' recruiting. That's just maybe logistics on setting some things up the way we want done within the program, but it's been good. Very, very busy. Haven't had a whole lot of sleep. I was up at 3 a.m. this morning and came into work. It's been nonstop for sure."

On wanting to compete for national championships and showing it with the recruits from the portal he has gotten:

"Yeah. It takes really good players to play really good football, and I tell people all the time if there were no players, there'd be no coaches or anything else for that matter around the program, so it's about getting the right players in your program and then developing them to be their best, so the goals we have are lofty. For us to reach great goals of conference championships and playing in the playoff, and if you're going to play in it, why not try to pursue winning something like that, you've got to recruit at a high level and then you've got to develop at a high level and then you've got to build relationships with those guys that are strong and meaningful. It's a good start. What a guy's ranked doesn't really mean anything in regards to the production they end up having, but sometimes guys need a fresh start or a new opportunity or you never know why maybe things weren't quite wht you thought going into it for them at the other places. But definitely some highly touted guys who have talent and ability who I think fit what we're trying to do."

On how things have changed at Tulane:

"I think the brand is strong. There has been recent success that shows, hey, this can be done at a high level here. I think we have a lot of attractive things for guys to be a part of. I think they recognize the program's trajectory is going upward. I believe that the academic opportunity is special, unique and different to a lot of places of what it can do for you life after football. That's a powerful deal. And then having the opportunity to present living in a vibrant city like this. There's just so many things our players can have access to or exposure to that is fun and exciting to be a part of. You don't have to sell what it is as much as just kind of cast a vision, and the guys, it's easy to see what the vision looks like because there are a lot of positive things going on."

On Joe Craddock's offensive philosophy and tailoring it to the players he inherits:

"What's unique about Joe is he was at Clemson as an analyst and really worked with the quarterbacks, and Deshaun Watson was the quarterback. They had high-level success running a very spread system at that time. He went to SMU and inherited an offense that I believe ranked 108th in the country early on in their time (the Mustangs finished 76th in yards in 2015, Craddock's first year) and finished eighth in the country a couple years later (they were 12th in scoring in 2017), and that was running more of a spread, tempo system. Went to Arkansas. Didn't have as much success (The Razorbacks finished 117th in yards in 2018 Was there for only like 18 games (22) and then Chad got let go, and then went to UAB and I hired him at Troy. We really had to change how he played offensively a little bit. When he was at UAB, they were more pro style and a little bit more wide zone with play action off the wide zone stuff. He was more pro style there, and then at Troy I knew we were going to be pretty good on defense or at least decent on defense early. I knew the defense was maybe a little bit ahead of the offense overall personnel wise, so we played complementary football. We were kind of ground and pound a little bit and then opened the offense up more this year from year 1. Year one our recipe was don't turn the ball over and make it a rock fight. This year we scored 49 points in the conference championship team. We scored more points against quality competition at times. The nice thing about Joe is he's been a coordinator for several years. He's not a first-time coordinator. He's done it in a similar level of competition at SMU, and he's been in the SEC at Arkansas and he was my guy at Troy and we were very successful the last couple of years. His adaptability not being married to just one offense and making the players fit. It's how do we make the offense fit the players. There's a lot of things we know and a lot of things we'd like to do. What we have to identify is what will work with what we have. The better players you have, the more options you have. So for us, as we try to get this roster tied together personnel wise, we'll have a better feel, but there will be some components that are going to be non-negotiable that we believe in offensively, but if we've got more quality backs, we are going to play the game with more backs. If we've got more quality receivers, we are going to play the game with more receivers. If we've got more quality tight ends than other groups. we'll play with more tight ends, so we'll lean on our strengths personnel wise and make sure our main groupings are whoever our best players are."

On defensive philosophy:

"The defensive coordinator last year was running the same coverage calls we ran at Troy. I was at bowl practice and I was like, y'all our calling that, and the kids were like how do you know? I'm like it's the same defense we ran at Troy. The system that terminology wide Tulane ran last year, most of it is derived from the system we had at Troy. It was the same defense we had at Troy in 2022 and 2023. It's the same defense. The Tulane defense in 2023 was the Troy defense in 2022 and 2023. Same terminology. So for our kids defensively, there may be some teaching points we look at a little bit different, but the schematics and a lot of the structure will be very similar."

On Rob Greene:

"He's staying as an analyst and he'll work with (Greg) Gasparado with the safeties. I like to have with the coordinator a really strong analyst so the coordinator can be freed up to think about big picture a little more than just his position, so Rob will be in the room with Gas."

On Landius Wilkerson:

"I've know Landius for a long time. He's worked his way up through the coaching ranks. Started at Huntington College and then went to UT Chattanooga and Jacksonville State and has been around. He was at South Alabama last. Wilk was one of the best recruiters in the Sun Belt Conference the last three years. He was an elite recruiter and a really good coach, too. His guys played at a high level, so I've know him a long time, been around him quite a bit and just always from a distance watched how he built relationships with his players and how he developed his players and also how he built relationships in recruiting. He's really, really good at what he does and I'm excited to have him join us."

I am in a time crunch today and have been all week for a variety of reasons, but I will post plenty of material tomorrow after interview Jon Sumrall 1-on-1 this morning. For now, though, I finally found out which signees had enrolled for the spring semester--Guiseann Mirtil, Shaun Nicholas and Dominic Steward.

The rest of the high school guys will arrive in the summer.

Again, I will have much more tomorrow and also finally post the final pick' em standings.

I apologize for the lack of any recruiting info since the time Fritz left until now, but that is going to change in a hurry. I set up the connections today, and I believe the information will be better than it ever was under any other staff.

This from Rivals yesterday. Scroll down to Lionel Pruhomme.

Prudhomme

I have no idea how this is possible but he announced he is transferring. 2024 will be his 8th year of college football.
Can you have two medical RS years? If so then I guess he had a RS year, Covid year, and two medical RS years. That would get him to 8.

Crazy

This portal class feels a little under rated. This is a very good group, with an average On3 consensus rating of 87. I haven't done the math but that's higher than last years portal class and probably significantly higher than any recent high school class. And we're not done.

Ty Thompson, QB (Oregon) two years of eligibility. The former 5-star out of high school is now a high 3-star On3 consensus 90. We saw what a big dual threat QB can do to an AAC defense in the Military Bowl.

Caleb Ransaw, Spear (Troy) 6'0" 197 lbs with one year of eligibility. Received 2-stars from Rivals and 247 out of high school. Played corner in '22 and Spear in '23. Huge get. Highly recruited out of the portal. If you're a conspiracy theorist, I heard he'd be a 5-star if he transferred to Alabama or USC. Now he's an On3 4-star consensus 90. Expect him to start and be a force on defense. Highest rated Troy tackler in '22 and '23.

Chris Rodgers, Spear (Troy) 6' 2" 216 lbs with three years of eligibility. On3 consensus 86 which would make him the highest rated recruit if he were in Tulane's '24 class. Another huge get. As a freshman he backed up Ransaw and registered tackles in 9 games including the SB Championship and Bham Bowl.

Jalen Geiger, FS (Kentucky) 6'1" 200 lbs with one year of eligibility. On3 consensus 86. Experienced, versatile grad transfer. Sumrall needed to plug a gap at FS and he knows what to expect out of the former Kentucky starter.

Micah Robinson, CB (Furman) 5' 11" 160 lbs with one year of eligibility. On3 consensus 88. Robinson was one of the best corners in FCS this season. This is a kid who received a ton of offers in the portal including multiple from Big12 and SEC. Pencil Robinson in as a Day 1 starter at LCB.

Jack Tchienchou, CB / S (Troy) 5' 10" 176 lbs redshirt freshman. Hasn't been re-rated but was On3 consensus 85 out of high school. Big upside. Had offers from BIG, ACC and Big12 schools out of high school.

Deshaun Batiste, DE (Troy) 6' 3" 260 lbs redshirt freshman. Hasn't been re-rated but was On3 consensus 84 out of high school. Certainly would be rated higher now. Ascended throughout the 2023 season, as a true freshman. Logged a career high snaps in the Birmingham Bowl against Duke. This is a NOLA kid we wanted last year but he went to Troy and put on 40 lbs in their strength program. Now he joins Tulane ready to contribute. Had offers from Tulane, Duke and Houston out of high school.

Jaylon Griffin, WR (UCF) 6' 3" 182 lbs with one year of eligibility. On3 consensus 87. Griffin is a bit of a mystery. He had a career day against Villanova, catching three passes for 50 yards and a touchdown. PFF charted Griffin with 47 offensive snaps, compared to 156 the season before. He fielded an impressive offer list at the JUCO level, including verbals from Colorado, Florida State, Iowa State, SMU, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt in 2021. He was ranked the top rated JUCO WR in Texas and received nearly thirty D1 offers in total.

Committed to Tulane!

As always, the Tulane game counts double and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus. Since there are no home teams, the favorite is listed first.

Virginia Tech (-10) Tulane Military Bowl
Arizona (-3) Oklahoma Alamo Bowl
Missouri (=1) Ohio State Cotton Bowl
Penn State (-4) Ole Miss Peach Bowl
Georgia (-14.5) Florida State Orange Bowl
LSU (-9.5) Wisconsin (ReliaQuest Bowl)
Michigan (-1.5) Alabama (playoff) Rose Bowl
Texas (-4) Washington (playoff) Sugar Bowl

Sumrall attended the basketball game last night and talked to several reporters in the interview room during halftime. Any questions about the portal pickups were off limits because none of those guys are official until they begin taking classes, and he could not answer specific questions about his staff because the vetting process and all the rigamarole they have to go through to get cleared won't be done until early next week, when Tulane will officially release the names of the guys we already know, although there are still some uncertainties about full-timers.

Here's what he said:

What is your message to the guys that are still on this roster to make sure you can keep them?

"Really the best thing for me was being able to get here Dec. 10 and just kind of be around and get to know the guys. Obviously I did not coach in the bowl game, but just to be present and to start to make those connections and relationships with the guys and get to know them personally has been a huge benefit to me. So many times with coaching, it's Xs and Os, but it's also relationships and it's getting to know people, and if you know their story and what makes them tick, you have a better chance of really coaching them well, and so for me, I was very grateful to have from Dec. 10 all the way through the ball game to just kind of be present and be around and let them know what the vision is going to be like and what are goals are going to look like and how I'm going to handle things as the leader of the program and the people I'm going to put in place around them to help them be successful has really kind of been the things we've talked about."

What were your conversations with Alex Bauman like before he decided to say?

"It's huge to have him stay. Obviously a very productive player here, Cotton Bowl legend, right? And so I believe when he made the decision to explore his options and go in the portal, he didn't know me and have any reason to not do that. I said, hey, do what you need to do. I'm going to let you have time to do that, but I also want you to know I'd love to have you here, and I'd love for you to be a part of doing this with us, and so I'm grateful that he has decided to return. He is a really pivotal piece in what we're going to try to do moving forward, and to have a guy that's a proven commodity and a good teammate and I think a really good fit at Tulane, I'm glad to have him returning."

What is the priority for you between now and the next signing day?

"Between now and the team meeting we have Monday, we have a couple more transfer visits this weekend, and so doing a good job with those guys, and then Monday I'm excited about having the guys back. That's really the first step to what 2024's Tulane football team will look like. That meeting will cover a lot of things. It will be academics and compliance and strength and conditioning and equipment, but it will also be like here's the standards of what we're going to do and here's how we're going to operate and really just setting the tone for consistency. I believe we've got a great locker room. We've got great people on our team, and those guys are going to help reinforce the culture that's already been started to some degree and build upon that. it's a recruiting period that opens up tomorrow, I'll be on the road locally tomorrow to go see a handful of schools and then the next couple of weeks I will be out some--mainly here locally to be honest with you. I won't get too far away from home base. I will go see a couple of guys that signed in the December signing period that I have not been able to go to them and see them hopefully that were committed previously before I got here.

"The most important players to me though are the guys on our team, and adding players matters. We still need to add a receiver or two and we still need to add maybe another DB or two and maybe an edge rusher. There are some things we still may need, but the most important guys in the world to me are not the guys we are trying to get to come here. It's the guys who are here."

What is the most difficult thing about the quick transition to Tulane and recruiting?

"Just the time crunch you're in, in particular on the transfer guys. It's like speed dating, if you will, and we do have an academic component to make sure guys fit here, which helps attract certain guys that you may not be able to have access to, but there is a piece that you have to get to know who they are and what they are about and what their makeup is from a character standpoint fast. Evaluation of a player is actually pretty easy. It's the other things that take a little bit more time, so you're having to work through those mechanics really quickly when it comes to recruiting in the time crunch that we've been on."

You say it is speed dating, but what is the spark you are looking for as far as getting them to say yes to you?

"Well, making sure it's the right fit. To me, it's does a guy love football, does he care about the academic component, which is extremely important here, are they going to be a fit in how we're going to do things culturally in the program? And then I'm very honest. I'm extremely honest, maybe to a fault at times because I think when you're brutally honest on the front end, you don't end up with a whole lot of mistakes on the back end. Guys don't come in with an unrealistic expectation of what things are going to look like, so just being transparent about who we are and what we're going to do usually helps in the short term maybe get the right fit with the right people,, and it helps in the long term because they don't show up and you've changed on them. You're the same."

Did having been through this at Troy help you in this transition?

"Yeah without question. I'm not a first-time head coach. I've dealt with transfer portal, NIL. When I took the job at Troy, one of our best players on defense, Dale Portis, was in the portal when I took the job, and he came back and he's been one of our best defensive players the last two years, so that maybe gives you a little bit of experience. It's like the question on Alex coming back. It gives you experience maybe navigating those waters a little bit knowing, hey, I don't judge you for being in the portal. It's a different age we live in now. Do I want you back? Hell yeah, I do. I want you on this team, but I'm going to give you the space you need to figure it out and make sure they also understand that you want them, so there's a balance there you have to kind of navigate."

Are you excited about what you potentially have back going into the spring?

"Yeah I'm excited. Look. Makhi Hughes, 1,300 yards rushing. OK. Kai Horton's played snaps. He's started games here, so excited about that. Yulkeith (Brown) did some really good things in the bowl game and is showing he has the flash, the ability to be a productive receiver in the slot. We need to put some pieces on the outside to help him, and there might be some of those pieces that are here. I just haven't seen them do it yet. Defensively we're really strong up the middle at inside linebacker. We're really good there, so there are some pieces that are exciting to me, and it's just about understanding where your strengths are and adding some guys to the equation that may answer some questions or some holes or weaknesses that you may have, but there are some guys in place that are already very proven. I talked about Alex--very proven player. Shadre Hurst, a really good player. I was with Shadre today in the facility and I'm very excited he's on our team. So I think there are some really quality guys that are proven. The other thing that's exciting is sometimes roster turnover happens and you never know which guy's going to step up that maybe hasn't been a proven player. There are going to be some guys that nobody knows their name right now from maybe a media or public standpoint that are going to be key components of our 2024 team's success."

What were your impressions of the team through the bowl game?

"Man, the energy in the bowl practices through the transition of staff and some guys maybe not playing in the game, some guys in the portal that played in the game. I was extremely excited about just the DNA of what this team's about. Their energy at practice, their desire to give great effort, the team component here, like I feel connectivity amongst this team, and that's what I'm about. Like I care about the team being connected and it being cohesive, and I felt that. And really, I've said this during the game in the interview, being around the team for a couple of weeks, I felt like where I was leaving and what I was walking into were more alike than different. What I'm walking into was more like what I've been a part of than not like it, and so that part is very nice to me because the makeup of the locker room is very similar."

Are you comfortable with the staff you've assembled?

"Oh yeah. I'm very excited. It's a good blend of maybe you'll see a couple of guys who will be back that have been here and are familiar with the program and have been on the staff already. You'll see a few guys that were with me where I was, and then you'll see another piece or two that weren't, that are new to the equation, that can add value and fit what we're going to do here. It's not just a collective everybody that was with me is going to be here. It's also not an everybody that's here, get out, because there are some guys here that fit really well with what we're going to try to do. So I think it will be a good blend. It's been fun to see that group already kind of mesh. I'm a firm believer that if you hire good people that are knowledgable and about the right stuff, they'll work well with a lot of different people, so I'm excited about the type of people that are on the staff."

There were six media members to interview Ron Hunter, Jaylen Forbes and Sion James yesterday. Here is what Tulane's guys said in anticipation of tonight's game against No. 24 FAU as the Wave tries to break an astounding 52-game losing streak against ranked teams dating to December of 1999.

On how disappointed he was with North Texas loss:

"I'm disappointed every time we don't win, but I also understand that you played a good team that doesn't usually lose a lot of games in that building. I thought we just missed some shots that we normally make, but it's a tough league. Winning on the road is hard. Florida Atlantic goes to Charlotte and gets a loss. When you're in league play, you have to bring a whole another level of intensity, and I just though that their intensity was a lot higher than ours regardless of how well they play in that building. But they shot the ball well, so give them credit."

Of if league is better than people think:

"Oh, no question. And even myself. Top to bottom you can get beat in this league. You've got two teams right now that are ranked in the top 225 and a lot of teams with winning records that play good basketball. This is a really good league, and I'm just surprised in regards to the bottom teams how well they're playing right now, especially at home."

On adjustment with six new teams:

"Well, they're new and they're coming with a lot of credibility. North Texas just won the NIT and UAB was in the finals with them and then Florida Atlantic was in the Final Four (of the NCAA tournament). We didn't have that when UConn and that group was in the league when I first got here, so the league has gotten better. It's a great league. The great part about it is we're one of the good teams. I'd rather be one of the good teams trying to fight in this league than being one of the bad teams because this is a tough place to win. We've got to make that here that our home-court advantage is pretty good, and it has been since I've been here. We've got a pretty good home record ourselves. As great as it talking about some of the other teams, I always have to remind the people here, Tulane now has a good basketball program. I have to continually remind people of that."

On transition to basketball from football for fans and what they can expect to see:

"Football's over? I didn't know that. Well then come watch basketball. Again, I love what our kids are doing. It's going to be a great game, and then the next time we turn around the next (home) game and have Memphis coming in here, so we've got back-to-back teams in the top 25 coming in here to play a really good team. I'm excited about that. It's taken us a while to build our program up to the point where we can compete and not only compete, but we can win these type of games. We've earned the right to play in these type of games. That's what I told our players. When Sion (James) and (Jaylen) Forbes and (Kevin) Cross first got here, we couldn't win these type of games. They are to the point now where they've developed where we can win these type of games, and now we're one of the good teams in a very good conference."

On significance of win over ranked team for outside perception:

"Yeah, my job is hard enough to worry about the perception of my own players, so worrying about the outside perception is something I'll leave up to you guys in that regard, but one of the things, if you win the game, you've got to turn around and go play another good team, and then you've got to come back home and play Memphis. Win, lose or draw, you give it your best and you can't let this game affect what happens on the other ones. I just want our kids to play well. If you know anything about me, all my teams have always peaked at the right time. I want to make sure we're playing our best as we start to get towards March. That's what's going to be really important in this league--how many teams you send to the NCAA tournament and those type of things. We just want to get better every day so we're peaking at the right time."

On FAU strengths:

"They are really good in transition and transition 3s. When you watch them play and they are really rolling, they take missing and they get on the other end of the floor and they can make 3s. We have to make sure that we don't allow them to get those transition 3 baskets. The teams that have beaten us in the past, we have to defend the 3-point line. When we defend the 3-point line, we are really, really good. If you look at North Texas, we didn't defend the 3-point line although they made some incredible shots. We have to defend the 3-point line, regardless of if we're playing FAU, Sisters of the Poor or the Pelicans."

On giant RPI win if can get it:

"Yeah, but again, it's still too early for a lot of those things right now. What I want to make sure is that my kids are playing with a free mind. A lot of times when you start worrying about this and the RPI, although they don't use the RPI anymore, which shows how old we are, but I just want them to enjoy this, continue to play well and play free. That's the main thing I want our kids to understand. Play free. If we come in here and play tight, we've got no chance."

On Forbes, Kevin Cross and Kolby Kings having off days against North Texas:

"When our top three scorers are not playing at what I call their bare minimum, which they weren't the other day, then we're not going to win that game. It's like having a quarterback and receiver and running back all having bad days in football. If you get that, they're just not going to play well."

On if Cross is NBA player:

"That's not for me to determine. I think he's having a great year. He's a special type of player the way he plays. That's to be determined by some of the other teams, but I do think that not only Cross, but Sion and Forbes, we've got those caliber players that you better come in here and take a look at those players. Before you never had to come in here and take a look at them. We have those type of players now."

From time immemorial, coaches' first recruiting classes almost always are shaky. It takes time to build connections, which simply cannot be done overnight no matter how compelling the coach is.

We will see if Jon Sumrall can buck a trend Willie Fritz certainly could not do with his first class. Fritz had one massive hit with Darnell Mooney, a diamond in the rough who turned out to be easily the best receiver in Fritz's eight years. Darius Bradwell, recruited as a quarterback who could not throw, turned into a 1,000-yard running back and a solid player. P.J. Hall became a very solid starter at DB in his last two years. DeAndre Williams had a tremendous junior year on the defensive line before losing his starting job midway through his senior season. Lawrence Graham was a productive linebacker in his final two years. Will Harper had a decent senior season at safety with 33 tackles.

And that's it. The other 17 players in the class were either busts or not very productive. Tyler Johnson started a fair amount on the offensive line but was not particularly effective. Jonathan Brantley had his moment in the sun running the option while conducting long TD drives on the first two series at Oklahoma in 2017 before throwing a pick six on the third and never being heard from again essentially. Three-star recruit Tre Jackson (the son of Jack Jackson, whom I covered at Florida and was a very good receiver there) never panned out. Wide receiver Jacob Robertson, another one of three 3-star recruits in the class, was a minor contributor, as was DB Larry Bryant.

A.J. Walker, Chase Napoleon, Phabion Woodard, Miles Strickland, D.J. Owens, Coby Neenan, the impossibly skinny Chris Johnson, Deion Rainey, Eric Lewis and Jonathan Wilson were nonentities for varying reasons.

Sumrall almost assuredly will be successful, but it is highly unlikely he will rely heavily on this class. Hopefully he can fare better with the class than Fritz's staff did in year 1, though. He's certainly starting from a better point in selling the program.

The move to a 3-4 defense should be interesting and we probably won't know a whole lot until the Spring regarding where each player ends up. We've basically been playing with three down linemen, a standup edge player, and two linebackers. With only Machado (hopefully, depending on the extent of his injury) and Grubbs returning at LB with much in the way of experience, we now will apparently start four linebackers. I'd think the guys who played the Joker/Dog position might be first up at outside linebacker but Hodges and Deal, our primary guys at the position, are now gone. A "beefed up" nickle back could also be an option. Does anybody have any thoughts on an intial depth chart for a 3-4 defense. Depending on down and distance we apparently will also play between four and seven backs, though we've also done that in the past.

Roll Wave!!!

Guerry, Does Tulane still have interest to Joshua Jackson and/or Jayden Scott?

Football Scoop and 247 are reporting that Troy DC Greg Gasparato and ILB coach Taylor Polk are joining Sumrall’s staff at Tulane.

Roll Wave!!

Any information?

I did a similar preview for NOLA.com but am adding some categories here. I will say Tulane probably already is out of the running for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament unless it wins the regular-season title and wins three of four from Memphis and FAU, both of which are exceedingly unlikely. The NET rating is too low and the performance of teams like Bradley, which lost four in a row after winning the tournament Tulane was involved in, has been too poor.

This is my best guess as to the order of strength in the new-look AAC.

1) FAU (11-3)
NET: 21
Best wins: Arizona in Las Vegas, where the Wildcats had won nine in a row. Texas A&M on a neutral court
Worst losses: Bryant, Florida Gulf Coast
Outlook: I have no explanation for why FAU has the two worst losses of anyone in the top 25--truly awful defeats--but I know this much. At their best, the Owls can beat anyone. They do everything well. The people who think this team is fraudulent will learn they don't know what they are talking about sooner or later.

2) Memphis (11-2)
NET; 40
Best wins: Arkansas, Texas A&M, Clemson, Virginia, all when they were ranked
Worst Loss: None. Only defeats were at still undefeated Ole Miss and to Villanova on a neutral court
Outlook: Memphis, which has five new starters and is led by transfers from St. John's, Alabama and Kansas State, has helped the AAC immeasurably by faring well against a tough schedule. I just don't think the Tigers' ceiling is as high as FAU's. They seem to have better chemistry than any of Penny Hardaway's previous teams.

3) Tulane (9-3)
NET: 124
Best win: None. I was going to say Furman, but Furman just lost to Division II Anderson, a tiny Baptist university in South Carolina.
Worst loss: None. Maybe Bradley if it continues its current trajectory after preseason projections of being pretty good.
Outlook: The real problem for the Wave is it lost to the three best teams it played, and two of them are not at-large NCAA contenders. With a non-conference schedule strength of 297, that won't cut it.

4) SMU (10-4)
NET: 45
Best wins: FSU and West Virginia, but both wins sound better than they actually are. FSU is 6-6. West Virginia is 5-8
Worst loss: Arizona State, but that's not really bad. The Sun Devils are 125 in the NET and 53 in RPI.
Outlook: I'm not sure how SMU's NET is as high as it is, but it has not been blown out by anyone despite playing three highly rated teams in Wisconsin, Dayton and Texas A&M. The Mustangs have been outstanding defensively under Rob Lanier, Ron Hunter's successor at Georgia State.

5) UAB (9-5)
NET: 206
Best wins: Drake, Maryland
Worst losses: USM, Arkansas State
Outlook: I don't understand why UAB's NET is so low, but there does appear to be a gap between the top four and the rest of the league. The Blazer, who were picked by most to finish third in the league ahead of Tulane (though the coaches had Tulane third), lost by 1 to Clemson and to Bradley in OT before their back-to-back bad defeats. They've won five in a row but barely beat UTSA in their AAC opener.

6) Wichita State (8-5)
NET: 108
Best wins: Richmond, Southern Illinois
Worst loss: South Dakota State
Outlook: New coach Paul Mills, who came from Oral Roberts, has a largely new roster and seems to know what he is doing. For the most part, the Shockers have beaten the bad teams and lost to the good teams, but they have been reasonably competitive most nights.

7) North Texas (7-5)
NET: 94
Best win: none.
Worst loss: Fordham, on a dunk at the buzzer to lose by 1 right after Fordham lost a close game to Tulane.
Outlook: It is mystifying how this team, which lost its coach and a ton of talent from last year's NIT champion, is in the top 100 of the NET based on its results. Clearly, that formula places a huge emphasis on margin of victory and loss, which is why Tulane got hammered for its debacle against Mississippi State and North Texas was not hurt as much by losing twice by one points, once by four (to LSU) and once by five. It was routed by Miss. St., too.

8) East Carolina (7-7)
NET: 229
Best win: North Carolina-Wilmington
Worst losses: South Carolina Upstate, East Tennessee State
Outlook: Now we're probably in the range of garbage teams, but ECU was down only 2 to FAU with five minutes left last night before I started watching and FAU went on an 18-0 run or something like it. Eat Carolina was competitive with potential NCAA tourney teams Florida and South Carolina in December, which is more than the rest of the bottom half of this league can say.

9) Tulsa (9-3)
NET: 190
Best win: Missouri State
Worst losses: Little Rock, Oral Roberts
Outlook: With a joke of a non-conference schedule (358th out of 362 D1 teams; by comparison Tulane's is 297), it is impossible to get a read on this team, which finished 1-17 in the AAC last year with the lone win against Tulane. I'm banking on second-year coach Eric Konkol, who had a good reputation at former stop Louisiana Tech, to start figuring out some things.

10) South Florida (7-4)
NET: 161
Best wins: Northern Iowa, FSU, although neither is actually that good of a victory.
Worst losses: Central Michigan, Maine.
Outlook: Losing to Maine is a bad look in any sport, but the loss to Central Michigan (338) ranks as the worst by any team in the AAC according to the NET. The Bulls beat FSU by 16, so maybe new coach Amir Abdur-Rahim is making headway at a school that has finished below .500 in league action every single year in the AAC.

11) Temple (7-6)
NET: 200
Best win: none.
Worst losses: Old Dominion, Columbia
Outlook: The Owls are trending in the wrong direction under first-year coach Adam Fisher, falling by 24 to Nevada and 15 to Old Dominion before squeaking past Portland by 1, but they lost by 1 earlier to undefeated Ole Miss. It's hard to figure how a program that reached the NCAA tournament six consecutive times from 2008-13 has gotten to this point, but Aaron McKie paid the price at the end of last year and the best player, Damian Dunn, transferred to Houston.

12) Charlotte (6-7)
NET: 123
Best win: George Mason
Worst loss: Stetson
Outlook: By performance, Charlotte should be considerably higher on this list, but I watched the 49ers against SMU last night and they looked terrible offensively. By that unscientific method, I am downgrading them. Their CBI title last year doesn't carry much weight with me, either.

13) Rice (6-7)
NET: 223
Best win: None (their 5 D1 wins were versus teams with a combined record of 11-42).
Worst loss: None, but the Owls were uncompetitive against their tougher opponents, losing all five by at least 15.
Outlook: The upgrade to the AAC put Rice in a pretty hopeless situation. The Owls finished with a winning record in Conference USA play only once in 18 years. That's probably why they did not bother replacing seventh-year coach Scott Pera.

14) UTSA (6-8)
NET: 296
Best win: None with a NET better than 244.
Worst loss: Lamar, Little Rock, Army
Outlook: Army, which is 2-9 against D1 foes, got one of those wins by 10 at UTSA. Enough said. The Roadrunners were 7-31 the past two years in Conference USA and also did not bother replacing eighth-year coach Steve Henson, who remains Kansas State's all-time assists leader.

Guerry everyone wants to know the extent of the injuries to Ibieta and Machado. We'd all appreciate anything you can find out about thier situations. Thanks.

Guerry, I know Wilson/Gibson is not your beat but your subscribers here would welcome (insist??!!) on real time reporting and insights on search for Dannen replacement.

I don't want to hear anyone say Tulane was not motivated for the Military Bowl. Whether or not you think the game was meaningless, the players and coaches took it very seriously and when Kai Horton ran for the tying touchdown early in the third quarter, the sideline was as excited as I have seen at any time this year. Ultimately, the coaching and personnel was not good enough to hang with Virginia Tech for four quarters, particularly after Jesus Machado went out with a knee injury in the first quarter. Tyler Grubbs was fantastic in the first half, combining for 15 tackles with Jared Small, but as that duo got tired, it combined for only four tackles in the second half. Machado had 23 more tackles than anyone else this year for a reason. He stays in his gap and makes every play that comes to him.. Grubb is more of a freelancer, and the whole defense was not gap sound for the final 25 minutes with a makeshift defensive coordinator not able to get them back on track.

Slade Nagle, Grubbs and Makhi Hughes were made available after the game.

NAGLE

"Obviously not the outcome we were looking for, but you've got to give these guys a lot of credit. They held it together, they fought. We made a couple of mistakes in the first half that if we didn't have it would have been a little bit different going into halftime and the third quarter, but we played our tails off and fought. We just couldn't make the plays, and you've got to give Virginia Tech a lot of credit. They made a lot of plays in the last quarter and a half. It's disappointing, but there's a lot of bright things I believe in the future for Tulane football. There's a good core group of guys on this team that will be back, and looking forward to a lot of good things."

On losing Jesus Machado:

"Any time you lose a guy like Jesus early in the game, it hurts. He's an experienced player who's played a lot of football and is a leader on the defense, but we have other good players, too, with Tyler and Jared Small and those guys. Mandel Eugene came in. It hurt losing Shi'Keem Laister at the end of the first half and Justin Ibieta, I hate it for him, he went down again with an injury. But all in all, you've got to plug guys in and make plays." (he said Ibieta was a leg injury and Machado was a knee injury)

On Virginia Tech's running success:

"Yeah, we've been strong against the run all year. I think when you add the quarterback into it, then that gives them a little bit different element. Obviously he's a dynamic player and had a huge impact on the game, so tip your hat to them. They did a great job. I wish we could have had a couple more stops, but heck, we needed to convert a couple more as well on offense and not fumble on the 1 and those kind of things."

On thoughts about his future:

"No, we're going to shower and go home and be together as a team for these last few hours and we'll see where everybody goes after that."

TYLER GRUBBS

On the week in Washington:

"This week was honestly, my first bowl game was my freshman year (at Louisiana Tech) and we only went there for one day because it was COVID and it was in New Orleans, which I'm from, so it really wasn't as big of a thing for me, but this was my first real bowl game being able to hang out with my friends and my family. Just to experience Washington D.C. was really awesome, to see things a lot of people in their life won't see, and just being with the guys and the team around the holidays just kind of shows the brotherhood we have for each other. I was really appreciative of everybody that was with me for the holidays."

On what changed down the stretch:

"I don't think there was anything very particular for us on defense that was here's the answer for everything that they were doing. There were a lot of things we were doing on defense, just not fitting our gap here and there that just kind of exposed our defense a little bit in the run game. But I don't think it was one certain thing."

On weather effect:

"I think always when it rains like this, it kind of favors the defense on both sides of the ball because it tends to be more run game, and going into the game here we had a really good run defense. I don't think it really affected us that much, but it did a little bit."

HUGHES

On how game got away:
"There were just a lot of mistakes in the second half. We talked about keeping our head up and keep moving. We didn't give up. It was a blessing to be here and come out with the seniors."

RELEVANT VIRGINIA TECH QUOTES

BRENT PRY

"I've got a ton of respect for Tulane. 11 wins, 24 wins (actually 23) over a couple of years, it's hard, and we're making good progress. We've got the most unbelievable fan base. A testament again tonight. They sat through that rain, cheering these guys on and stayed to it. We were truly at team that just kept getting better and better."

On weather as factor:

"Obviously I need to do a better job and we need more wet-ball work. It wasn't a lack of effort. We've got to make sure we are putting the emphasis where it needs to be. It was tough conditions. You can't really simulate it. They had the same weather we had. Both teams had to deal with it."

On running game:

"Any time we've had success this year really we've been able to run the ball. That's who we need to be. That's who we want to be. With Kyron and his ability to stretch the field sideline to sideline with his running, that opens it up for Bhayshul. We've worked the alleys, which is really important to make people defend the field."

On leading the nation with 16 runs of 30 or more yards:

'It's critical. We've got explosive players. We have an offensive line that improved each and every week. We block on the perimeter as well any group I've been around. We've got some guys that really spark the run game and get it going. Every time they touch the ball, they've got a chance to go the distance."

On defender moving to his left just before snap and then forcing fumble on first-and-goal at the 1:

"It was just a late stem, and he's an explosive guy. He's hard to block at times. Our offensive line knows that. We try to move the front enough to keep the offensive line honest. That was a big play."

On significance of win:

"There's a lot of good things happening within our program right now. Getting a win over a ranked team that had 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl victory last year. This was a good team that's been well coached for a bunch of years. They had a chip on their shoulder. This was the type of win that we couldn't find during the season. We didn't play as well as we could today and we were able to win by three possessions."

On being 7 of 14 on third down and 2 for 2 on fourth down while Tulane was 2 for 10 on third down:

"We were able to get manageable situations. We have positive plays on first down and on second down. We didn't have as many third and longs (only one conversion was from third and more than 5) as some of the games when we haven't had that type of percentage. In that type of weather, converting on third down and fourth down is tricky, and we needed to be able to do that to score those points."

On transfer portal player (Da'Wain Lofton) recovering Dontae Fleming's muffed punt:

"It's a testament of the culture in this program. He laid it on the line all game long and was nursing a hamstring (injury). He just wanted to do it for his teammates and go out with a victory and have a ring that says champions on it. (Cornerback) Derrick Canteen was the same way today. Those guys laid it on the line all year. They are just looking for the opportunity that's right for them. I hate that they are leaving. I love those guys, but I'm certainly glad that they stuck with us and were part of this victory today and that they'll have a ring forever and ever that says champions on it."

TUTEN

"It was tough sledding the first half, but we just kept pounding it and pounding it. We were more physical than them and we made them throw in the towel. We just totally dominated them."

Well we have seen the Nagle/Horton offense and the Rob Green defense. Any questions?

Lawrence Keys really wants to play in the Military Bowl, but I don't think it will happen, and Slade Nagle confirmed my suspicion today when he said it was very unlikely he would be able to go. He has not practiced all week but is out on the field taking mental reps in the hope he can suit up one last time in his college career.

Kai Horton has taken first-team reps every day, with Justin Ibieta getting the second-team reps, but they are getting the same number of reps.

Shedro Louis, who was wearning No.14 earlier in the week, is back to No. 0.

Makhi Hughes is practices. I do not think he is 100 percent healthy but he is good enough to play and still has four more days to get totally right.

Parker Peterson has joined the two-deep defensive line and has been pretty active in practice.

Tahir Annoor, whose role has expanded along with Darius Swanson in the absence of DJ Douglas, had a nice interception off a deflected pass on Wednesday. A scout-team tight end made a heck of catch with Annoor draped all over him, but it turned out to be walk-on Andrew Wilks rather than one of the two freshman scholarship guys.

Rayshawn Pleasant is getting a lot of reps with the second unit in the absence of Jarius Monroe, and he had an interception Wednesday.

Nick Anderson spent some time on the sideline giving individual instruction on technique to freshman linebacker Dickson Agu.

At the end of Thursday's practice, it looked like Valentino Ambrosio was going to attempt a 63-yard field goal, but after the ball was snapped, he did not kick it. It was some type of walk-through. Dang. He's never shown much leg past 50 yards, so I would have been fascinated to see where the kick went.

Tulane has enough players to compete well against Virginia Tech. The question is whether the combo platter of lame-duck coaches and young coaches who are stepping up to new assignments can guide this team to a win when it is shorthanded at receiver as well. I have my doubts.

SLADE NAGLE (Thursday)

"On thoughts after fourth bowl practice:

"It's been good. The kids have really had a great attitude. I think they've practiced hard, prepared well. We've had some fun. We went out the Go-Kart track yesterday, and guys enjoyed that, so looking forward to it. It's been good. We still have a little bit left to go to prepare, and they know that. We'll keep working towards the game. We've decided to finish this thing right, and there's only one way to do it as a coaching staff and that's to put everything into it for these guys that are here and try to go win a football game. The attitude's been positive for the coaching staff and players and it's just one more opportunity to get out there and have fun together and compete, so that's what we're looking forward to."

On singular focus being on bowl game:

"We've really just focused on hey, finishing the season. This is this year's team and guys that want to be here are here, and obviously we've had a few guys that made decisions not to be here, and everybody has the right to make a decision for their personal well-being and whatnot, but the guys here are excited about it. We feel like we have a team that can be competitive, and I know we'll go out and play hard and they're preparing great, so everything's good so far."

On Horton and Ibieta:

"Both have practiced really well. Both are ready to go. They are excited with the opportunity to get out there and play. It's any athlete, when you come to college, especially at quarterback, your hope is to get back there and lead the offense. We are going to play them both and kind of see where things go and go from there as the game goes."

On Virginia Tech:

"Defensively they are really talented up front. They do a good job, not overly complicated but they are well coached and play well. Offensively they made a quarterback change at some point in the season, got a spark there and have been playing a lot better and putting points up on the board, and then special teams wise, they are coached really well as well. Not overly complicated, but they execute and get the job done. They are a good team. Coach (Brent) Pry has done a good job there and you can tell they are getting better and better each week."

NAGLE (Friday)

On if Keys can play in bowl:

"No, I don't think he's going to be able to play. He hasn't been able to practice. We were holding an outside chance that he could, but it doesn't look he's going to get there. It's a shame for him. He's such a great kid and wanted to play his last game, but he'll help us. He's been helping us on the field coaching and all that kind of stuff."

On everybody else being ready:

"Everybody who started the week is still out here and we're full steam ahead."

On work to do in Maryland:

"They get a break tomorrow from practice with the travel day, and we talked about refocusing. Sometimes when you practice for so many days in a row on one opponent, a little complacency can get in there, but overall this week's been really good. We really want to refocus once we get there and crank it up a notch mentally and physically and get after it a little bit."

Tim Sullivan of HokieHaven.com answers five questions and makes a prediction for the Military Bowl:

Engaging the Enemy

I need to do it this way, the same as I have done on every signing day. '

Just go to the story on the front page and keep hitting refresh for updates.

It was a beautiful morning to practice today--chilly but sunny, which is perfect football weather. Kai Horton definitely is taking first-team reps at practice, with Justin Ibieta second and Darian Mensah third. IRe know Slade Nagle said Horton and Ibieta would play against Virginia Tech, and it certainly may happen, but over the years I've heard coaches insist multiple quarterbacks were going to play and then not followed through once the game started. Regardless of who plays, the quarterback is going to have to come up huge against Virginia Tech because I guarantee you the Hokies will stack the line of scrimmage to try to take away Makhi Hughes and dare this team to beat it in the passing game. Receivers Yulkeith Brown, Bryce Bohanon and Dontae Fleming must make plays in the absence of Lawrence Keys, Jha'Quan Jackson and Chris Brazzell. Brown is still developing, and Fleming did not develop at all this year, but both are capable, and Bohanon can be a decent possession receiver to complement them. If they can't get open or drop passes, Tulane likely will have no shot.

On that note, freshman Hunter Summers turned in a heck of a play today, leaping to catch a pass over the middle and holding on to it as he collided with safety Darius Swanson. Players were coming up to Summers offering congratulation minutes after the play, and Slade Nagle congratulated him one-on-one at the end of the drill. Summers disappeared after showing promise in preseason camp, but maybe he can do something in the bowl game. Even if he can't, he still looks like an exciting prospect for the future.

Darian Mensah has a good arm but it is scattershot at the moment. A.J. Hampton intercepted a pass that was behind a receiver.

With Tulane's deep defensive line missing only Darius Hodges and probably Adonis Friloux, who I did not see at all today, the deep reserves will not get a chance to play in the bowl. Jah'rie Garner and Gerrod Henderson were scholarship players on the scout team defense today along with linebacker Taylor Love while the other guys were walk-ons. I have not seen Maxie Baudoin Monday or today, and he is the only scholarship player still listed on the roster that I have not spotted on offense or defense.

I mentioned it in another thread, but Shedro Louis is wearing No. 14 in practice. He will be his usual 0 in the game.

I talked to Nagle briefly before getting Fleming and cornerback A.J. Hampton, two guys I have identified as X factors for the game--Fleming because he is capable of big plays even though he has not produced them at Tulane and Hampton because he is a starter-quality cornerback getting his first start in his one season at Tulane because of Jarius Monroe opting out. Hampton did not play well when Monroe went out with an injury against North Texas, getting benched himself for a while in the second half, but he is a good player who started 19 times for Northwestern.

NAGLE

On Fleming:

"I don't necessarily know it's something that didn't go right. More to the fact that he was just behind a couple of guys and some guys that were playing well, but this will be big for him. It will be a game for him to go out there and show what he can do. He's got ability for sure, and he's a great kid. He's smart and does what you ask him to do, and hopefully he does a good job and makes some plays in this game."

On surviving coaching change without roster being gutted as testament to culture in place:

"I think so. Being here the last eight years with coach Fritz, he did such a great job of leading the place, and then the kids also. They enjoy each other and have a lot of buy-in to it and they've done a great job of buying in and creating the culture as well, so hopefully it will carry us through one more game this year."

DONTAE FLEMING

On huge opportunity:

"It's a big opportunity. I didn't get the season I wanted, but I just can't let that affect me. I just have to work and get better every day. The opportunity came. Now it's here, so I have to go out there and perform to the best of my ability with my teammates and come out with the W."

On what went wrong:

"Nothing went wrong that's really in the players hands. It's all in the coaches' hands, so I didn't let that bother me. I just kept it going and came into practice every day and practiced my butt off just waiting for the opportunity to come."

On Virginia Tech likely daring receivers to make plays:

"I'm looking forward to it. That's going to be a good one because now I just get to go out there and have fun and just play the game that I love."

On why coming back:

"One of the reasons is just coming back home, playing in front of your family in this atmosphere and a lot of your family members get to come to the game. They were coming to the game when I was up there, but they can come as a group now since it's closer to home. It's just that feeling you have when you're playing in front of your family in this atmosphere at Tulane."

On not putting head down:

"I stayed positive because you never know what could happen. You never know who might get hurt and just stay positive and keep moving. That's all I knew--stay positive and my time was going to come, so I had to just grind."

On strengths:

"My best strength on the field is I'm long, fast and I can get in and out of routes and I have great hands. That's it basically. This game could be a little preview showing everybody what I can do."

A.J. HAMPTON

On starting final game:

"It's huge. It's one, the ability to come to play with a team that has a great culture. We've sat there and watched it all year, just the dynamic, the relationships we have. This is very important to me because it means they are trusting me, so I'm just taking all this preparation ready to go out there and take it one play at a time and have fun with my guys."

On 2020 bowl game when Northwestern beat Auburn:

"Absolutely. Started versus Auburn that year."

On feeling for final game:

"I'm always very emotional. I love the game of football. I'm very passionate, so I always feel whenever I get out there I don't want to let my teammates down, but the biggest thing for me is just going out there and having fun. We've been playing this game since we were little kids. There's really nothing different. They are on scholarship. We are on scholarship. They are going to make plays. We are going to make plays. You can't ride the emotional roller coaster. You just have to go out there and trust your brothers and play for them."

On his level of play:

"I feel like I've played good. The one dynamic of our room is we're all able to learn from each other. That's the biggest thing. Our room was so deep and so good and every game we're just going out there and making plays and just having fun playing for each other. It's just really taking that importance and taking it to the field and playing for your brothers."

On when learned Monroe was not playing:

"Probably a day or few days before he told everybody else because that's my guy. We had been talking. I told him whatever decision he made, I'm here for him. He's like my best friend. I love that kid, I love Lance, I love both of them. Literally I came here for this team, this culture. It's not just one player. I told him I wish him nothing but the best, I'm going to be cheering him on. I told him if he has any questions, call me."

On North Texas game:

"You could say it's my worst, but for me it was things easily correctible. Some of those mistakes we made in the game, you go back and look at the film and are like, why did I do that? Oh, I got bad eyes right there. I just didn't trust my leverage, so obviously it's bad to everybody else's eyes, but you go back and look at it in the film room and just do some small corrections on the field and you'll be good."

On what he loves about football:

"My favorite thing is the interactions with other people. I'm very social. I love getting to meet people. I love getting to talk and just learn. I feel like one thing in life is you're able to learn from a lot of people whether you want to listen a lot. In football you get to meet so many people every day, people that work behind the scenes, people that work on the scene, people that you've never even talked to. For me that' just huge."

Happy with choice to go to Tulane:

"Absolutely. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

On focus for bowl game:

"I feel like the culture will hold up. We are all passionate about football. Fritz was a great coach. Obviously people were a little let down by (his leaving), but at the end of the day everybody on the team loves football. Our goal is to go 1-0. We don't want to go out there and lose. We wish coach Fritz and all them nothing but the best, but at the end of the day we have one more opportunity with our family, so we have to go out there and take it to them."