Practice starts Wednesday morning, but here are a few tidbits from Phil Steele's preview magazine.
1) He does not have Tulane going to a bowl game, which means he must believe FIU will win the opener. Since he has the Wave third in the West, he has to think it will win at least four conference games plus Missouri State. He has FIU as the best team in CUSA in his power ratings. HIs bowl teams from the AAC are SMU (Frisco Bowl), Houston (Cure Bowl), UCF (Boca Raton Bowl), USF (Gasparilla Bowl), Temple (Military Bowl), Cincinnati (Birmingham Bowl) and Memphis (Cotton Bowl).
2) He ranks Tulane's defensive line 26th best in the nation. The only Group of Five lines rated higher are Marshall at No. 21 and Boise State at 23.
3) He ranks Tulane's running backs No. 27, an impressive number but below Cicinnati (No. 11), UCF (No. 12) and USF (No. 18). LSU is two spots higher at 25.
4) He ranks Tulane's special teams No. 47. The improvement under Fritz in that area has been tremendous.
5) He has Patrick Johnson as the No. 31 DE. Cam Sample is not on the list of 91. His injury last year knocked him off the radar but I expect he will make a huge impact quickly this season.
6) Darnell Mooney is the No. 37 WR. If he gets over the case of the drops he developed last year, he will justify that ranking.
7) Darius Bradwell is the No. 55 RB. That's lower than I would have him.
8) Tulane is 76th out of 130 teams in the power poll, which rates overall talent regardless of schedule. The Wave is behind No. 27 Cincinnati, his pick to win the East (I agree with him), No. 39 UCF, No. 46 Memphis, his pick to win the West (I have the Tigers third) and No. 69 Houston (I'm leaning toward picking the Cougars first in the West, which would be a good thing for Tulane since my last two picks in the West were 2017 Tulsa, which went 1-7, and 2018 Navy, which went 2-6). He has Temple at No. 79 and SMU at No. 81 but expects them to go to bowls because of easier schedules than Tulane.
9) Tulane's other FBS opponents: FIU is No. 64, Auburn is No. 10, Army is No. 67, Tulsa is No. 95, Navy is No. 99 and UConn is No. 129.
10) He expects the AAC to be the best Group of Five conference this year. Surprisingly, he rates the Mountain West ahead of the AAC based on performance last year.
1) He does not have Tulane going to a bowl game, which means he must believe FIU will win the opener. Since he has the Wave third in the West, he has to think it will win at least four conference games plus Missouri State. He has FIU as the best team in CUSA in his power ratings. HIs bowl teams from the AAC are SMU (Frisco Bowl), Houston (Cure Bowl), UCF (Boca Raton Bowl), USF (Gasparilla Bowl), Temple (Military Bowl), Cincinnati (Birmingham Bowl) and Memphis (Cotton Bowl).
2) He ranks Tulane's defensive line 26th best in the nation. The only Group of Five lines rated higher are Marshall at No. 21 and Boise State at 23.
3) He ranks Tulane's running backs No. 27, an impressive number but below Cicinnati (No. 11), UCF (No. 12) and USF (No. 18). LSU is two spots higher at 25.
4) He ranks Tulane's special teams No. 47. The improvement under Fritz in that area has been tremendous.
5) He has Patrick Johnson as the No. 31 DE. Cam Sample is not on the list of 91. His injury last year knocked him off the radar but I expect he will make a huge impact quickly this season.
6) Darnell Mooney is the No. 37 WR. If he gets over the case of the drops he developed last year, he will justify that ranking.
7) Darius Bradwell is the No. 55 RB. That's lower than I would have him.
8) Tulane is 76th out of 130 teams in the power poll, which rates overall talent regardless of schedule. The Wave is behind No. 27 Cincinnati, his pick to win the East (I agree with him), No. 39 UCF, No. 46 Memphis, his pick to win the West (I have the Tigers third) and No. 69 Houston (I'm leaning toward picking the Cougars first in the West, which would be a good thing for Tulane since my last two picks in the West were 2017 Tulsa, which went 1-7, and 2018 Navy, which went 2-6). He has Temple at No. 79 and SMU at No. 81 but expects them to go to bowls because of easier schedules than Tulane.
9) Tulane's other FBS opponents: FIU is No. 64, Auburn is No. 10, Army is No. 67, Tulsa is No. 95, Navy is No. 99 and UConn is No. 129.
10) He expects the AAC to be the best Group of Five conference this year. Surprisingly, he rates the Mountain West ahead of the AAC based on performance last year.
