How Have Highest Ranked G5 Teams Done in the Playoff Era?

How Have Highest Ranked G5 Teams Done in the Playoff Era?
Fact Checked by Nate Hamilton

The Tulane Green Wave are riding high entering the team’s 2023 campaign, fresh off the school’s first 12-win season since 1998 and on the heels of the program’s first ‘New Year’s Six’ bowl game victory.  

Now, the Willie Fritz-coached squad finds themselves ranked in the AP preseason top 25 for the first time in school history, coming in at No. 24 in the collection.

Given that the Green Wave are ranked highest among all G5 teams. LouisianaBets - your home for Louisiana sportsbooks - took a look at the highest ranked preseason G5 teams of the CFP era, and how they ultimately fared. 

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Highest Ranked G5 Teams In Preseason AP Poll, By Year

YearTeamPreseason RankFinal RecordFinal Rank
2022 Cincinnati #229-4Unranked
2021 Cincinnati #1013-1#4
2020 UCF #216-4Unranked
2019 UCF #1710-3#24
2018 Boise State #2210-3#23
2017 USF #2110-2#21
2016 Houston #139-4Unranked
2015 Boise State #249-4Unranked
2014 NA NANANA

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Tulane Has A Shot At History In 2023

Only one Group of Five school has ever cracked the four-team CFP, when Cincinnati did so out of the American Athletic Conference in 2021.  

Two years later, the Green Wave have a shot to do the same out of the AAC, with oddsmakers at BetMGM Sportsbook Louisiana listing the school at +35000 to win their first national title this season.  

Tulane’s futures are much rosier when it comes to their AAC prospects, with BetMGM Sportsbook Louisiana listing the Green Wave at +250 to win the conference (ahead of SMU at +300 and UTSA at +400 for the No. 1 spot) and giving them a preseason win total over/under of 9 entering the year.  

The Green Wave will have a shot at showing their mettle out of the gate, with a home game against SEC up-and-comer Ole Miss on Sept. 9 and road games against teams like Southern Miss, Memphis, East Carolina and FAU during the conference slate.  

For now, Tulane fans can bask in the glow of being the preseason Group of Five darlings for the first time in decades, as the Green Wave look to shock the world once again by winning 12 or more games this fall. 

LouisianaBets.com continues to keep up to date with the latest sports betting news and has all of the latest Louisiana sportsbook promos for you to take advantage of.

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Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan writes for LouisianaBets.com and has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, with experience at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.

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