Report: Tulane Green Wave Set To Face Florida Gators in Gasparilla Bowl

The Tulane Green Wave have found out their bowl game destination to close out the 2024 season.

Action Network college football insider Brett McMurphy broke the news on Sunday afternoon that the Green Wave would be headed to Tampa, Fla. to take on the Florida Gators in the 2024 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl.

This is one of the first games played in bowl season, taking place at 2:30 pm CT on December 20. It will be the first time in three years that it will be an AAC team taking on an SEC team.

Tulane has never taken part in the Gasparilla Bowl. The Gators were a part of the 2021 edition, where they fell to the UCF Golden Knights by a score of 29-17.

McMurphy shared a projected spread for the matchup that has Florida favored by nine points. That is one of the larger spreads among the current confirmed bowl games.

Whereas the Green Wave have been ice cold to close out the year, the Gators have caught fire. Despite Tulane having a better record, it is no surprise that they are heavy underdogs in this one.

Florida has won three straight, two of them against Top 25 opponents in the LSU Tigers and Ole Miss Rebels.

Star freshman quarterback D.J. Lagway has taken over the offense and they look much different. He has completed 56.9% of his passes for 539 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions during their win streak.

They also boast a three-headed attack at running back, which could give the struggling Green Wave defense some trouble.

Jadan Baugh, Montrell Johnson and Jackobi Jackson each have at least 450 rushing yards, 5.1 per attempt and six touchdowns this season. Lagway can run if he needs to as well, but he is a pass-first quarterback.

Before Tulane can truly get prepared for this matchup, they await the full decision on Jon Sumrall's future. That could have a huge ripple effect on who actually plays in this game.

Should the roster and coaching staff remain the same, they will be looking for the offense to settle down and find their identity again.

Makhi Hughes has been stifled during the last two games and it has led to Darian Mensah and the pasing game to resort to desperate bombs.

The Green Wave defense has also had an impossible time getting off the field and stopping the run.

This could be a great chance to bring back some momentum for the program after two bad losses in primetime.