Tulane Receives One Vote in AP Preseason Poll

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On August 17th, the Associated Press released their first preseason rankings for the 2026 season, which you can see here.

Among all teams that received votes, there are only three American Conference teams who received votes: Tulane (1), Memphis (3), and Navy (10).

In the coaches poll, Tulane received zero votes, while Memphis received nine and Navy received three.

What Does it Mean?

Absolutely nothing. We're kidding of course... well, sort of.

In literal terms, yes, this list means nothing. This top 25 list is purely to give an idea to people who the contenders are, and who's looking to top said contenders.

This is by no means a tell on how this season will play out. For reference, LSU has been ranked in the top 15 in the AP preseason rankings for the past two years, but then went on to finish the season unranked.

That's no shot at LSU (wink wink), but it's just an example of how these rankings aren't a good tell of how the season will play out. Especially since Tulane themselves have been ranked during the preseason, only to finish unranked by the end of the year (although they weren't in the top 15 that year, they were 24th [2023]).

That doesn't mean this list is useless though, as it's a decent metric to gauge at least how good a team is supposed to be and what teams you should at least look out for during the year.

All in all though, the Top 25 list, both AP and the coaches poll, is mostly a popularity contest. Who passes the eye test the best? Because the committee is likely to put in a 10-2 Alabama or Ohio State over a 12-0 Boise State.

They might both make the playoffs, sure, but let's not pretend like Boise State is going to get a higher seeding. Whether or not that's fair is another debate entirely, and we've shared our thoughts before about the G5's involvement in the playoffs.

TU's Opponents

Although Tulane managed to squeeze one vote out of the AP, its American counterparts, Memphis and Navy, were able to get a few more than the Wave.

Starting with Memphis, who received twelve votes across the AP and coaches poll, they seem to be the top contender for the American Conference along with Navy according to voters.

The only team that TU actually plays, however, is Memphis.

After a crash-and-burn year last year, where they seemed to completely collapse despite having all of the momentum, the Tigers will be hoping to bounce back.

A horrible loss to UAB put Memphis in a rough spot, as they could no longer afford to lose to anyone remaining on their conference schedule. They had a three week stretch that would see them play USF and Tulane, but to their benefit, the games were going to played in Memphis.

The Tigers would take care of buisiness against the Bulls, but would fall short against the Wave in what was a must-win game if they wanted to see the conference championship.

As if things couldn't get any worse, they'd lose the following two games to ECU and Navy.

Although there are two American Conference teams that were selected ahead of Tulane, keep in mind that these polls are just an idea of what the media thinks, and it won't be representative of how any team will play.

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