Tulane officially claimed the AAC championship with a 34–21 win over North Texas, closing out the conference season behind a masterful defensive performance and a statement game from newly hired Florida head coach Jon Sumrall. But while Tulane looked dominant against the Mean Green, one of the Green Wave’s closest battle of the season came weeks earlier against a team now directly tied to the SEC’s future: Ryan Silverfield’s Memphis Tigers.
As Arkansas fans evaluate what their new head coach brings to Fayetteville, one of the clearest datapoints is how Silverfield’s Memphis team performed against the same Tulane squad that just controlled the AAC title game.