Just one week ago, the hopes of Wave Nation were all but dashed. A heart wrenching two-point loss at the hands of "We Are Marshall" brought Tulane's losing streak to eight games. A season that had started with so much promise was evaporating before our very eyes. One more loss would have dropped them to below five hundred for the season.
Fortunately, basketball is a game of streaks. The senior class, which has had to endure as much as any class anywhere, ever, during the past four years, simply has too much pride to end their careers with nine straight losses. For such a notoriously unlucky group, last Saturday's statement victory over East Carolina provided an unexpectedly fortuitous consequence: a first round rematch with the Thundering Herd in the C-USA tournament.
It is often said that a wounded animal can be the most dangerous, and the Green Wave entered last Wednesday's contest with that week-old sting still fresh in their minds. Both teams had extensive knowledge of the other, so the game came down to which team wanted it more. In a fearsome defensive struggle, Tulane simply had more grit. I suppose that after surviving Katrina, surviving an elimination game seems a bit easier.
These victories got the Wave's season rolling once again, but for their efforts they were rewarded with the draw of No. 3 Memphis in the second round. While the Green Wave fell short, their persistence kept them relatively competitive for much of the game, even after Memphis began the game with a 20-4 run. Of course, the Tigers are quite possibly the best team in the country, let alone the conference. However, every observer at the beginning of the year would have said that for Tulane to reach their ultimate goal of an NCAA tournament bid, they most likely would have to knock off Memphis.
A match up with any other team would at best have meant only delaying the ultimate objective. A win over UAB or Houston would not have gotten them into the real postseason. It simply would have been a stumbling block, a chance to lose without a chance to really win in the big picture. Tulane was going to have to beat them, so it was good to face them in the beginning. Any talk of how Tulane should have lost to East Carolina on purpose to avoid being in Memphis' side of the bracket is irrational.
Memphis was a huge obstacle, no doubt. However, to this group of seniors, that's nothing new. Out of fire comes friendship. A team that has gone through so much together is dangerous to a complacent giant. Even if the critics are right, and they do lose as expected, nobody will remember this class as losers. They were the three that didn't leave. They stood with the city, and in doing so did a service for those looking for a distraction. Kansas, North Carolina and Duke may win more games, but no team has fought as hard as the Wave.
2008 Woodie Awards
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