Tulane ticket-holders party in anticipation of Saturday football versus Ole Miss

Fans came to Tulane University in waves Saturday to tailgate ahead of the game against Ole Miss at Yulman Stadium, a sold-out showdown that could allow the Green Wave to make a statement and exact some sweet revenge. 

The Tulane football team has high expectations following last year’s 12-2 season that saw them crowned Cotton Bowl champs. They face an Ole Miss squad that pounded them 61-21 when they last met in 2021. Both are Top 25 teams.

“The whole campus is like electric right now,” said T.J. Ballay, a Tulane first-year student from Philadelphia. “Seeing Tulane transition into a football school now … was awesome.”

On Tulane’s quad, families filled dozens of reserved tents while others tailgated with their own gear ahead of the 2:30 p.m. game.

Students clad in green and light blue filtered in from the surrounding neighborhoods to congregate at The Boot Bar and Grill at Broadway and Zimple streets, with fraternity parties blasting music and carrying chants nearby. 

Tulane fans stand at the door of The Boot Bar and Grill guarded by security Sept. 9, 2023 in anticipation of a 2:30 p.m. kickoff versus Ole Mi…

Ballay said Tulane’s football program factored into his choosing the school as a graduating high school senior. He was hoping for a “good game” and that a competitive match can help put Tulane on the map. 

“I want it to be very close. I want it to be well fought,” he said. 

Monica Basilio, a Loyola University New Orleans senior, said Loyola students have been just as hype about the competition and its surrounding fun. 

“Loyola doesn’t have a football team …,” she said. “I’m here for the festivities.”

Back on the quad, as fans drank and ate near games of corn hole and bounce houses, Kevin “Greenwave man” Corcoran danced to the band performing on stage.

Corcoran’s love of the green and blue began 47 years ago, when he was 7, he said, and his late father first brought him to watch Tulane football in the Superdome.

Fans pose for a photo with Kevin “Greenwave man” Corcoran in front of a stage on Tulane’s quad Sept. 9, 2023. The celebration was in anticipat…

Now clad from head to toe in Tulane garb complete with a blue wig, Corcoran hopes Saturday’s game confirms “a new era” for Tulane football. 

“If we win this game, we’ll probably have some respect around the nation,” he said. 

Stoney Thomas sat on a bench at the perimeter of the quad Saturday, sticking out with a red Ole Miss tee. He said his family flew in from Georgia to watch their son, A.J. Brown, play cornerback for Ole Miss. 

“We follow him everywhere he goes,” he said. 

But for Tulane fans desperate to take home a win, Thomas predicted Ole Miss is “going to have a spoiler for them.”