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LOOK: Tulane bringing back its SEC mascot for Ole Miss matchup

SimonGibbs_UserImageby:Simon Gibbs•09/16/21•

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The Tulane Green Wave on Sunday will travel to Oxford, Mississippi to face the No. 17 Ole Miss Rebels in a game that seems like a trip down memory lane for the former SEC program. As such, Tulane will dress as if it were still in the SEC.

The Tulane Green Wave on Thursday released their helmet for the Week 3 contest — one that features their vintage mascot, “Greenie,” from their Southeastern Conference days.

Tulane on Tuesday hinted at a new helmet for the matchup, as they tweeted a picture of the rear side of the helmet, which features an “SEC Champs” decal, highlighting their three SEC conference titles in 1934, 1939 and 1949.

Tulane was one of the 13 founding members of the SEC in 1932, and the university later defected from the conference. Other founding universities that have since left the SEC include Sewanee and Georgia Tech.

The Green Wave competed in the SEC from 1933, the conference’s first season, until 1965, when they left the conference on the tail end of nine-year run that saw them go just 19-68. Tulane’s best years in the SEC came in the early years of the conference; the Green Wave started off SEC history with nine consecutive seasons in which they finished .500 or above, and in that span, they went 58-27.

As for Tulane’s mascot Greenie — Tulane athletics says that the university’s first logo was a pelican riding a surf board, which lasted over 50 years. Midway through the university’s tenure in the SEC, in 1955, the “Greenie” mascot was created by John Chase, a local cartoonist who drew the covers of the Tulane football program and those of many teams throughout the south. Tulane tweeted images of those game programs shortly before the release of the helmet, and the cartoons depict Greenie pulling pranks and/or tormenting the mascots of Auburn, LSU, Vanderbilt, Texas and Virginia Tech.

The mascot was later retired in 1963, when then-athletic director Rix Yard decided it was time for a change.

So far this season, Tulane has been an exciting football team to watch. Although the Green Wave are only 1-1, their Sept. 4 Week 1 contest against Oklahoma was a game to remember. Tulane played Oklahoma close, and even looked to be in a position to upset the then-No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners in what was technically a home game played on the road (due to Hurricane Ida, the Sooners hosted the Green Wave, though Tulane was the home team). They ultimately lost that game 40-35, but Tulane came back with a 69-20 win over Morgan State in Week 2.