Successful seasons for Saints, Tigers, Green Wave together should be savored

Hope you are enjoying the football season for the local big three. That is Saints, LSU and Tulane.

Collectively for the three, this is the best combined season since 1987.

That year, the Saints reached the playoffs for the first time, winning 12 regular season games.

LSU won 10, lost 1 and tied 1. The only blemishes on the Tigers’ record were at home, a loss to Alabama and a tie with Ohio State.

Tulane won six games against a very challenging regular season schedule and lost to Washington in the Independence Bowl.

Of course, 2011 was terrific for both the Saints and LSU.

The Tigers won their first 13 games, only to lose to Alabama in the BCS championship. The Saints won 13 games for the second time in three seasons, before falling to the 49ers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.

Alas, Tulane finished 2-11 in the 2011 season. After a 49-10 drubbing of Alabama-Birmingham, Tulane lost 10 straight games.

In 2018, all three have reached or exceeded expectations.

Tulane was aiming for its first bowl bid since 2013, and the Green Wave will again play Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cure Bowl.

LSU, despite three losses including a seven overtime loss at Texas A&M, will play in a New Year’s six bowl game for the first time since the current playoff system was implemented for the 2014 season.

What you will hear in coming days and weeks is just how important these bowl games are to the futures of the programs.

The Green Wave and the Ragin’ Cajuns will cross paths in recruiting, thus a victory in the Cure Bowl adds additional meaning.

Tulane’s appearance against Louisiana-Lafayette in the 2013 New Orleans Bowl was billed as a precursor of good things to come. But it wasn’t. Back to back three-win seasons followed.

Last year, after a stinging loss to Notre Dame in the Citrus Bowl, LSU was allegedly on a slide.

Yet against one of the toughest schedules in the country, LSU won nine games including victories over Georgia, at Auburn, and in Arlington, Texas in the opener against the University of Miami.

It turns out that Notre Dame was even better than advertised. The Irish will play Clemson in the CFP semifinals.

The Saints have merely picked up where they left off a year ago.

Against what ranked as the second toughest schedule in the NFL, New Orleans has won 10 of 12.

If you don’t think strength of schedule is important, here’s two nuggets.

The Houston Texans, with the easiest schedule in the league, won their ninth straight game Sunday. On the same day, the Green Bay Packers, playing the toughest schedule in the NFL, lost to Arizona and fired head coach Mike McCarthy.

So, local football fans should savor this season.

For the big three, collectively, it is the best in 31 years.