GRAPEVINE, Texas – The 16th-ranked Tulane Green Wave arrived in Texas Tuesday afternoon ahead of its first-ever appearance in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

The Green Wave (11-2 overall, 7-1 American Athletic Conference) was the first team to arrive in North Texas ahead of its midday matchup with 10th-ranked Southern California (11-2, 8-1 Pac-12 Conference) in the Classic's 87th edition on Monday, Jan. 2 at AT&T Stadium on ESPN.

Tulane is making its first major Bowl appearance since 1940 and is excited about the opportunity.

"Well, we are fired up," said Tulane head coach Willie Fritz. "We had a nice send-off when we left New Orleans. Great flight. Super drive over. Just excited about the whole week and all the events that are planned. We want to make sure we have fun, but we want to play great when we play the ballgame here against USC. Everybody at the university and our football program's very thankful for everything the Cotton Bowl has done already and is going to do this week. And we're very, very excited about the opportunity."

Last season, the Green Wave won just two games amidst the challenges of working around a hurricane that displaced the team for nearly a month. However, senior offensive lineman Joey Claybrook had a different feeling in the offseason that 2022 could be different.

"You see that in the offseason and camp," said Claybrook, the sixth-year senior.
"Guys don't complain. And when you see that and go through adversity, like here and there, and guys aren't complaining, sticking to the plan, and sticking to what our coaches tell us every single day, that's special in itself. When you see that, you know it's going to be a special year."

And while the Green Wave is focused on the opportunity and the challenge the Trojans present, Fritz pointed out he wants his team to enjoy the moment.

"We want to enjoy ourselves. There's no question about that," said Fritz. "We want to experience everything the Cotton Bowl has to offer, which is a lot. But we also want to make sure when it's time to practice, meet, you know, the guys are locked in, focused in. Because we want to play our best ballgame. And when we take on USC, we're going to have a great challenge ahead of us. And we're looking forward to it."

The 87th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic is Monday, Jan. 2 at Noon CT on ESPN and ESPN Radio. Kickoff is slated for 12:10 p.m.

This year's Classic is a part of the ESPN bowl lineup for the ninth straight year. Mark Jones and Robert Griffin III are set to the call the action from the booth with Quint Kessenich reporting from the sidelines.

ESPN Radio returns as the Classic's national radio partner for the ninth consecutive year with Brad Sham and Dusty Dvoracek in the booth and Taylor McGregor on the sidelines to describe all the action from AT&T Stadium.

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