Memphis beat Tulane on Thanksgiving Day. The win put the Tigers in the AP football rankings for the first time since 2000.

College football's final week claimed its first major victim Thursday night, as No. 17 Tulane fell 34-24 at home against Memphis. Though the result doesn't knock the Green Wave out of the American Athletic Conference Championship Game -- Tulane clinched a berth two weeks ago with a win against Navy -- it did have major implications on a heated College Football Playoff race.

It was hard not feel good about the state of Tulane's program the way they had been playing recently. After suffering two losses in a row to Power 4 schools, th