The season hasn't started yet, but Tulane might've already wrapped up the best college football uniforms release of 2026.
The Green Wave unveiled its new "City Edition" uniforms on Wednesday, Aug. 12, honoring New Orleans' Mardi Gras tradition. The uniform features the Jester Angry Wave logo design on the helmet for the first time, along with Mardi Gras beads, a rear bumper that reads "Uptown" and a helmet warning sticker resembling a Mardi Gras float title.
New Orleans is the KING of Mardi Gras! 🎭#UptownFootball pic.twitter.com/V3WNqzOYeG
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) August 12, 2026
The purple, green and gold uniforms also feature numerous subtle details, like Mardi Gras beads hanging from the first and last letter of each player's last name on the jersey's back. It also has an argyle pattern
around the neck and down the side of the pants, an ode to previous Tulane uniforms of the 2000s.
The hand-painted helmets were designed by Armando Villarreal, an airbrushing specialist. Tulane also showed a behind-the-scenes look at the helmets being made in a social media post.
"The 2026 City Edition uniform and helmet celebrate one of our city's greatest traditions, Mardi Gras," the program wrote on X. "For the first time ever, we will wear a uniform inspired by the greatest celebration the world has ever seen, and one that is uniquely New Orleans."
Tulane is strategically wearing its new uniforms in Week 2 against South Alabama, which is based in Mobile, Alabama, one of the original locations of Mardi Gras. Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans have debated where Mardi Gras originated for hundreds of years, with both cities celebrating the French tradition.
"The debate of where Mardi Gras started might never be settled, but there is only on place where it has been perfected," Tulane football wrote on X.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did Tulane just unveil college football's best uniforms of 2026?
