1998 Liberty Bowl

1998 AXA/Equitable Liberty Bowl
AXA/Equitable Liberty Bowl logo
BYU Cougars Tulane Green Wave (9–4) (11–0) 27 41 Head coach:  LaVell Edwards Head coach:  Chris Scelfo AP Coaches BCS 10 10 10
1 2 3 4 Total BYU 6 0 0 21 27 Tulane 10 10 14 7 41
Date	December 31, 1998
Season	1998
Stadium	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Location	Memphis, Tennessee
MVP	Shaun King, Tulane QB
Attendance	52,197
Payout	US$1,100,000
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Rich Waltz, Rod Gilmore, Holly Rowe
Liberty Bowl  < 1997  1999 >

The 1998 AXA/Equitable Liberty Bowl, part of the 1998 bowl game season, took place on December 31, 1998, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The competing teams were the Tulane Green Wave, representing the Conference USA (C-USA) and the BYU Cougars, representing the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Tulane won the game 41–27 to finish along with the Tennessee Volunteers as the only undefeated Division I-A teams for the 1998 season.

The 1998 Tulane squad entered the season with returning C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Shaun King at quarterback and picked to finish tied for second place with East Carolina in the preseason conference rankings. Following their week two victory over SMU, local media started to mention the Green Wave as a potential at-large opponent to play in the Sugar Bowl as pert of the inaugural Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Although Tulane finished the regular season with an 11–0 record, since they finished outside the sixth position in the final BCS standings, the Green Wave did not qualify for a BCS bowl game. Instead they were invited to the Liberty Bowl as C-USA champions. The appearance in the game marked Tulane's first bowl since the 1987 Independence Bowl, and their third all-time appearance in the Liberty Bowl.