If you haven't noticed The UL Ragin' Cajuns accepted an invite to the R&L Carrier's New Orleans Bowl for their first bowl game in 41 years and First official bowl game since the creation of FBS and FCS rather than Div. I and Div II football! This is so awesome as the Cajuns finished the season with an 8-4 record (should have been 9-3 but the refs who officiated the Arizona game was truly giving the wildcats home field advantage by either blowing call after call on the Cajuns or making up bogus calls in key situations of the game to hand them the loss 45-37. If atleast two of those calls were taken back, then The Cajuns would have ended up with the win. But screw it. I can not describe how excited I am for this bowl game and cannot wait to be screaming in the stands. This will practically be a home game for UL as we are expecting atleast 25-30k to go watch the Cajuns take on the recently announced San Diego St. Aztecs who also finished 8-4 in the Mountain West Conference! It will be a really good match-up as they have a beast of a running back who has 1900ish total yards and almost 24 total TD's roughly. So this also means that they must have one hell of an offensive line as well. If you are wondering who the hell San Diego St. is, they recently started gaining more success in football again and some big name football alumni are Marshall Faulk and Kyle Turley, both of which have New Orleans ties.
For everyone who plans to attend, or at-least visit New Orleans, expect to see a sea of RED down Bourbon St. as the weekend approaches for Dec. 17th game! It will be some wild and crazy Cajun fans yelling and screaming for the Ragin' Cajuns on their way to a rapid growth in the UL Athletic community and Their first Cajun Bowl victory!! I expect there to be an awesome New Orleans Saints atmosphere in the Super Dome and if I would make a prediction on the game, I would say UL Ragin' Cajuns 35 San Diego St. Aztecs 32!
Other Sun Belt and Louisiana Match-ups
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech in the Poinsetta Bowl
...La Tech has done great this year but I Don't see them beating TCU
Arkansas St. vs. Northern Illinois in the Godaddy.com Bowl
This is the MAC champ vs. the Sun Belt champ and I think Ryan Aplin is a beast so I'm going with Ark St.
Florida International vs. Marshall in the Beef O' Brady's Bowl
This game is played in Florida so upside to FIU, who was the favorite to win the Sun Belt and Marshall has a good offense but I think FIU is the better team and will have no problem with the Thundering Herd.
LSU vs. Alabama in the BCS Championship
So this is what everyone is waiting for and honestly I think Alabama is extremely hungry for revenge but it wont be easy as LSU has one of the best defenses I have ever seen in college football (But I'm only 26). I am confident to say that Alabama, though it will be another nail biter, Will be Triumphant and piss off alot of Ok St. fans saying, "That should have been us" as the Crimson Tide will be the New #1 and get their revenge!! I can't wait to watch the rematch (The one the LSU Tiger fans didn't want cause honestly they're scared). Alabama FTW! Roll Tide...
So yes, Sunbelt....the conference everyone thinks they can walk allover will be 3-0 in Bowl games and Alabama will be the BCS Champs
More about College football, There have been alot of coaching changes and Rumors around Mississippi. Ole Miss HC Houston Nutt was fired, Southern Miss HC was a huge candidate, with all the controversy wrapped around Penn St., It was rumored Miss St. HC Mullen was a huge candidate for that job with the Nittany Lions but Mullen claimed to never get a call, happy where he is in the Sun Belt (Who would want to leave the best Conference in the Nation for that mess anyway?? Well With so many Job openings around Mississippi, or even the drama starters that wanna mention the job opening at Poo Lane University, There began to have talk with Mark Hudspeth as a huge candidate with all the sudden success he has been having at UL on the FBS level. He has had previous Head Coaching Experience at North Alabama and Delta St. but that is on lower college football levels and not the "Big Stage". Well If you are a Ragin' Cajun Die Hard this is a disaster, soap opera, and heart-breaker all wrapped up in one because We finally have an opportunity to turn the corner, possibly move up to a better conference with all the craziness going on with conference realignments, and be a huge competitor in Louisiana with the other Div I universities (ULM, La Tech, Tulane, LSU) Right now LSU is on top of a Mountain and looking down and laughing at UL with their big hopes, but They will start shitting bricks when we start competing with them athletically soon. By soon I say within 3 or 4 years soon.
Well after about a month of sweating rumors on Message Boards from Arizona, to South Louisiana, to Tennessee (Memphis), to Mississippi, Coach Mark Hudspeth Reassured his Fans and Ragin Cajun Community that he will DEFINITELY be a Ragin Cajun Next year and Scott Farmer, University Athletic Director, stated the goal is to make Hud the Highest paid Coach in Sun Belt Conference! I was so delighted to hear this news and hope Hud continues to Hold on to that Rope that he encouraged all his players, staff, and Fans to hold on to because he is one of the major contributors to the rapid growth of success and support in this community and an abrupt change in coaching position would mean a Train Wreck to the university and the momentum it has going for them. So thank you Coach for choosing Lafayette, LA to start a historical Career and I hope you fulfill every goal and dream you have with the University of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns. Thank you for seeing the same potential in this Community and Fan base that many of the die hard's shared. Can't wait to see you and the rest of the Team in the SuperDome December 17th!!!
Well that's all I got for now but I'll have another update soon with details on my trip to New Orleans for the Tournaments at Harrah's and of course the New Orleans Bowl!!
Thanks for Reading,
Matt Stroud
