Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football

The program began play in 1901 when the school was known as Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute. The school's sports teams were known as the Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs from 1921 until 1973. The school's fight name was formally changed to Ragin' Cajuns in 1974, which had been in use since the 1960s. In 1999, the university took on its current name, at which point its sports teams were referred to as Louisiana–Lafayette. A rebranding in 2017 dropped "Lafayette" from the Cajuns' name. Between 2011 and 2014, the Cajuns won four consecutive New Orleans Bowls, representing the most successful stretch in the program's history at the time, but later had to vacate two of the victories due to NCAA violations. Between 2018 and 2021, during the tenure of head coach Billy Napier, the Cajuns reached many milestones, including the first National ranking in program history, four consecutive division championships, two conference championships, three bowl championships, and the best season finish and conference finish in the 2021 season, finishing 13–1 and 7–0 in conference play. The Cajuns have had several players go to play professionally in the National Football League (NFL), including Jake Delhomme, Charles Tillman, Brian Mitchell, Orlando Thomas, Brandon Stokely, Elijah McGuire, Elijah Mitchell, Kevin Dotson, Chris Cagle, Ike Taylor, and Robert Hunt. Before 1974, the team's official nickname was the Bulldogs, although the current nickname was in common use with the football team for approximately the decade prior. Division history ==Conference affiliations==

Louisiana has been both independent and a member of four different conferences. • Independent (1901–1947) • Gulf States Conference (1948–1970) • Southland Conference (1971–1981) • NCAA Division I-A independent (1982–1992) • Big West Conference (1993–1995) • Independent (1996–2000) • Sun Belt Conference (2001–present) ==Championships==

Conference championships Louisiana has won 10 conference championships, with the 2013 championship later vacated. ^ The 2020 championship game was not played due to Coastal Carolina impacted by COVID-19 pandemic For College Football Playoff purposes, Coastal Carolina was viewed as the 2020 Sun Belt Champions. Recognizing that the College Football Playoff committee had no jurisdiction to that magnitude coupled with a desire to prevent the diminishment to the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns football team’s accomplishments in 2020, Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory declared, by executive proclamation, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns football team as the 2020 sole champions of the Sun Belt Conference in football. Division championships Louisiana has won five division championships with the most recent in the 2024 season. ^ The 2020 championship game was not played due to Coastal Carolina impacted by COVID-19 pandemic ==Postseason history==

National Junior College Athletic Association NCAA Small College Division NCAA Division I FBS Since joining the NCAA Division I-A (FBS) in 1978, the Ragin' Cajuns have played in 13 bowl games, although two of those games (which were victories) were vacated due to sanctions. Officially, they have a record of 5–6 in bowl games. † Vacated ==Home stadiums==

McNaspy Stadium In 1940 McNaspy Stadium was built on the campus of Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). It served as the Cajuns home field through the 1970 season and was demolished in 2000. McNaspy Stadium was located at the site where the current computer science building Oliver Hall now stands. Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium is a football stadium located in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana, and has served as the home field of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team since 1970. Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium has an official capacity of 41,426 with 2,577 chairback seats, and its nickname is "The Swamp." In June of 2021 it was announced that Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium would be undergoing a $75 million renovation, with construction slated to begin summer of 2022. The plans are to demolish the current West Tower, and replace it with a state of the art facility, including amenities such as premium suites, a club level and club seats, loge boxes, and press box. Because of a $15 million donation, the stadium will now be known as “Cajun Field at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.” ==Head coaches==

† Hudspeth's record of 51–38 was reduced to 29–38 due to alleged NCAA violations. ==Rivalries==

Lamar Although no longer an active rivalry, the first Sabine Shoe trophy was first awarded in 1937 to the winner of the SLI–Lamar football game. The name of the bronze rivalry trophy was derived from the Sabine River that forms the Texas-Louisiana border. USL defeated Lamar in the 1978 edition of the rivalry game, but the Ragin' Cajuns were not awarded the trophy as it had vanished. The Sabine Shoe trophy now sits in at trophy case in the Ragin' Cajun Athletic Complex. McNeese State Another former rivalry. When active the Cajun Crown was the name of the trophy between Louisiana and McNeese State. Southeastern Louisiana This is another former rivalry. The Cypress Mug was the turned, polished mahogany mug awarded to the winner of the Southwestern–Southeastern football game. ULM The Battle on the Bayou is the annual rivalry game between Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns and ULM. The wooden boot-shaped rivalry trophy was created in 2002 to be awarded to the victors. Appalachian State Arkansas State Louisiana Tech ==Notable players==

• Michael Adams • Louis Age • Patrise Alexander • Boris Anyama • James Atkins • D'Anthony Batiste • Bill Blackburn • C. C. Brown • Levi Lewis • Wayde Butler • Chris Cagle • Raymond Calais • Max Mitchell • Anthony Clement • Kenyon Cotton • Richie Cunningham • Jake Delhomme • Michael Desormeaux • Kevin Dotson • Tyrell Fenroy • Jason Fletcher • Ladarius Green • Justin Hamilton • Alonzo Harris • Mark Hall • Kyries Hebert • Keno Hills • Weldon Humble • Robert Hunt • Elvis Joseph • Damon Mason • Percy Butler • Randy McClanahan • Elijah McGuire • Brian Mitchell • Elijah Mitchell • Donovan Morgan • Christian Ringo • Todd Scott • Rafael Septién • Antwain Spann • Fred Stamps • Trey Ragas • Brandon Stokley • Ike Taylor • Orlando Thomas • Charles Tillman • Clarence Verdin • Tracy Walker • Melvin White == Future non-conference opponents ==

Announced schedules as of December 16, 2025. ==See also==