USA TODAY International Edition
Sole ranked Louisiana team hits prime time
Unbeaten Cajuns to play on ESPN
LAFAYETTE, La. – One Football Bowl Subdivision program from Louisiana is nationally ranked this week, and it is not the one most might expect.
It is Sun Belt Conference member Louisiana ( 3- 0), which moved up from No. 23 to No. 21 in the Amway Coaches Poll and The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday, the same day defending national champion LSU dropped out of both rankings after its 45- 41 loss at Missouri. The Tigers ( 1- 2) had been No. 16.
Reaction to the reality was from the heart for members of a Group of Five team that’s spent decades living in the shadow of its big brother from the Southeastern Conference.
“I love it,” said Jalen Williams, a starting receiver who prior to transferring to the school in Lafayette spent the 2016 season as a walk- on redshirt at LSU.
“This is something I dreamed of; really, everybody on the team dreamed of,” starting defensive end Andre Jones added. “We always have been labeled as a smaller school; underrated. We’re gonna shock the world now. We’ve just got to keep it going.”
The Cajuns get a chance to do just that Wednesday night at 7: 30 ET in front of an ESPN audience when they host Coastal Carolina ( 3- 0).
That UL is ranked in both polls one spot below 3- 1 Iowa State – which it beat 31- 14 in the season opener for both – hardly seemed to matter.
“You know, it comes with the territory as you start to build a program and develop a team that’s got an identity that people respect on the outside looking in. It’s a good thing for everyone involved,” coach Billy Napier said of the Cajuns, nationally ranked for the first time since 1943, when it was in the AP Top 20.
“We’ve got to remember what got us that recognition and why people’s opinion of us maybe has changed over time,” said Napier, a former Arizona State and Clemson offensive coordinator, “and that’s because we’ve worked hard to improve … and we compete and we execute on game day, and we play winning football. ... We need to continue to do that work so we can finish.”