McNeese State Cowboys football


The McNeese State Cowboys football program is the intercollegiate American football team for McNeese State University located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are members of the Southland Conference. McNeese State's first football team was fielded in 1940. The team plays its home games at the 17,410 seat Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

History

On August 31, 2013, McNeese State opened their season by defeating the South Florida Bulls, 53–21. It was the largest margin of victory by a Football Championship Subdivision team over a Football Bowl Subdivision team since the NCAA split Division I football into two divisions in 1978.

Championships

Southland Conference champions

The Cowboys have participated in six bowl games, the first three being College Division bowl games and the last three being against Division I-A teams. They also participated in the Cajun Bowl against the Southern Arkansas Muleriders in 1947, which ended in a scoreless tie.

Rivalries

Central Arkansas

The two teams have met 9 times on the football field with McNeese State leading the series tied 5–4–0. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2015.

Games playedFirst meetingLast meetingMcNeese winsMcNeese lossesTiesWin %
10September 17, 1994 October 15, 2016 550

Lamar

The two teams have met 34 times on the football field, with McNeese State currently holding a 24-9-1 agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.

Games playedFirst meetingLast meetingMcNeese winsMcNeese lossesTiesWin %
34November 10, 1951 November 19, 2016 2591

Louisiana Lafayette

The Cajun Crown was the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana–Lafayette and McNeese State.

Games playedFirst meetingLast meetingMcNeese State winsMcNeese State lossesTiesWin %
37September 22, 1951 September 10, 2016 20162

Northwestern State

McNeese State leads the series with Northwestern State 45–22–1 through the 2018 season.

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:
;NFL
;CFL
Announced schedules as of October 8, 2018.