Football
8/4/2025 2:00:00 PM






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NEW ORLEANS — Following its seventh-straight Bowl Season appearance and its fifth Sun Belt West Division title over the past seven seasons, Louisiana will kick off its 2025 campaign on Saturday, August 30, when it hosts Rice at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+. 
 
The teams have split six prior meetings, with Rice proving victorious in the most recent matchup, 33-21, in Houston, Texas, in 2022. 
 
Louisiana’s non-conference slate also features a home meeting with in-state foe McNeese (Sept. 6) and road contests at Missouri (Sept. 13) and Eastern Michigan (Sept. 20). Alongside annual dates with their West Division rivals, the Ragin’ Cajuns conference schedule includes a visit from Marshall (Sept. 27) in a rematch of the 2024 Sun Belt Football Championship Game and a road trip to Sun Belt East Division favorite James Madison (Oct. 11). 
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns were picked to repeat as Sun Belt West Division champions, while claiming 6-of-14 first-place votes in last month’s 2025 Sun Belt Conference Football Preseason Coaches Poll. 
 
Fourth-year head coach Michael Desormeaux—the reigning Sun Belt Coach of the Year—will lead a roster that returns four All-Sun Belt honorees from 2024 and had six players named to the 2025 Preseason All-Sun Belt teams—tied for the third-most in the conference. 

The Ragin’ Cajuns are coming off a 10-4 season in 2024, including a 41-38 win over autonomy conference foe Wake Forest. Louisiana was part of the Sun Belt’s eight-team Bowl Season contingent that paced the non-autonomy conferences for the third-straight year. 

 

Louisiana has earned a bowl berth in each of the past seven seasons—spanning the entirety of the Billy Napier and Michael Desormeaux eras at the helm of the Ragin’ Cajuns program. The Ragin’ Cajuns postseason streak is the second-longest among non-autonomy conference programs entering the 2025 season, trailing only Memphis (11). 

 

To listen to head coach Michael Desormeaux, redshirt senior offensive lineman Jax Harrington and redshirt senior defensive back Tyree Skipper’s comments from the 2025 Sun Belt Football Media Days, visit the Sun Belt Conference YouTube page. 

2025 SCHEDULE




8/30
Rice


9/6
McNeese


9/13
at Missouri


9/20
at Eastern Michigan


9/27
Marshall*


10/11
at James Madison*


10/18
Southern Miss*


10/25  
at Troy*


11/1
at South Alabama*


11/8
Texas State*


11/20
at Arkansas State*


11/29
ULM*

* Sun Belt Conference Game 
 
2024 ALL-SUN BELT RETURNERS
Second Team
DL – Jordan Lawson, Louisiana (RS Sr., DL – Brandon, Miss.) 
DB – Tyree Skipper, Louisiana (RS Sr., DB – New Orleans, La.) 
 
Honorable Mention
RB – Zylan Perry (RS Jr., RB – Franklin, La.) 
OL – Jax Harrington (RS Sr., OL – Erath, La.) 
 
2025 PRESEASON ALL-SUN BELT SELECTIONS
First Team
DL – Jordan Lawson, Louisiana (RS Sr., DL – Brandon, Miss.) 
DB – Tyree Skipper, Louisiana (RS Sr., DB – New Orleans, La.) 
 
Second Team
RB – Bill Davis, Louisiana (RS So., RB – LaPlace, La.) 
OL – Jax Harrington, Louisiana (RS Sr., OL – Erath, La.) 
OL – George Jackson, Louisiana (RS Sr., OL – Stone Mountain, Ga.)
LB – Cameron Whitfield, Louisiana (RS Sr., LB – Houston, Texas)Â