The Ragin’ Cajuns have officially clinched home field for the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Dec. 4. With kickoff set for 2:30 p.m., Cajun fans expect one of the largest turnouts in school history.
The chance to play in front of the loyal fans of Acadiana is something Coach Billy Napier and the Ragin’ Cajun staff have been working towards since he took over a handful of years ago.
Winning the West division yet again, the Cajuns earned their chance to play in the Sun Belt Conference championship, but a Coastal Carolina loss to Georgia State solidified their chance to play at home.
“We’re so excited to host this event,” Nico Yantko, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette deputy director of athletics for external operations, said.“We’re so excited for our coaches, our student-athletes and really so proud of our staff and our fans to give us the opportunity to position us to host the thing.”
The Cajun Field capacity is set at 41,426, and with the championship game to be aired on ESPN, it’s imperative Cajun faithful show out and let the world know we have arrived. To clinch home field so early in the year is also something important for the operations side of the stadium.
Preparation is key for an event of this magnitude and the Ragin Cajun workers that do so much behind the scenes now have roughly three weeks to get this stadium ready. Yantko expressed just how important it is to get things ready ahead of time to make sure everything is prepped and ready to go.
“Clinching home-field advantage so early in the season is just tremendous to us not only for preparation for Dec. 4, but hopefully a confidence to propel us over the next two weeks to get us to the end zone,” Yantko said.
It’s still up in the air as to who the Cajuns will face Dec. 4, but Coach Napier and this team have an idea of who it could be. With either another matchup against Appalachian State or the granddaddy of them all, Coastal Carolina, there’s a sense of what’s to come.
Another team in the mix is Georgia State, a foe who has the chance to give the Cajuns another test as they already have. Though, it’s hard to not want this team to face Coastal Carolina after last year’s debacle. After traveling to their home turf, COVID-19 protocols called off the conference championship, devastating the entire UL Lafayette team.
With the opponent still remaining uncertain, the chance to play in front of the faithful Cajun fans is something this squad is extremely thankful for. Dec. 4 will be one for the record books as Coach Napier looks to lead this squad to a Sun Belt Conference championship.