Sun Belt Conference championship scenarios: Who will Louisiana play in the title game after Week 14?
The Sun Belt Conference Championship Game is all set, as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will face the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana.
While the Cajuns had already clinched the West, their rival was still unknown until Marshall got the better of James Madison. Meanwhile, the game’s official announcement was only made on Sunday morning, as the league had to run through several scenarios to determine where the game would be played.
How Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns made it to the Sun Belt Championship Game
The Ragin' Cajuns are returning to the SBC Championship Game for the first time since 2021. Louisiana finished the regular season with a 7-1 conference record and clinched their title game bid on Friday, when South Alabama lost to Texas State 45-38.
Louisiana still closed out the season with a decisive 37-23 win over UL Monroe on Saturday. Their only Sun Belt loss came against Southern Alabama, a narrow 24-22 defeat.
This is the fifth time that Louisiana has qualified for the SBC Championship Game, a conference record. However, the Ragin' Cajuns are 1-2 in the game, with the 2020 title game canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How the Marshall Thundering Herd made it to the Sun Belt Championship Game
Contrary to the Ragin' Cajuns, who knew that they had qualified for the title game even before playing their final game, the Thundering Herd had to endure a long game on Saturday to book their ticket to the SBC Championship.
Marshall edged out James Madison 35-33 in a double overtime on Saturday to clinch its title game berth with a 7-1 conference record. The Herd overcame a 17-point halftime deficit on the road and secured the win with a two-point conversion from Tychaun Chapman to Braylon Braxton.
Had the Dukes held on to win the football game, Georgia Southern would have won the East Division, as the Eagles finished with a 6-2 conference record and won the head-to-head matchup against Marshall.
This will be Marshall’s first trip to the Sun Belt Championship Game after joining the conference in 2022.
Why is the Sun Belt Championship Game played at Cajun Field?
The Ragin' Cajuns topped the West Division, but the conference had to apply multiple tiebreakers to determine that the game would be played at Cajun Field on Sunday.
According to conference regulations, the composite average of four computer rankings was what finally swayed the game to Lafayette. The Cajuns were already seven spots ahead of Marshall entering Week 14, and the average held after the final weekend of the season.
While Louisiana and Marshall will duke it out for conference supremacy, the conference will finish the season with eight bowl-eligible teams, as Georgia Southern (8-4), James Madison (8-4), Texas State (7-5), Arkansas State (7-5) and South Alabama (6-6) finished at .500 or better.
Appalachian State (5-6) finished the season a game below .500, but due to the cancellation of their game against Liberty because of Hurricane Helene, it remains bowl-eligible if selected.