McNeese Cowboys
SouthlandLake Charles, LACowboy Stadium
2026: 3–4 (2–2 Southland). Last: won at Northwestern State 24–21. Next: at Incarnate Word, Saturday, Oct 24, 5 p.m. ET.
- L 27–38Stephen F. Austin
- W 52–0Texas Wesleyan
- L 24–27Tarleton State
- L 10–27at UT Rio Grande Valley
- W 27–24East Texas A&M
- L 14–63at No. 11 LSU
- W 24–21at Northwestern State
- Oct 24at Incarnate Word
- Oct 31Nicholls
- Nov 7at Houston Christian
- Nov 14at SE Louisiana
- Nov 21Lamar
McNeese has played football since 1940 and is officially 487–311–13; 358 of its 811 games are in our file. They have won 14 Southland Conference titles (the last in 2015), counting shared titles. Since 1976, the NFL Draft has taken 14 players from here in its first seven rounds, 1 of them in the first round. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 1 player from McNeese. Jack Doland (1975–1978) won more games here than any other coach: 29. The most-played rival is Northwestern State: 30 meetings, McNeese leads 25–5. This season, they’re 3–4.
Résumé
- All-time record
- 487–311–13 official; 212–143–3 on file; how we count
- Postseason
- 1–2 bowls, title games, playoff
- AP No. 1 finishes
- 0
- Weeks at No. 1
- 0 of 0 ranked
- Elo now
- 1254
- Computer rankings
- Massey No. 64 · Composite No. 54 in FCS, Oct 17; down 2 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
- Conference titles
- 14 last in 2015
- Bowl record
- 3–3–1 official, bowls only
- Seasons
- 47 since 1964, 358 games
Identity
- Fight song
- On Mcneese
2026 season 3–4
RosterFull 2026 season| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29 | vs Stephen F. Austin | L 27–38 | 37% |
| Sep 5 | vsTexas Wesleyan | W 52–0 | 74% |
| Sep 12 | vs Tarleton State | L 24–27 | 28% |
| Sep 19 | at UT Rio Grande Valley | L 10–27 | 29% |
| Sep 26 | vs East Texas A&M | W 27–24 | 64% |
| Oct 3 | at 11LSU | L 14–63 | 8% |
| Oct 17 | at Northwestern State | W 24–21 | 71% |
| Oct 24 | at Incarnate Word | Preview | 31% |
| Oct 31 | vs Nicholls | Preview | 67% |
| Nov 7 | at Houston Christian | Preview | 42% |
| Nov 14 | at SE Louisiana | Preview | 30% |
| Nov 21 | vs Lamar | Preview | 40% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
This season, game by game
Players
The 2026 rosterThe moneyOn the 2026 team
- Omiri Wiggins439 rushing yards, 4 TD (leads McNeese in rushing yards)
- Devin Lippold744 passing yards, 8 TD (leads McNeese in passing yards)
- Landon Barrett47 tackles, 1 INT (leads McNeese in tackles)
- Cohen Charles41 tackles, 1 INT
- Elisha Edwards23 catches, 361 yards, 3 TD (leads McNeese in receiving yards)
- Jake Strong623 passing yards, 3 TD
Program greats See all
Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at McNeese.
Program strength since 1964
Best seasons everHead coaches
| Coach | Years | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Viator | 2006 | 6–2 |
| Tommy Tate | 2006 | 1–3 |
| Ernie Duplechin | 1979–1981 | 28–6–1 |
| Jack Doland | 1975–1978 | 29–15–1 |
Most-played series
All rivalries- Northwestern State
25–5 in 30
- 2017 W 44–24
- 2018 L 34–37
- 2019 W 30–20
- 2020 W 21–7
- 2021 W 35–17
- 2021 L 20–24
- 2023 W 1–0
- 2024 W 35–3
- 2025 W 50–3
- 2026 W 24–21
Won the last four.
- Nicholls
16–9 in 25
- 2016 W 38–13
- 2017 L 35–37
- 2018 W 20–10
- 2019 L 20–34
- 2020 W 43–31
- 2021 L 14–24
- 2022 L 35–40
- 2023 L 10–31
- 2024 L 19–24
- 2025 L 7–31
Lost the last five.
Next: Oct 31
- Lamar
16–7–1 in 24
- 2015 W 20–14
- 2016 W 41–10
- 2017 W 13–3
- 2018 L 17–21
- 2019 W 27–3
- 2020 L 26–27
- 2022 W 24–20
- 2023 L 27–52
- 2024 L 24–26
- 2025 W 21–19
Won the last one.
Next: Nov 21
| Opponent | Games | MCN record |
|---|---|---|
| Northwestern State | 30 | 25–5 |
| Nicholls | 25 | 16–9 |
| Lamar | 24 | 16–7–1 |
| SE Louisiana | 23 | 10–13 |
| Stephen F. Austin | 18 | 10–8 |
| Louisiana | 17 | 11–4–2 |
| Sam Houston | 16 | 8–8 |
| Central Arkansas | 11 | 5–6 |
Rivals the program names: Central Arkansas, Lamar, Louisiana, Northwestern State.
Every opponent (88)
Every program McNeese has played, A to Z, with McNeese’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.
- Abilene Christian 5–1
- Alcorn State 3–2
- App State 1–0
- Arkansas State 5–3
- Arkansas Tech 1–0
- Arkansas–Pine Bluff 1–0
- Ball State 1–1
- BYU 0–1
- Cal Poly 0–1
- Central Arkansas 5–6
- Chattanooga 2–0
- Dayton 0–1
- Delta State 1–0
- East Texas A&M 3–2
- Eastern Illinois 1–1
- Eastern Michigan 1–2
- Eastern Washington 0–1
- Florida 0–1
- Florida International 1–0
- Fresno State 1–1
- Georgia Southern 2–0
- Grambling 1–0
- Henderson State 2–0
- Houston Christian 6–2
- Incarnate Word 5–6
- Indiana State 1–1
- Kansas 0–1
- Kansas State 0–1
- Lamar 16–7–1
- Louisiana 11–4–2
- Louisiana Christian 1–0
- Louisiana Tech 4–4
- LSU 0–3
- Marshall 2–0
- McMurry 1–0
- Memphis 0–2
- Miami 0–1
- Middle Tennessee 1–0
- Mississippi College 2–0
- Missouri 0–1
- Montana 0–1
- Montana State 0–1
- Nebraska 0–2
- Nevada 0–1
- New Hampshire 0–1
- New Mexico State 0–1
- Nicholls 16–9
- North Carolina 0–0 †
- Northern Colorado 1–0
- Northern Illinois 1–0
- Northern Iowa 0–1
- Northwestern State 25–5
- Oklahoma State 0–1
- Portland State 1–1
- Prairie View A&M 1–0
- Rice 0–1
- Sam Houston 8–8
- Savannah State 1–0
- SE Louisiana 10–13
- Sioux Falls 1–0
- South Dakota 1–0
- South Dakota State 1–1
- South Florida 1–1
- Southern 4–0
- Southern Illinois 2–0
- Southern Miss 0–2
- Southern Utah 3–1
- Stephen F. Austin 10–8
- Syracuse 0–1
- Tarleton State 2–3
- Texas A&M 0–2
- Texas Southern 1–0
- Texas State 4–4
- Texas Wesleyan 1–0
- Texas–Arlington 4–5
- Toledo 2–1
- Tulane 0–1
- Tulsa 2–0
- UL Monroe 8–0
- UT Rio Grande Valley 0–2
- Utah State 0–1
- UTSA 1–1
- Weber State 3–1
- West Alabama 1–0
- West Florida 0–1
- West Texas 7–3
- WVU Tech 1–0
- Youngstown State 1–0
Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.
Conference titles
14, counting shared titlesAs the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.
Conferences
- Independent 1951 and 1971
- Southland Conference since 1982
McNeese’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time).
In the Hall of Fame
Every inductee- Players
- 1
- Coaches
- 0
| 2014 | Leonard Smith DB |
In the NFL Draft
By college- Drafted, rounds 1–7
- 14 since 1976
- First-round picks
- 1
| 1983 | Leonard Smith DB | No. 17, St. Louis Cardinals |
The school
McNeese State University- Enrollment
- 6,241 5,668 undergraduates, fall 2024
- Where
- Lake Charles, Louisiana
- Public or private
- Public
- Founded
- 1939
- Graduates’ median earnings
- $46,453 10 years after starting
Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.
Season by season
National champions| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 1254 | ||||
| 2025 | 5–7 | 4–4 | 1245 | ||||
| 2024 | 6–6 | 3–4 | 1236 | ||||
| 2023 | 1–10 | 1–6 | 1076 | ||||
| 2022 | 4–7 | 2–4 | 1227 | ||||
| 2021 | 4–7 | 3–5 | 1278 | ||||
| 2020 | 3–4 | 1311 | |||||
| 2019 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 1343 | ||||
| 2018 | 6–5 | 5–4 | 1312 | ||||
| 2017 | 8–2 | 7–2 | 1440 | ||||
| 2016 | 6–5 | 5–4 | 1387 | ||||
| 2015 | 9–1 | 8–0 | 1487 | ||||
| 2014 | 6–5 | 4–4 | 1378 | ||||
| 2013 | 10–2 | 6–1 | 1484 | ||||
| 2012 | 7–4 | 4–3 | 1390 | ||||
| 2011 | 6–5 | 4–3 | 1323 | ||||
| 2010 | 6–5 | 5–2 | 1371 | ||||
| 2009 | 9–3 | 6–1 | 1414 | ||||
| 2008 | 2–1 | 1412 | |||||
| 2007 | 10–1 | 6–0 | 1452 | ||||
| 2006 | 7–5 | 5–1 | Tommy Tate, Matt Viator | 1344 | |||
| 2005 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 1284 | ||||
| 2004 | 4–7 | 1–4 | 1251 | ||||
| 2003 | 10–1 | 5–0 | 1485 | ||||
| 2002 | 1–1 | 1302 |
Every season back to 1964 (22 more)
| Season | Record | Conf. | AP pre | AP final | Coach | Elo | SP+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 0–1 | 1280 | |||||
| 2000 | 0–1 | 1278 | |||||
| 1992 | 0–1 | 1276 | |||||
| 1990 | 0–1 | 1286 | |||||
| 1988 | 1–1 | 1325 | |||||
| 1987 | 0–1 | 1301 | |||||
| 1986 | 0–1 | 1355 | |||||
| 1985 | 1–0 | 1425 | |||||
| 1984 | 2–0 | 1438 | |||||
| 1983 | 1–1 | 1425 | |||||
| 1982 | 0–2–1 | 1521 | |||||
| 1981 | 7–3–1 | 3–1–1 | Ernie Duplechin | 1601 | 7.9 | ||
| 1980 | 10–2 | 5–0 | Ernie Duplechin | 1641 | 11.4 | ||
| 1979 | 11–1 | 5–0 | Ernie Duplechin | 1570 | 11.9 | ||
| 1978 | 7–4 | 2–3 | Jack Doland | 1484 | 0.5 | ||
| 1977 | 5–5–1 | 1–3–1 | Jack Doland | 1370 | -1.1 | ||
| 1976 | 10–2 | 4–1 | Jack Doland | 1479 | 4.9 | ||
| 1975 | 7–4 | 3–2 | Jack Doland | 1353 | 4.0 | ||
| 1974 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1259 | ||||
| 1973 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1168 | ||||
| 1965 | 0–1 | 1096 | |||||
| 1964 | 0–1 | 1098 |
Officially 487–311–13 since 1940 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 212–143–3 (358 of its 811 games are on file). Our file starts in 1964; the program began in 1940. Some games are missing from our source.
No season on file for 1966–72, 1989, 1991, 1993–99: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.
Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.