Tougher Road Ahead

By Jim Gazzolo

For the better part of the offseason, McNeese sought anybody to play.

The Cowboys searched high and low to find anybody willing to play them.

Home, away, it didn’t matter.

“We will play anybody at any time anywhere,” second-year Cowboy head coach Will Wade has said. 

That was still hard to do. After last season’s 30-4 campaign, the Cowboys were not getting any suitors. They weren’t even getting any nibbles.

Assistant coach Brandon Chambers, who is in charge of the scheduling, admitted his phone wasn’t ringing and his calls weren’t getting returned.

“It has been tough,” Chambers said last spring. “People aren’t really talking to us.”

Slowly that began to change and now, as the Cowboys get ready for their most anticipated season in program history, the schedule has been upgraded. It is now one of the best in McNeese history.

“I really think we have a good schedule, one that will be tough and will get us ready for the improved Southland Conference,” Wade said. “Our league has gotten better. We have to get ourselves ready to go. 

“I think this schedule will do that.”

McNeese opens the season on Nov. 4 against South Dakota State. That game will be played in Sioux Falls as part of the inaugural Field of 68 opening event. 

The Jackrabbits have won the Summit League in two of the last three seasons, earning NCAA Tournament bids in the process.

The Cowboys will also play at No. 2 Alabama and fellow SEC program Mississippi State in the early going. Home games against Santa Clara and North Texas also make for an interesting upgrade and will give local fans a chance to see quality mid-major programs in person.

“We wanted at least two nonconference home games against Division I opponents for our fans,” said Wade. “Getting a really good program from The American Conference (UNT) to come to play us is a really big deal.”

Santa Clara will arguably be the best national opponent to ever play in the Legacy Center, where McNeese went 18-0 at last season.

There will also be a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands around Thanksgiving that will add a little spice to the Cowboys’ schedule. It is a season the players are looking forward to.

“I can’t wait to see what this season is going to be like,” said senior guard Jovhan Garcia, one of three starters returning. “The expectations are bigger. We have big goals.”

McNeese will find out where it stands early, as the first five games will have some major tests, including that trip to Alabama, which made the Final Four last spring.

“We will know what type of a team we are in those first five games,” said Ole Miss transfer Brandon Murray, who played for Wade at LSU one season.

“It is exciting to be a part of what’s being built here,” Murray added. “Who would not want to be a part of this.”

The Cowboys will also have an upgraded league schedule as the Southland welcomed two new teams. Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Stephen F. Austin joined the SLC in July..

SFA was picked for second behind the Cowboys in the Southland’s preseason poll.

“They are a really good addition to our league,” said Wade. “Those will be some tough games.”

Local finals will also get to see the SLC Tournament up close, as it returns to the Legacy Center this spring.

Upgraded talent, a better lineup of home games and higher expectations could lead to an interesting and exciting season for McNeese.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles