Football: How the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns try to stay relevant as college football realigns again

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, August 7, 2021

With Big 12 members Texas and Oklahoma headed to the SEC, some teams in conferences like the Sun Belt brace for what could be another seismic shift in the college football landscape.

UL athletic director Bryan Maggard, however, doesn’t worry about an FBS already divided into Group of Five and Power 5 programs – the Sun Belt, MAC, AAC, Mountain West and Conference MAC in one corner, and SEC, ACC, Pac-12, Big Ten and Big 12 in the other –  splintering even more.

“I don’t fear it, if that’s the direct question,” said Maggard, whose Ragin’ Cajuns belong to the Sun Belt. “I’m not sitting here losing sleep about that, or concerned about it.

“My focus just continues to be ‘How do we continue to position the University of Louisiana to be the best version of itself?’ and every day I come to work thinking about (that).

“If and when we can do that here, particularly in this state, in our region,” he added, “particularly with the fertile recruiting ground we have and the amazing university we have, if we can be the best version of us I do not worry about being a have-not." 

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NCAA Division I football already is dissected into FBS and FCS subdivisions, the latter utilizing a full playoff structure – 24 teams – the former is reluctant to embrace.