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Football: Sweet home slateTim Buckley, The Advertiser, August 25, 2012 Preseason Sun Belt Conference favorite Florida International comes to Cajun Field on Sept. 29. Defending champ Arkansas State visits almost a month later, on Oct. 23. And Western Kentucky — which didn’t play in the 2011 postseason, but like FIU, ASU and UL was bowl-eligible — is here Nov. 17. Considering stated aspirations for the Ragin’ Cajuns in 2012, those are three highlights of a six-game home schedule that would seem to play right into the hands of coach Mark Hudspeth’s club. "Those definitely are three teams that are gonna be tough ones," starting center Andre Huval said. "But they have to come through Lafayette," Huval added. "We’ve got them at home. And one of the team goals is to win every home game. So if we accomplish that, I think we’re gonna run away with the championship." And taking the Sun Belt, make no mistake, is high on UL’s wish list for this season. Especially after it failed to last season, when it nevertheless went to the New Orleans Bowl and beat San Diego State there. "If we win every game at home, we’d be in a great position to win the Sun Belt," starting outside linebacker Le’Marcus Gibson said of a Cajuns team that finished third in the Sun Belt last season behind Arkansas State and runner-up Western Kentucky. "I mean, we should win the Sun Belt. "Considering the teams that are in front of us right now in the conference — they have to come through us. "» They’ve got to come here, so the road to the Sun Belt championship kind of leads through us this year." After opening Sept. 1 at home against Southland Conference member Lamar, the Cajuns also have seemingly advantageous spacing in their 2012 schedule. They travel to face preseason No. 19 Oklahoma State, then have an off week before playing host to FIU in that critical Sun Belt matchup. After Conference USA-member Tulane pays its first visit to Cajun Field since 2000 on Oct. 6, the Cajuns will have nine days off — three more than during a usual week — before visiting North Texas for an ESPN2-televised game on a Tuesday night, Oct. 16. And after Arkansas State visits for another ESPN2-televised game on a Tuesday night, they’ll have a 10-day break before playing Nov. 3 at UL Monroe. But what the Cajuns really are counting on most is their perceived leg up at home, where they averaged a school-record and Sun Belt 29,171 for five games last season. That was up 11,778 from 2010, a nation-leading increase. "When you’re averaging 28-, 29,000 thousand," Hudspeth said, "that, to me, gives you an advantage. Because in the Sun Belt, that’s pretty strong." In fact, it’s off the charts. UL’s average of 29,171 was 7,914 more than next-highest Arkansas State last season, and it’s 11,000-plus more than the Sun Belt average sans its own count. No other Sun Belt team besides UL and ASU averaged more than 19,000 in 2011, and one — UL Monroe — averaged just 15,512. "I think it’s gonna benefit us a lot, because it’s tough to play at Cajun Field," starting safety Rodney Gillis said. "We’ve got great fans, and we feel that energy when we’re at home. We feel like we can’t lose at home." The Cajuns close out their home schedule Nov. 24 against first-year Sun Belt football member South Alabama. "We put so much emphasis on winning at home," said Hudspeth, who went undefeated on Cajun Field in his first season in charge at UL. "Then to have three top teams from last year coming into Cajun Field — hopefully it’s gonna be a huge advantage."
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