The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs have arrived in the Crescent City in advance of Saturday’s R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The 8-4 Bulldogs will face the 9-3 Sunbelt Conference champion Arkansas State Red Wolves. Tech coach Skip Holtz says Arkansas State is a talented team, especially on the defensive side of the ball where they lead the nation in takeaways and interceptions…

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Saturday’s game kicks off at 8PM in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It will be televised on ESPN.

McNeese State Athletics Director Bruce Hemphill has scheduled a press conference this afternoon to give an update on the future of the school’s football program. It’s expected that he will announce that Defensive Coordinator Lance Guidry will be the team’s new head coach. Guidry is reportedly McNeese’s top choice to replace Matt Viator who accepted the head coaching position at ULM.

In college basketball last night UL-Lafayette lost to number 22 UCLA 89-80, Southern fell to Memphis 72-67, Ole Miss defeated Louisiana Tech 99-80, and Florida A&M edged Southeastern Louisiana 67-64.

Tonight LSU takes on Gardner-Webb, UNO is at UMass, McNeese State hosts LSU-Alexandria, Nicholls State is at number 18 SMU, and Tulane tangles with the 11th ranked North Carolina Tarheels in Chapel Hill.

The Pelicans’ five game road trip continues tonight in Utah. The Jazz pummeled the Pels 101-87 on November 28th, but have since been on a bit of a skid. Utah has dropped six of their last eight and are on a three game losing streak. The Pelicans have not been any better, winning just two of their last seven. Tipoff is at 8PM.