mcneese state

EWU will travel to McNeese State for first round of NCAA playoffs
Ray Marcham / Internet Content Editor, KXLY.com
Last updated: Sunday, November 18th, 2007 02:34:48 PM



KXLY4 Staff


CHENEY -- The Eastern Washington Eagles are going to the playoffs, but they won't have an easy game.

The Eagles will be traveling to Lake Charles, Louisiana to play the McNeese State Cowboys in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. It will be the first appearance in the playoffs since 2005 for EWU.

The Cowboys are the champions of the Southland Conference and seeded second in the NCAA playoffs. They went undefeated in the regular season, going 11-0 overall and 7-0 in the Southland. Those wins include a 35-12 win over EWU conference rival Portland State and a 38-17 win over I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) Louisiana-Lafayette. They were also ranked fourth, according to the latest Sports Network poll.

The Eagles last appearance in the playoffs was in 2005, when they lost at Northern Iowa in the first round. Their last playoff win was in 2004, when they beat Southern Illinois.

The winner of the EWU-McNeese State game will play the winner of the Appalachian State-James Madison game in the quarterfinals.

McNeese State was in the playoffs last year, when they lost in the first round at Montana. The Grizzlies, seeded third, will play Southern Conference champion Wofford in Missoula in the first round of the playoffs. The winner will play the winner of the Richmond-Eastern Kentucky game.

Other FCS playoff matchups include Northern Iowa hosting New Hampshire, Delaware playing Delaware State for the first time, Fordham playing at Massachusetts and Southern Illinois hosting Eastern Illinois.
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Northern Iowa grabbed the No. 1 seed on Sunday afternoon when the FCS playoff selection committee announced the 16 teams for the 2007 NCAA Division I Football Championships.

Joining Northern Iowa (11-0) as seeds were No. 2 McNeese State (11-0), No. 3 Montana (11-0) and No. 4 Southern Illinois (10-1).

The playoffs start Friday with a nationally televised game on ESPN of historic proportions when Delaware (8-3) hosts MEAC champion Delaware State (10-1) for the first time at 1:30 p.m. (et).

Delaware was one of a record five teams from the Colonial Athletic Association to make the field. Massachusetts (9-2) won a coin flip with fellow co-champion Richmond (9-2) for the CAA auto bid, while Richmond, James Madison (8-3) and New Hampshire (7-4) were selected with Delaware as at-large teams.

Other at-large berths went to two-time defending national champion and Southern Conference co-champion Appalachian State (9-2), Ohio Valley Conference runner-up Eastern Illinois (8-3), Big Sky runner-up Eastern Washington (8-3) and Gateway runner-up Southern Illinois.

The automatic bids to conference champions were won by Delaware State (MEAC), Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley), Fordham (Patriot) McNeese State (Southland), Montana (Big Sky), Northern Iowa (Gateway), UMass (CAA) and Wofford (Southern).

New Hampshire travels to Northern Iowa and the winner will meet the survivor of the Delaware State at Delaware game. In the opposite side of the top bracket, Eastern Illinois goes to Southern Illinois and Fordham travels to Massachusetts.

New Hampshire is one of only four, four-loss teams ever to earn an at-large bid, joining Appalachian State (1992), Idaho (1995) and Montana State (2006).

Eastern Illinois faces Southern Illinois for the third straight year in the first round.

In the bottom half of the draw, Eastern Washington travels to McNeese State and James Madison plays at Appalachian State.

The match-up between JMU and ASU matches the last two national champions. The Dukes won in 2004, while the Mountaineers captured titles in 2005-06.

Completing the bottom half of the draw are Wofford at Montana and Eastern Kentucky at Richmond.

The first round will be played on Friday and Saturday, with the quarterfinals set for Dec. 1. The semifinals will be conducted on Dec. 6-7 and the championship will be played Dec. 14 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The opening three rounds will be played on campus sites. LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) -- Jordy Johnson caught two touchdown passes -- his only receptions of the night -- and kicker Blake Bercegay accounted for 11 points as McNeese State remained undefeated Saturday with a 41-14 victory over Central Arkansas.

McNeese (11-0, 7-0 Southland) never trailed, and led 24-7 at halftime.

Kris Bush, who finished with 80 yards on 15 carries to lead all rushers, opened scoring with a 4-yard touchdown with 9:44 left in the first quarter, and Johnson caught a 14-yard pass from Derrick Fourroux about five minutes later.

A 27-yard field goal by Bercegay and a 13-yard pass from Mark Fontenot to Johnson bookended UCA's only score of the first half, an 11-yard touchdown run by Brent Grimes, who finished with 62 yards on 12 carries.

Bercegay, who made all five of his extra point attempts, opened scoring in the second half with a 44-yard field goal, and Elrick Jones plunged 1 yard for a touchdown with 1:22 in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Charles Twilley caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Brown for UCA, and the Cowboys' Heely Hubbard ran 1 yard for the final touchdown.

Brown made 23 of 39 passes for 253 yards with one interception; he also rushed three times for 13 yards.

Fourroux finished 6-for-10 with 108 yards passing and another 70 yards on 10 carries, while Fontenot was 3-5 for 38 yards passing.
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) -- Jarvis Bradley scored a game-high 17 points and Kleon Penn added 16 in a 65-45 win over Louisiana College on Friday.


The Cowboys (1-2) scored 15 of the game's first 17 points to hold a 15-2 lead at the 12:45 mark. Paced by strong three-point shooting, Louisiana College (0-1) rallied to cut the lead to 24-20 with 5:12 to go in the first half.

McNeese then went on an 8-2 run to close out the half with a 32-22 lead.

In the second half, McNeese pulled away and was up by 33 points at the 7:45 mark, going on to win by 20.

The Cowboys held a 48-22 edge in rebounding, with Bradley and P.J. Alawoya leading the way with seven each and Penn getting six.

Louisiana College did not have a double-figure scorer. Daniel Greenhouse scored nine to lead the team while Dustin Cole had eight and Jeremy Hollier seven. McNeese State University
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McNeese State University


Motto Excellence With A Personal Touch
Established September 1939
Type Public
President Dr. Robert Hebert
Faculty 500
Undergraduates 7053 (Fall 2007)
Postgraduates 1042 (Fall 2007)
Location Lake Charles, LA, USA
Campus Urban
Colors Blue & Gold
Mascot Cowboys
Website www.mcneese.edu

McNeese State University, founded in 1939, is a university located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Originally called Lake Charles Junior College, the name became John McNeese Junior College in 1940; the school was part of the Louisiana State University system. In 1950, the school parted from the LSU system and became McNeese State College; in 1970, the institution gained university status.

McNeese's colors are blue and gold. The school's men's sports teams are known as the Cowboys, while the women's athetic teams are the Cowgirls. McNeese State sports teams participate in NCAA Division I (Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) for football) in the Southland Conference.

Contents
1 History
2 University Leadership
3 Campus
4 Academics
5 Athletics
6 Student Organizations
7 Notable Alumni
8 External links



[edit] History

MSU Athletic LogoMcNeese State University was founded in 1939 as a division of Louisiana State University, offering only the first two years of higher education. Originally called Lake Charles Junior College, the name became John McNeese Junior College in 1940 by resolution of the University Board of Supervisors in honor of a pioneer Southwest Louisiana educator.

Advanced to four-year status and separated from L.S.U. in 1950, the University was renamed McNeese State College; and its administration was transferred to the Louisiana State Board of Education. Act 138 of the 1970 Louisiana Legislature gave the institution its present name, McNeese State University. McNeese gained significant recognition in 1954 through admission to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the highest accrediting agency in the United States for such schools in the South.

The Legislature authorized McNeese to offer curricula leading to the master's degree in 1960, and to the degree of Education Specialist in 1966. In addition to the Graduate School, McNeese University's academic organization includes the colleges of Business, Education, Engineering and Technology, Liberal Arts, Nursing, Science, the Division of Continuing Education, and the Division of Basic Studies.

McNeese opened its doors in 1939 on an 86-acre tract donated by the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury with a physical plant of two buildings: the former Administration Building (Kaufman Hall) and the McNeese Arena (Ralph O. Ward Memorial Gym). The Main Auditorium, now Francis G. Bulber Auditorium, was completed in 1940 as the third building on the campus. The three structures are still in use today. In 1989, the auditorium was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.


[edit] University Leadership

MSU basketballDr. Joseph T. Farrar (1939-1940
Dr. William B. Hatcher (1940-1941)
Dr. Rodney Cline (1941-1944)
(Prior to 1944, University leadership were called deans. After 1944, the term President came to designate the universities' head individual)

Dr. Lether Edward Frazar (1944-1955) Retired in 1955, became lieutenant governor of Louisiana thereafter
Dr. Wayne N. Cusic (1955-1969) Retired in 1969
Dr. Thomas S. Leary (1969-1980) Resigned from presidency
Dr. Jack Doland (1980-1986) Resigned in order to run for state office
Dr. Robert Hebert (1986-present)

[edit] Campus
The McNeese State University main campus occupies 99-acres in South Lake Charles along the Contraband Bayou. The main campus also includes 68 main buildings. In addition to the main campus, the physical plant also includes the 402-acre McNeese Farm, a 65-acre Athletic plant, and the Burton Coliseum.


[edit] Academics
McNeese State University offers 83 degree programs under the Colleges of Business, Education, Engineering and Technology, Liberal Arts, Nursing and Science, the Division of General and Basic Studies, and the Doré School of Graduate Studies.

Joe Gray Taylor, distinguished historian of Louisiana and the American South, was the chairman of the McNeese history department and later the dean of the College of Liberal Arts prior to his death in 1987.

The English department, in conjunction with the local chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, publishes The Arena, which is an annual collection of art, essays, fiction, and poetry by students, regardless of major.


[edit] Athletics
McNeese State University's teams are nicknamed the Cowboys (or Cowgirls). Their football team plays at Cowboy Stadium, also known as "The Hole", on the edge of campus. The team played in the inaugural Independence Bowl game in 1976, a 20-16 victory over Tulsa. They would go on to make two more appearances in 1979 and 1980. The Cowboys football team have more recently played in two Division I-AA Finals, once in 1997 and again in 2002. Their basketball teams play at Burton Coliseum south of campus. The baseball team hosts games at Cowboy Diamond.


[edit] Student Organizations
McNeese State University's speech and debate team is recognized as a national powerhouse, and it boasts numerous national championships over the last 40 years.

The McNeese State University newspaper is The Contraband, a weekly publication which has existed since 1939.

The university's award winning student yearbook is "The Log." It was first published in 1941.

Delta Xi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Order is based at McNeese. Chartered in 1969, the Chapter has placed in the Top 15% of KA chapters 14 times, and has placed in the Top 3 Chapters once in 2001, earning the George C. Marshall award for Chapter Excellence. Delta Xi also hosts an annual softball tournament in honor of Conway LeBleu, an alumnus who was killed at the Branch-Davidian compound while serving for the bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The tournament is the largest brotherhood event in the country for Kappa Alphas and has been running for 40 years.


[edit] Notable Alumni