Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns
Athletics founded	1901
Conference	Sun Belt
NCAA	Division I
Athletics director	David Walker
University	Louisiana-Lafayette
Location	Lafayette, LA USA
Stadium	Cajun Field, The Swamp
Arena	Cajundome
Mascot	Cayenne
Colors	Vermilion and White
Homepage	www.ragincajuns.com

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns is the nickname of the athletic teams of The University of Louisiana at Lafayette. UL Lafayette, at that time known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana, was the first to adopt the nickname Ragin' Cajuns, using it initially in the 1960s to refer to its football team.

Prior to the 1960s, the team nickname was the "Bulldogs." In 1963 then football coach Russ Faulkinberry changed the nickname of the football team "Bulldogs" to "Ragin' Cajuns." By the 1970s, the athletic department, the sports information director Bob Henderson and the student body picked up on the nickname. As published in the 1974 football guide, the nickname became official that year. Until the 2006-07 academic year, women's teams were referred to as the Lady Cajuns, but they now use the same "Ragin' Cajuns" nickname as the men's teams.

Current Sports

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns compete in the following NCAA sports
Men's sports			Women's sports
Sport	Division	Conference	Sport	Division	Conference
Baseball	I	Sun Belt	Softball	I	Sun Belt
Basketball	I	Sun Belt	Basketball	I	Sun Belt
Cross country	I	Sun Belt	Cross country	I	Sun Belt
Football	I FBS	Sun Belt	Soccer	I	Sun Belt
Golf	I	Sun Belt	Volleyball	I	Sun Belt
Tennis	I	Sun Belt	Tennis	I	Sun Belt
Track & field (indoor)	I	Sun Belt	Track & field (indoor)	I	Sun Belt
Track & field (outdoor)	I	Sun Belt	Track & field (outdoor)	I	Sun Belt

Baseball

Baseball -

First Year of Baseball: 1903.

First Year of Division I: 1972.

Years of Baseball: 91st season.

All-Time Record (since 1960): 1,256-940-4 (.572).

All-Time Division I Record: 1,074-748-3 (.589).

All-Time Sun Belt Record: 206-123 (.626).

NCAA Appearances/Last: Ten/2007.

All-Time NCAA Tournament Record: 17-20.

Regular Season Conference. Championships: 13; Gulf States Conference (1949-53, 1966); Southland Conference (1972-73); American South Conference (1988-91); Sun Belt Conference (1997, 2005, 2007).

Conference Tournament championships: 1 Sun Belt Conference (1998).

Last time in postseason: 2007 College Station Regional (2-2).

Finished tied for 3rd at 2000 College World Series after knocking off overall #1 South Carolina in Super Regional. Defeated Clemson and San Jose State, lost to Stanford twice in 2000 College World Series.

Softball

The Softball team is among the most successful of all Ragin Cajun teams, having won nine regular season championships, nine conference tournament championships, and five appearances in the Women's College World Series (1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, and 2008). During the 2008 WCWS appearance the Ragin Cajuns defeated #1 ranked Florida and eventually finished fifth. The Ragin Cajun softball team has seen post-season play in 19 of the past 20 seasons. The Ragin Cajuns have been Sun Belt Conference champions in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2008 along with 14 NCAA Regionals, 33 All-Americans, 24 consecutive winning seasons.

The team is led by an unusual co-head coaching arrangement; even more unusual is that the head coaches are married – Stefni Lotief (452-110 record through ten seasons as either head or co-head coach) and husband Michael (assistant coach for two seasons, co-head coach for the last eight with a 351-87 record).

Basketball

Basketball - 1971-72 Southland Conference Champions, #8 national ranking; 1972-73 Southland Conference Champions, #7 national ranking; 2003-04 Sun Belt west division champions 2004 Sun Belt Conference Tournament champions. 2005 Sun Belt Conference Tournament champions. NIT Participant 2002 and 2003. NCAA Tournament participant 2000, 2004*, and 2005*.
*vacated by NCAA

Football

Football - Participate in NCAA Division I FBS in the Sun Belt Conference. 2005 Sun Belt Conference co-champions. 1993 and 1994 Big West Conference co-champions.

Other Sports

• Water Skiing - First year of competition: 1989. Has finished no worse than third in the annual NCWSA National Collegiate Water Ski Association championships since 1993. National champions: 1995, 1997, 2003, 2005.

Club sports

Badminton, Bowling, Cheerleading, Cricket, Hockey, Judo, Powerlifting, Rugby, Sport Shooting, Men's Soccer, Tae Kwon Do, Water Skiing

History

Football was the first team organized at the then Institute (SLII) in 1901, although an advertisement promoting women's gymnastics was placed in 1900.

Traditions

Mascots

Former

• Bulldog
• Mr. Cajun (animated)
• RC the Bulldog (live)
• "Gee" the bulldog (live) prior to being the Ragin' Cajuns
• "The Fabulous Cajun Chicken" (animated) 1982-1999

Current

• Cayenne

Songs and cheers

Notable sports alumni

Footnotes

1. La Louisiane (Fall 2006) "Nothing Tops 'Ragin' Cajuns'"
2. Division I Committee on Infractions Penalizes University of Louisiana at Lafayette for Violations in Football, Men's Basketball
3. Ragin' Cajuns Fight Song"

External links

• Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns official athletics website.
• Ragin' Cajuns Athletic Network official athletics network.
• University of Louisiana at Lafayette official university website.
• RaginPagin.com unofficial Ragin' Cajun fan portal and resource guide.
• ultoday.com, eZine covering "University of Louisiana News & Information"