Louisiana-Lafayette's Rickey Bustle and his players got a first-hand look at what it's like to be in a bowl game last season.

Jerry Babb is the most accurate Ragin' Cajuns quarterback ever.
The only problem was they were watching Arkansas State playing on their home field in the New Orleans Bowl.

The Ragin' Cajuns closed the season with five consecutive victories and tied for the Sun Belt Conference crown in 2005, but lost out on a tiebreaker, dropping a 39-36 decision to the Indians.

"I told them before the bowl game -- for you guys that go to the game and watch it on TV -- if we took care of business like we should have, we would have been playing," said Bustle. "It is the true understanding that every play counts, every game counts."

With 13 starters returning, including quarterback Jerry Babb and running back Tyrell Fenroy, Louisiana-Lafayette is the easy favorite to win the Sun Belt and reach its first bowl game since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl.

"We're trying this another way because we've always been picked last and in the middle, so we'll try it this way and see what happens," joked Bustle. "We are excited about it, we appreciate the respect others have in our program and coaches, but it's something that has to be settled on the field, not in the magazines."

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By J. Darin Darst
CBS SportsLine.com