NEW ORLEANS — Just call it the little bowl that could.
After spending its first decade searching for recognition and relevance, the New Orleans Bowl has arrived.
And credit a healthy dose of Ragin' Cajuns for making it happen.
"This is what we were waiting for," said Billy Ferrante, the bowl's executive director, after Louisiana-Lafayette and its rowdy fan following claimed their second straight New Orleans Bowl victory Saturday, a 43-34 win against East Carolina. "We're where we've hoped we'd be. Today, we had the game we wanted and the crowd we wanted."
...
"For the second straight year, the game set an attendance record — 48,828, a 6,347 bump over last year, when ULL played San Diego State, and 18,000-plus more than the mark before that. For a little perspective, that’s probably going to rank right in the middle of this year’s 35 bowl games. College football in New Orleans is a hard sell — witness Tulane — and the Sugar Bowl is having a hard time moving tickets for the Florida/Louisville game"
The rest of the article is here.
http://theadvocate.com/sports/states...leans-bowl-has