Mardi Gras may cost Cajuns home game

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LOUISIANA La. — Scheduling conflicts may cost Louisiana’s men’s basketball squad a home appearance as part of ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday this season, but Sun Belt Conference officials said the conflict could wind up providing the Ragin’ Cajuns with two strong non-conference home games for the following campaign.

The Cajun squad was formally named as one of the 46 teams participating in the one-day college basketball extravaganza during a Tuesday teleconference with network and conference officials.

UL was also announced as one of the 23 home sites, but conflicts with Mardi Gras events at the Cajundome will likely result in the Cajuns making their Feb. 21 Bracket Buster appearance on the road.

Matchups will be announced for the 23 games on Sunday, Feb. 1. As part of the agreement for the event, teams hosting a Bracket Buster game this year will play a return game at the home arena of this year’s opponent during November or December of the 2004-05 season.

If the Cajuns are forced to travel for this year’s event, they would play a guaranteed home game against this year’s Bracket Buster foe early next season.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com

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LOUISIANA La. — CAJUN SCHEDULE NOTES: Louisiana will open its season on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at Georgia Tech in the Owens Corning Preseason NIT. A win would put the Cajuns against either Marist or Hofstra in a quarterfinal game Nov. 20 at a site to be determined. Semifinals and finals are Wednesday and Friday, Nov. 26 and 28, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

In addition to Sun Belt games and the to-be-determined Bracket Buster, UL will play road games at Dayton (Dec. 9), at Xaiver (Dec. 20) and against Valparaiso in the opening round of Arizona’s Fiesta Bowl Classic Dec. 28-30. The Cajuns have home games against Loyola-New Orleans (Nov. 24) and McNeese State (Dec. 15) along with exhibition games Nov. 6 and 13, and Evans said that he still has three to four spots that could be filled on the schedule.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com