Editor’s Note: This is the third in a sport-by-sport series looking at how a conference shift to the WAC would affect UL Lafayette’s athletic department. Today: Softball. Wednesday: Basketball.

LOUISIANA La. — Perhaps more than any other coach at Louisiana, Stefni Lotief can balance the speculation about the school’s future conference alignment in college athletics.

Already a leading member of the Sun Belt Conference, the school is gauging possible interest from the Western Athletic Conference for its future alignment.

Lotief’s Ragin’ Cajun softball program is coming off a 43-8 season and a fourth berth in the Women’s College World Series in 2003, a campaign that concluded with the Cajuns being ranked No. 8 in the country.

UL had been to the WCWS on three previous occasions in the last decade — in 1993, 1995 and 1996 — and thus was an established national power before the Sun Belt even began including the sport in the 1999-2000 school year.

As a national power, the Cajuns are accustomed to extensive travel to find the best in-season competition.

As the only champion the Sun Belt has had, UL is the school other programs target in their development, much as North Texas is in football.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com