The holiday season is around the corner and the matchup is now set for the 46th Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) will face off against the Houston Cougars of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Kickoff for college football’s 11th most-historic bowl game is set for 2 p.m. CST on Friday, December 23 at Independence Stadium.
Louisiana, led by first-year head coach Michael Desormeaux, finished the regular season with a 6-6 (4-4 SBC) record to become eligible for a school-record fifth consecutive season. Louisiana had four players selected to the All-Sun Belt First Team, the second-most in the league, and 11 players overall. Louisiana finished the season with a plus-50 point differential and defeated bowl-bound teams in half of their wins this season. This is the 10th bowl appearance for the Ragin’ Cajuns in school history – all coming since 2011. They will be making their first appearance in the 46-year history of the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. They are the only current FBS team in the state of Louisiana to have never played in the Independence Bowl, as only McNeese State, Louisiana Tech, LSU and Louisiana-Monroe have appeared in the game previously.
“We are so excited about the opportunity in the Independence Bowl,” said Louisiana Head Coach Michael Desormeaux. “Our team is truly appreciative of the opportunity to play in such a great game. We are fired up for this team to get one more game together. Playing it in our home state makes this even more special.”
Houston, in their fourth season under head coach Dana Holgorsen, won five of its final seven games to finish the regular season at 7-5 overall. The Cougars, led by First-Team All-Conference quarterback Clayton Tune, were among the nation’s premier offenses, scoring 30-plus points in 11 of their 12 games. Houston went 5-3 in its final American Athletic Conference season before moving to the Big 12 Conference in 2023. The Cougars are competing in their 15th bowl game in the last 18 seasons – the most in the state of Texas in that span – and 30th in the history of the program.
“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to compete one more time as a football team and end this season with a win,” Head Coach Dana Holgorsen said. “The Independence Bowl has a great tradition going back several decades. This game means a lot. I know our guys will be ready to play and we look forward to the challenge of facing another good football team.”
It is the first appearance in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl for both of these programs and will be their 10th time facing off against each other. The Ragin’ Cajuns won the last matchup between the two in 2006, but Houston holds the series lead with six wins compared to Louisiana’s three. Louisiana’s appearance will be the second time the Sun Belt has been represented in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl (UL Monroe in 2012), while this will be the third appearance in the Independence Bowl for the AAC (Temple in 2018 and Tulsa in 2015).
Public tickets are on sale and are $30 for endzone bench, $45 for sideline bench and $65 for a limited quantity of sideline chairback seats. There are also a bevy of other ticket packages available – including group tickets, Family 4-Packs, Small Business Fan Packs and the exclusive Chairman’s Club. For more information on tickets to the 2022 Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, visit RadianceTechnologiesIndependenceBowl.com/tickets or call the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl office at 318.221.0712 or toll-free at 888.414.BOWL.
