By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Louisiana Tech is again a fill-in for the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.
But a year later, the Bulldogs are a very worthy one. They’ve won seven games, and are two painful last-second losses from a nine-win campaign, after being a five-win substitute a year ago when Marshall backed out due to player defections a week after accepting an I-Bowl berth.
Sunday, the Bulldogs were bowl bound. And in the space of a few hours, they were a perfect fit for the 49th edition of the local bowl, when Iowa State (8-4) and Kansas State (6-6) both decided to accept a half-million dollar fine from the Big XII Conference and ended their seasons in the wake of coaching changes that rocked their programs last week.
The Big XII was unable to fill its Shreveport bowl slot. The Sun Belt had the other side of the pairing, and had a willing participant, 6-6 Coastal Carolina (5-3 in the SBC), even more pleased when Tech took the other side of the matchup.
“They mentioned that specifically, because Tech is about to go into the Sun Belt Conference, that they’re excited about (playing the Bulldogs),” said 2025 bowl chairperson Sarah Giglio.
The weekend didn’t shape up as labor intensive until K-State – which was eager to come to Shreveport before veteran coach Chris Kleiman surprised everybody five days ago with his retirement at age 58 after eight seasons in Manhattan, frustrated by NIL and the transfer portal – and Iowa State (who lost coach Matt Campbell to Penn State on Friday) changed course.
“When Kansas State and Iowa State pulled out, there were a lot of phone calls today,” Giglio said. “There was a lot going on that changed some things. It did definitely affect us.”
Tech was penciled in for various out-of-state bowls but will again play an hour from its Ruston campus. Last year the Bulldogs bowed 27-6 to Army in the I-Bowl to finish 5-8.
“There were extenuating circumstances last year, so it was really exciting for us, and I think for them, to be invited this year as a 7-5 team who had earned the right to come to a bowl,” said Giglio. “It was more exciting because they fought to get there.”
This will be the seventh Independence Bowl appearance for the Bulldogs.
“Typically bowls try not to have a lot of repeats, but Louisiana Tech’s a wonderful partner for us,” said Giglio. “Looking at our options, Louisiana Tech was our choice, that we wanted. Last year was a little bit of an outlier because of what Marshall did, so in my mind, this doesn’t count as a repeat.”
The game kicks off on Tuesday, December 30 at 1 p.m. CST on ESPN.
The Chanticleers will be playing in their first Independence Bowl and their sixth bowl game in school history, with all of those games coming since 2020. The Independence Bowl will be their sixth straight bowl game.
It’s a 22-year-old program based in Conway, S.C., with one of college sports’ most unique mascots.
“I think it’s some kind of chicken,” Giglio laughed. “I’ll do my homework on that.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com