Louisiana-Monroe

Monroe, Louisiana is a town of almost 50,000 people up in the northern part of the state.  In 1931, a school opened there under the name Ouachita Parish Junior College.  Three years later, it became the Northeast Center of Louisiana State University, and by 1969 it was known as Northeast Louisiana University.  That's how I still think of it, but in the late 1990's, for reasons I've never understood, they renamed the regional universities in Louisiana, and NE Louisiana became Louisiana-Monroe.  Then, in 2006 the NCAA forced Louisiana-Monroe to stop using the "Indians" nickname it had used for 75 years, and they became the Warhawks.

So the team that I remember as the NE Louisiana Indians is now the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.  (They encourage folks to refer to them as ULM.)

For most of their history, the Indians/Warhawks -- well, back then they were just the Indians -- bounced in various lower divisions.  They spent 20 years in the National Junior College Athletic Association, then 24 years in NAIA, and then 20 years in I-AA.  In 1987, the Northeast Louisiana Indians won the I-AA National Championship, beating Marshall 43-42 in one of the most thrilling title games in I-AA history.

In 1994, they moved up to Division I-A, and they moved into the Sun Belt Conference in 2001.  That's where they remain to this day.  They have struggled for most of their time in Division I-A, but last year they went 8-4 and went to the Independence Bowl (where they were pasted by Ohio 45-14).

This will be their first chance to play for the Unofficial College Football Championship.