The 2023 New Orleans Bowl will take place on Saturday afternoon and will feature the Jacksonville State Gamecocks against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Caesars Superdome with kickoff scheduled for 2:15 PM ET and will air on ESPN.

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks will be playing their first bowl game since making the jump from FCS to FBS as they finished in 3^rd place in Conference USA with a record of 8-4, however, they lost two of their final three games of the regular season following a 17-20 loss on the road against the New Mexico State Aggies in their season finale. 

The success the Gamecocks had this season can be attributed to their offense as they enter this game averaging 29.83 points per game which is above the 27.93 average for the rest of college football. Jacksonville State also featured an above-average scoring defense as they allowed an average of 20.33 points per game. The Jacksonville State Gamecocks will look to bounce back following the loss in their regular season finale when they face the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns in the New Orleans Bowl.

Louisiana-Lafayette finished in 5^th place in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference with a record of 6-6 and lost three of their final four games of the regular season, however, they ended their three-game losing streak with a 52-21 win at home against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks in their season finale. 

The Ragin’ Cajuns had a below-average scoring defense as they allowed an average of 28.17 points per game, however, they were one of the highest-scoring teams in college football as they averaged 32.25 points per game which ranked 35^th in college football and their rushing offense played a pivotal role in the success the offense had this season as they averaged 183.83 rushing yards per game which ranked 30^th in college football. Jacob Kibodi led the team in rushing with 129 carries for 729 yards with seven touchdowns while adding nine receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown. 

The Ragin’ Cajuns will look to end the season with a winning record when they play the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

BookMaker has the Jacksonville State Gamecocks listed as 3-point favorites against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns in the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday afternoon. These teams have only played one other time before this matchup which occurred in 2000 when the Gamecocks were still an FCS program and resulted in a 28-14 win on the road for Jacksonville State. The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are 8-3-1 ATS overall and 4-1-1 ATS as a favorite this season while the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns are 5-7 ATS overall and 3-1 ATS as an underdog on the year.

Jacksonville State enters this game with a better record at 8-4 while Louisiana-Lafayette is 6-6. The Gamecocks have also been one of the best teams at covering the spread this season as they are 8-3-1 ATS overall and 4-1-1 ATS as a favorite while the Ragin’ Cajuns are 5-7 ATS overall. I expect this game to be a high-scoring affair, however, I give the edge to the Gamecocks which is why I am laying the points with the Jacksonville State Gamecocks when they face the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns in the New Orleans Bowl.