By this time in very early March, all Sun Belt Conference teams, including Louisiana and ULM, are usually made aware of their upcoming season's full football schedule. The Sun Belt typically has its football schedule out by March 1st, allowing teams and supporters alike to find out who, where, and when they will play come football season. This year, however, things are looking a little different, as we may not see a definite 2026 Sun Belt football schedule for a few more weeks, if not months. How much sooner we will get it all falls in the hands of the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit. As you might recall, Texas State officially announced that they would leave the Sun Belt for the Pac-12 on June 30, 2025, a move that would take place on July 1, 2026. This meant that the 2025-2026 athletic year was Texas State's final journey in the SBC. When it's all said and done, this means that the conference would need to find a new 14th member to avoid dropping to 13 members come the 2026-2027 athletic year. A couple of weeks later, the conference officially announced on July 15, 2025, that Louisiana Tech would be filling the void left by Texas State. The problem to be determined, however, was whether LA Tech would be able to join in 2026 or 2027. Joining in 2026 would make this an easy transition for the SBC, keeping them at 14 members with no gaps. But a delay to 2027 would mean the conference gets stuck at 13 teams for the 2026-2027 athletic year, and right now, the there is a potential that this could be the case. Louisiana Tech, of course, wants to get this move done sooner rather than later. So, the school wants to join in 2026, and the Sun Belt doesn't suffer a gap year. A win-win for both, so what's the hold up? Not too long after the announcements went public, Conference USA, the conference in which LA Tech has been a member of since 2013, filed a lawsuit against the University of Louisiana System (which oversees Louisiana Tech). They accused the school and the system of violating Louisiana public records tied to the school leaving for the Sun Belt Conference. CUSA claims that a letter written on May 27, 2025, by Louisiana Tech President Jim Henderson, which referenced the school's move to the Sun Belt, suggested LA Tech made the decision to leave the CUSA earlier than its official notice on July 14th, which came after the conference's June 27 revenue distribution. Under Conference USA bylaws, schools that notify withdrawal after the payout can keep that year's (2025-2026) distribution but must forfeit the next two. However, the actual timeline challenges this claim, suggesting the date of the letter was incorrect by clerical error. As mentioned above, the Sun Belt's void that Louisiana Tech ended up filling did not actually exist until June 30th when Texas State officially announced its departure, and SBC officials didn't vote on the move to bring in Louisiana Tech until mid-July, after which they sent a formal invitation for the school to join. Thus, there is no logical explanation as to why Louisiana Tech would have a letter written in May about the school moving over to the Sun Belt. CUSA also accused the school of improperly withholding documents from an August public records, though the school had already provided major materials including the Sun Belt agreement. Louisiana Tech University has denied any wrongdoing, stating that they have complied with both conference bylaws and state law. With the lawsuit still ongoing and a timeline not established, it has put the Sun Belt Conference and its teams in a bind, and could mean waiting a few more weeks, if not months, until seeing a definite finalized schedule. While the conference could put out a schedule which either does or does not include Louisiana Tech, it does not want to take the risk of having to change it all up if the result of the lawsuit changes those plans. Even if the Sun Belt were to release a schedule now, it would not be definite until the lawsuit is over and an outcome is obtained. It is also important to keep in mind that the Sun Belt Conference is the last remaining Division-I conference with divisions. With the conference currently (including Texas State) at 14 members, it has them separated equally into two geographical East/West divisions. With Texas State's departure bringing the West down to 6 teams, Louisiana Tech is supposed to be the filler to that. But the conference could be forced to ditch the unique divisional setup if Louisiana Tech cannot join in 2026, as the conference would be at an odd number of teams. The Sun Belt currently utilizes the East/West divisional setup to determine who makes the Sun Belt Conference Championship, with the winner of each division taking the honors of doing so. Other conferences like the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference are also facing similar delayed schedule releasing situations due to conference realignments, but the Sun Belt Conference (and Conference USA) are the two where uncertainty still boils. For now, our three Louisiana schools (Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, ULM Warhawks, and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs) will have to wait a little longer to find out their 12-game schedule for the 2026 football season.

New Orleans Saints 17 - 19 Atlanta Falcons The Saints' season is officially over. As sad as it is to say that, this season ended on a much more positive note than I expected, and has me actually looking forward to the offseason, not dreading it. The defense finished on a positive note, Tyler Shough is definitely the guy for at least the next few seasons, and Kellen Moore improved over the second half of the year. If the season finished how we expected prior to Shough saving the team, this offseason would be much more bleak in appearance. This is supposed to be a week 18 recap, but why recap a game no one really had any expectations for or cared about? No one, not even us Saints fans or analysts, really expected Shough to be able to do much with this offensive group, and he couldn’t really. Sure, he made a few really good plays, but you could tell Kellen Moore was struggling to find plays that he felt confident running with the receivers, and I don’t view that as a negative, just a bad scenario for everyone. Because of this, I am not going to write this really as a week 18 recap, but more as a short preview of this offseason. Chase Young Chase Young has made it clear that he is the best young player on this Saints team. Maybe you could swap him out with Chris Olave, but I struggle to overlook his incredible performances and constant clutch play in big moments to close out the year. He finished this game with one and a half sacks and three tackles for losses, but should have even had one more sack and a forced fumble on his stat sheet. Mickey Loomis seemingly has gotten away with the deal of a lifetime, sorry Loomis haters, by signing Young to a three-year deal for only $17 million per year on average. That is more than $10 million less than what the top 10 defensive end salaries are on a per-year basis, and Young has 10 sacks in 12 games played. While watching this one, I texted my buddies and said that Young is a top 10 EDGE in the league at this point, but they disagree. Although he may not be right now, Chase Young is quickly improving and becoming what everyone expected him to be when he came into the league. If he continues down this path, it would be extremely reasonable for him to try and get a pay raise after next season. Going into this offseason, the Saints must add at least one other piece to the defensive end rotation, so teams are forced to take their focus off of Young and open up the opportunity for even more plays by him. Tyler Shough Tyler Shough did not by any means have a perfect game; he finished 23 of 39 for 259 yards and a touchdown and an interception. However, as I said earlier, I don’t think anyone expected him to with the weapons at his disposal. He led the team down the field multiple times, and a Charlie Smyth missed field goal, and Dante Pettis offensive pass interference made this game appear worse offensively than it was. He made some throws and plays out of scheme that once again added to the current mindset that he is the team’s future, so I am not worried about the interception that came late in the fourth quarter on the tenth or so double slant pattern of the game. However, I will say that Shough’s ability to make things work at times with this battered of a weapon room is impressive in itself, and means that if the team decides to go and get him weapons in the draft or free agency, he can be even more successful. I’d really like the Saints to leave the draft with one of the following: Jeremiyah Love, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, or Elijah Sarratt. If they do that, I think this offense alongside Shough would be extremely fun to watch next season. The Defense The Saints' defense finished the season without allowing a fourth-quarter touchdown since Week 11 against the Falcons. Yes, week 11. Although I felt the defense started off pretty rough, the second half of the season was a true testament to Brandon Staley’s abilities as a defensive coordinator. The Saints' defense improved this season in both total scoring and yardage allowed in comparison to last season, at 17th and 9th, respectively, before this game. They played another great game here with what should have been two turnovers if it weren’t for a bad call by the refs on the Chase Young strip-sack. Quincy Riley and Jonas Sanker both have been massive additions to this side of the ball, and Danny Stutsman appears to have the potential to be good whenever Werner or Davis leave. If the Saints decide to run it back with this same defense and bring back the vets, it would not be the worst thing in the world, but I would still like to see them bring in more young talent. Closing Time This season was my first writing for the team, and I really enjoyed recapping all of the highs and lows of the season and trying to let you guys know exactly how I felt about the team week in, week out. As much as I hate this team missing the playoffs and the season ending today, I’m happy I had this opportunity and look forward to doing the same next season. I may write a few offseason articles, but if not, I will definitely have a few Saints-focused episodes on my YouTube channel, Jenks Island. Until next time, Who Dat!! Offensive MVP: Tyler Shough Defensive MVP: Chase Young Special Teams MVP: NONE (Please fire Phil Galiano)

The final game of the season is here!

New Orleans Saints 34 - 26 Tennessee Titans This is the exact type of game the Saints and Tyler Shough needed, albeit against a weak opponent, to help create assurance that the tides are actually turning. For the last few seasons, anytime the Saints fell behind by 10 or more points, it has felt like 21 or more. However, with Tyler Shough at the quarterback position, when the team starts slow, I don’t feel like they are ever behind by an amount they cannot come back from. In this game, when they fell to a 13-point deficit to start the game, I never once felt deflated as I had in the past few prior seasons, which is an amazing feat for this current roster to achieve. Look at the injuries that have piled up on the offensive side of the ball. Tyler Shough is throwing to receivers and handing the ball off to running backs who weren’t on the 53-man roster to start this season. We saw a similar, if not the same, situation play out last year for Spencer Rattler, who was unable to overcome the situation to win games. The thing with that is, Spencer Rattler is not a BAD quarterback by any means; he’s a high-end backup or bottom-tier starter, but he is 100% an NFL-level quarterback. This just shows that Tyler Shough is the true franchise quarterback for the Saints, and that even when the team is down, both in score and in talent, their current QB can elevate them to wins. With all of that being said, let’s look at the performances of this game and how they are changing how I want the Saints to attack this offseason. Chris Olave I can’t start this breakdown without giving Chris Olave his flowers. He has absolutely destroyed any doubt I had in him being able to be the number one guy for this team on any given week. He finished this one with eight catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. This performance gave him career highs across all receiving categories and also put him in a great spot to get a massive contract from the Saints this offseason, which he deserves. He isn’t in the conversation for comeback player of the year, but after saying he was genuinely considering retirement at the age of 24, he should be. He won’t win the award, as Christian McCaffery has absolutely shattered expectations of what he could be this season, but Olave, having his best season as an NFL player after his worst concussion yet, should not go unnoticed. Tyler Shough Once again, and I will try not to overdo it here, Tyler Shough was the team MVP and the best quarterback on the field for the fourth straight game. That includes games against Baker Mayfield, Bryce Young, and Cam Ward. Are those the best quarterbacks in the league? No. Are they quarterbacks that NFL fans and pundits had much higher hopes for this season than Tyler Shough? Yes. The conversations involving Shough have gone from “How did he go above Shedeur?”, to “Why are the Saints benching Rattler for him?”, to “How is he going to overcome all of these injuries?”, all the way to now “Is he a top 15 quarterback in the league?” If I were to be asked that last question right now, it would be tough to give a definitive answer, but I am definitely leaning towards yes, he is. He has now led the Saints to four straight wins, and the current buzz around the league is that the Saints are the best team in the division, even though they won’t make the playoffs. Shough also surpassed Tetairoa McMillan today as the favorite to win the offensive rookie of the year, even though he has only started eight games. The things Tyler Shough is doing are certainly unexpected, but just because they are unexpected doesn’t mean they should go underappreciated by the league and NFL media. It’s nice to see the media finally starting to pick up on what’s going on in New Orleans. I hope that it continues throughout this offseason. There is a big divide among the Saints fanbase about whether or not the team should really be happy about winning these games, since their draft position has been going down with every win. To me, the answer couldn’t be clearer; these wins are exponentially more valuable than their draft pick position. With these wins, the fanbase and the team have learned that they have a franchise quarterback, and the team culture is being rejuvenated more and more every week. I’m not sure if you have seen it yet, but if not, check out this video from the locker room postgame below. I’m not sure if it’s just because it is the highest quality video I’ve ever seen from a locker room (was this thing filmed with an IMAX camera??), or if it is truly just how happy everyone is, but I am completely bought in on Shough and the future of the organization at this point in time. https://x.com/Saints/status/2005405454608859372?s=20 Kellen Moore Anyone who has read these articles throughout the season knows I have been VERY down on Kellen Moore as the season progressed. That being said, I think he has truly spun my whole image of him and made me buy into what he is doing as the Saints' head coach. Is he perfect? No. Will the training camp next year look the same as this year’s? Again, No. However, Kellen Moore’s playcalling and decisions with timeouts and game management have 100% improved in recent weeks. Maybe he is more confident in calling a broad range of plays with Shough at quarterback, maybe he is simply more confident in the team’s ability as a whole to execute them, or maybe he simply has learned a little bit more every week what works and what doesn’t. He has called a lot more outside runs than he did to start the season, and has also learned how to manage the ends of halves. He had a few blunders of epic proportions to end halves this season due to timeout usage, and this week, Justin Reid ruined a really good job by Moore to use timeouts and display confidence in his QB and offense to go get points in a short amount of time. Kellen Moore’s post-game speeches are very unique in comparison to what I see from other head coaches across the league as well. He is never overly energetic, he never screams just for the sake of screaming, and he never seems to run out of game balls. Moore isn’t a guy who yells like Dan Campbell or Ben Johnson, but you can tell that he is genuinely excited and happy for the team and the players every single week in these post-game speeches. Players can see straight through a fake personality, which is genuinely what I believe happened with Dennis Allen at the helm. In Moore’s case, he is almost genuine to a fault. If he were this nice to a team that continued to underperform and not execute, maybe it would grow old. But the team didn’t do that; they have overperformed expectations, and Moore has continued to be the same guy he has been all year. The players have definitely seen this, and you can tell they are happy to have Moore as the head coach. Moore gives what he calls “shout-outs” to all of the guys who perform well in games. These shout-outs come with game balls for all of the players named, which leads to a LOT of game balls being tossed around the locker room. This may seem corny to those outside of the locker room, but the players love it; they are all getting recognized for what they bring to the table, something that can quickly win over a team to follow a coach to battle every week. Moore gave so many balls last week and also this week that in this week’s speech, he said he may get in trouble with the league. Kellen Moore has completed a full 180 and is now someone I am confident in to lead the Saints to victory in the near future. I love the way he is calling an offense going through injuries left and right, and I love the way he is currently managing the locker room. He accomplished the hardest thing to do in a rebuild: picking the right quarterback. So, now my question is, how will he follow that up? If Moore, alongside Mickey Loomis, enters this offseason and successfully identifies the weakest position groups and gets talent there, he can earn himself a very long tenure with the organization in New Orleans. The Future I was relatively sure last week that the Saints had their quarterback and head coach of the future, but after this performance, I couldn’t be more sure and positive. With both of those things being locked in, where do the Saints go from here? The team is still lacking talent depth at numerous position groups, but to me, the two biggest concerns are the interiors of the lines on both sides of the ball and the weapons Tyler Shough has to throw to. Before yesterday’s game, I would have had running back on this list too, with Kamara, Miller, and Neal all being injured and not seeing much from Estime or Hull the past couple of weeks. However, Audric Estime had the best game of his career on only 14 carries, finishing with 94 yards and a touchdown. If Estime can repeat a similar performance next year, it makes the conversation of who should stay around next season much harder. I could see Kendre Miller being a guy the Saints move in the offseason for a draft pick, simply due to injury history, but man, he can run the damn ball when he is healthy. This conversation could become even tougher if Kellen Moore decides he wants to build the run game for the team up even more by going and drafting the best RB in college football, Jeremiyah Love. If that happens, I don’t think there’s any chance Kendre Miller is back with the team. I have not gotten the chance to scout interior talent from either side of the line much, but the Saints will need to decide whether or not the weaknesses there are something to attack in the draft or free agency. I believe the Saints could find solid fixes in free agency for the defensive side of the ball and try to find young talent in the draft to shore up the interior offensive line. If the Saints go the route I believe they should pursue, which is to go and get a wide receiver with their first round pick, there are a couple of guys I think they should look at. Makai Lemon and Carnell Tate. Some may say I’m crazy for leaving Jordyn Tyson off of this list, but his injury history and competition level both scare me. Another great route the team could go is to go EDGE in the first round, then Elijah Sarratt in the second if he isn’t a shoo-in first-rounder by the time the draft comes around. All of these guys would be great additions to go alongside Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele, and Juwan Johnson in the passing attack for Shough. The Saints are the best team in the division, and I don’t feel like that is a homer take. The Saints have looked the best on both sides of the ball and beat both of the teams above them. In addition, the Saints may end up finishing in second place in the South with a win over the Falcons next week and a Bucs loss to the Panthers. However, the ideal scenario is for both the Saints and Bucs to win, with the Saints finishing on a five-game win streak and getting the third-place schedule next year. The Saints are crushing expectations to end the season, and causing hope to rise over the win-deprived city of New Orleans. What more could you ask for? Offensive MVP: Tyler Shough Defensive MVP: Chase Young Special Teams MVP: CHARLIE “THE IRISH HAMMER” SMYTH

Team Stats (Suns @ Pelicans) Final Score: 123-114 Rebounds: 55-43 Assists: 26-16 Blocks: 3-7 Steals: 7-11 Turnovers: 16-13 Stat Leaders (Suns/Pelicans) Scoring Leaders: Devin Booker, 20; Trey Murphy III, 24 Rebound Leaders: Oso Ighodaro, 10; Derik Queen, 11 Assist Leaders: Collin Gillepsie, 7; Derik Queen/Jordan Poole/Jose Alvarado, 6 My Player of the Game: Jose Alvaredo Takeaways The Pelicans dropped the second game in a row to the Phoenix Suns, even though they kept Devin Booker to just 20 points. The game got chippy in the third quarter after New Orleans went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 73-71. Following a whistle, Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado and Phoenix center Mark Williams exchanged punches. Both were ejected, and further suspensions are expected. Trey Murphy III had 24 points for the Pelicans, and Zion Williamson scored 22 off the bench on 8-of-11 shooting. Rookie center Derik Queen had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Jeremiah Fears scored 18 and Saddiq Bey finished with 17.. Follow The Kneaux on X , and follow me there too @SportsChrissy.

An exciting rookie QB battle.

Team Stats (Suns @ Pelicans) Final Score: 115-108 Rebounds: 52-38 Assists: 26-22 Blocks: 4-2 Steals: 9-10 Turnovers: 17-12 Stat Leaders (Suns/Pelicans) Scoring Leaders: Devin Booker, 30; Zion Williamson, 20 Rebound Leaders: Mark Williams, 13; Zion Williamson, 8 Assist Leaders: Collin Gillepsie, 9; Zion Williamson/Jordan Poole, 6 My Player of the Game: Zion Williamson Takeaways The Pelicans missed 17 free throws on the night, which was the nail in the coffin in a game they could have won. The Pelicans were up 100-97 after Zion Williamson hit a free throw with 4:58 left in the game, but the Suns closed out New Orleans by outscoring the Pelicans 18-8 the rest of the game. The Pelicans missed seven free throws in the third quarter, but still managed to be down only one point, 81-80, heading into the fourth quarter. Jordan Poole scored 19 points in the game but had some critical turnovers, and missed the most free throws on the night. The Pelicans will take on the Suns again tonight at 6 pm at the Smoothie King Center. Follow The Kneaux on X , and follow me there too @SportsChrissy.