2015 Southland Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 7 McNeese State $^		9	–	0					10	–	1
No. 3 Sam Houston State ^		7	–	2					11	–	4
Central Arkansas		7	–	2					7	–	4
Incarnate Word *		5	–	4					6	–	5
Lamar		4	–	5					5	–	6
Northwestern State		4	–	5					4	–	7
Stephen F. Austin		4	–	5					4	–	7
SE Louisiana		3	–	6					4	–	7
Abilene Christian *		3	–	6					3	–	8
Nicholls State		3	–	6					3	–	8
Houston Baptist		0	–	8					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant * – ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division II Rankings from STATS poll

The 2015 McNeese State Cowboys football team represented McNeese State University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Matt Viator in his tenth and final season as head coach, the Cowboys compiled an overall record of 10–1 with a mark of 9–0 in conference play, winning the Southland title. McNeese State received the conference's automatic bid to NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where, after a first-round bye, the Cowboys lost in the second round to fellow Southland member, Sam Houston State. The team played home games at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	6:30 pm	No. 14 (FBS) LSU*	No. 25	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	SECN	Canceled[a]
September 12	6:00 pm	Incarnate Word		Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ASN	W 43–6	12,804
September 19	6:00 pm	at Stephen F. Austin		Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	ESPN3	W 28–14	12,018
September 26	6:00 pm	Mississippi College*	No. 25	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA		W 37–0	10,436
October 3	3:00 pm	at Nicholls State	No. 23	John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	CST[1]	W 37–7	6,192
October 10	6:00 pm	No. 20 Southeastern Louisiana	No. 22	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	CST	W 21–7	13,110
October 17	6:00 pm	at Central Arkansas	No. 15	Estes Stadium Conway, AR (Red Beans and Rice Bowl)	ESPN3	W 28–13	10,527
October 24	6:00 pm	Northwestern State	No. 12	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (rivalry)	CST	W 47–27	9,806
October 31	2:00 pm	at Abilene Christian	No. 10	Shotwell Stadium Abilene, TX	ASN	W 15–13	3,567
November 7	6:00 pm	No. 7 Sam Houston State	No. 9	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN3	W 27–10	10,501
November 21	6:00 pm	at Lamar	No. 3	Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX (Battle of the Border)	ESPN3	W 20–14	9,808
December 5	7:00 pm	No. 6 Sam Houston State	No. 3	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 29–34	13,493
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^{^[a]} The game between LSU and McNeese State was canceled due to inclement weather. The game was delayed due to lightning after 5 minutes of play during each team held the ball for one drive and no one scored. Both schools' athletic directors decided not to reschedule the game, thus declaring it a "no contest". LSU did agree to pay McNeese State its promised fee of $500,000.

^[2][3]

McNeese State at LSU

1 2 3 4 Total #25 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 5 Location: Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA Game start: CANCELLED Sources:[4]

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Incarnate Word at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Cardinals 0 0 0 6 6 • Cowboys 7 2 20 14 43 Date: September 12 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:18 Game attendance: 12,804 Game weather: NNW 11 • Fair, 38% humidity Referee: Ross Smith Television network: ASN Sources:[5]

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McNeese State at Stephen F. Austin

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 7 14 0 7 28 Lumberjacks 14 0 0 0 14 Date: September 19 Location: Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:25 Game attendance: 12,018 Game weather: High 80's • SE 0–5 • Sunny and clear Referee: Brandon Cruse Television network: ESPN3 Sources:[6]

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Mississippi College at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Choctaws 0 0 0 0 0 • #25 Cowboys 13 7 10 7 37 Date: September 26 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 2:40 Game attendance: 10,436 Game weather: 75°F • Overcast 86% • SSE 2 mph Referee: Michael VanderVelde Television network: All Access Cowboy Insider Sources:[7]

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McNeese State at Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total • #23 Cowboys 7 20 7 3 37 Colonels 0 7 0 0 7 Date: October 3 Location: John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA Game start: 3:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:03 Game attendance: 6,192 Game weather: 76°F • Clear • NNW 11 mph Referee: Kevin Hassell Television network: CST Sources:[8]

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Southeastern Louisiana at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total #20 Lions 0 7 0 0 7 • #22 Cowboys 14 7 0 0 21 Date: October 10 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:13 Game attendance: 13,110 Game weather: 80°F • NNW 6 • Sunny and warm Referee: Ross Smith Television network: CST/ESPN3 Sources:[9]

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McNeese State at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total • #15 Cowboys 0 0 7 21 28 Bears 0 3 10 0 13 Date: October 17 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:27 Game attendance: 10,527 Game weather: 66°F • Clear Referee: Kevin Boitmann Television network: ESPN3 Sources:[10]

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Northwestern State at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Demons 7 3 10 7 27 • #12 Cowboys 7 7 13 20 47 Date: October 24 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 6:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:28 Game attendance: 9,806 Game weather: 73°F • NE 8 • Cloudy, 40% rain Referee: Kevin Hassell Television network: CST Sources:[11]

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McNeese State at Abilene Christian

1 2 3 4 Total • #10 Cowboys 3 3 6 3 15 Wildcats 0 6 0 7 13 Date: October 31 Location: Shotwell Stadium Abilene, TX Game start: 2:00 PM CDT Elapsed time: 3:20 Game attendance: 3,567 Game weather: 65°F • NNW 13 • Sunny Referee: Marvel July Television network: ASN Sources:[12]

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Sam Houston State at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total #7 Bearkats 10 0 0 0 10 • #9 Cowboys 0 14 3 10 27 Date: November 7 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 7:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 2:58 Game attendance: 10,501 Game weather: 64°F • NNE 13 • Overcast with rain Referee: Daniel Romeo Television network: ESPN3 Sources:[13]

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McNeese State at Lamar

1 2 3 4 Total • #3 Cowboys 17 0 0 3 20 Cardinals 7 0 0 7 14 Date: November 21 Location: Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX Game start: 6:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:11 Game attendance: 9,808 Game weather: 62°F • 17 mph • Cloudy and Windy Referee: Randy Christal Television network: ESPN3 Sources:[14]

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Sam Houston State at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total • #6 Bearkats 7 17 10 0 34 #3 Cowboys 10 7 6 6 29 Date: December 5 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 7:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:33 Game attendance: 13,493 Game weather: 57°F • ENE 3 • Fair, 45% humidity Referee: Jeremy Parker Television network: ESPN3 Sources:[15]

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	25	RV	RV	25	23	22	15	12	10	9	3	3	3	7
Coaches	23	23	21	17	15	13	9	9	7	5–T	2 (1)	2 (2)	2 (1)	9