2013 Southland Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 Southeastern Louisiana $^		7	–	0					11	–	3
No. 11 McNeese State ^		6	–	1					10	–	3
No. 14 Sam Houston State ^		4	–	3					9	–	5
Central Arkansas		4	–	3					7	–	5
Northwestern State		3	–	4					6	–	6
Lamar		2	–	5					5	–	7
Nicholls State		1	–	6					4	–	8
Stephen F. Austin		1	–	6					3	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2013 McNeese State Cowboys football team represented McNeese State University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by eighth-year head coach Matt Viator, the Cowboys compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 6–1 in conference play, placing second in the Southland. McNeese State received an at-large bid to NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where, after a first-round bye, the Cowboys lost in the second round to Jacksonville State. The team played home games at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 pm	at South Florida*		Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL	ESPN3	W 53–21	35,470
September 7	7:30 pm	Arkansas-Pine Bluff*	No. 18	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	CSNH	W 58–14	15,217
September 14	7:00 pm	West Alabama*	No. 13	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA		W 44–42	10,107
September 21	7:00 pm	Weber State*	No. 12	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA		W 43–6	8,893
September 28	4:00 pm	at No. 5 Northern Iowa*	No. 9	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA		L 6–41	12,325
October 5	3:00 pm	at No. 14 Central Arkansas	No. 11	Estes Stadium Conway, AR (Red Beans and Rice Bowl)	SLCTV	W 59–28	10,247
October 19	7:00 pm	No. 2 Sam Houston State	No. 9	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN3	W 31–23	15,352
October 26	3:00 pm	at Nicholls State	No. 4	John L. Guidry Stadium Thobodaux, LA		W 55–30	5,988
November 2	7:00 pm	No. 25 Southeastern Louisiana	No. 4	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA		L 7–41	14,898
November 9	3:00 pm	at Stephen F. Austin	No. 11	Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX		W 69–38	6,312
November 16	7:00 pm	Northwestern State	No. 9	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (rivalry)	ESPN3	W 43–17	15,003
November 23	3:00 pm	at Lamar	No. 6	Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX (Battle of the Border)		W 42–38	7,627
December 7	6:00 pm	No. 20 Jacksonville State*	No. 6	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 10–31	5,036
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[1][2]

McNeese State at South Florida

1 2 3 4 Total • Cowboys 2 31 10 10 53 Bulls 7 0 7 7 21 Date: August 31 Location: Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL Game start: 7:00 PM EST Elapsed time: 3:15 Game attendance: 35,470 Game weather: 88 °F (31 °C), Cloudy Referee: Todd LaPenta TV announcers (ESPN3): Drew Fellios, Doug Graber, and Tiffany Greene Sources:

McNeese State received $400,000 to play the upper division (FBS) South Florida Bulls to open the 2013 season for both programs.^[3] The Bulls prior record as an FBS team playing against FCS teams was 23–0; USF was a 20.5 point favorite before the game.^[3][4] The Cowboys spoiled Willie Taggart's debut as the Bulls' head coach, winning 53–21. The 32-point margin was the largest margin of victory by any FCS team over an FBS team since Division I was split into FBS and FCS in 1978.^[4]

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Arkansas–Pine Bluff at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Golden Lions 7 7 0 0 14 • #18 Cowboys 14 23 14 7 58 Date: September 7 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 7:37 PM CST Elapsed time: 2:48 Game attendance: 15,217 Game weather: 82 °F (28 °C), Cloudy, Winds SSW @ 6mph Referee: Ken Ray TV announcers (CSNH): David Saltzman, ND Kalu & Bart Enis Sources:

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West Alabama at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Tigers 14 7 14 7 42 • #13 Cowboys 14 10 7 13 44 Date: September 14 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 7:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 3:05 Game attendance: 10,107 Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C), Partly Cloudy, Winds E @ 6mph Referee: Ross Smith Sources:

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Weber State at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Wildcats 6 0 0 0 6 • #12 Cowboys 7 10 13 13 43 Date: September 21 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 7:00 PM CST Elapsed time: 2:53 Game attendance: 8,893 Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), Cloudy w/ 70% chance of rain, Winds NNE @ 12mph Referee: C. Castleberry Sources:

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McNeese State at Northern Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total #9 Cowboys 0 0 6 0 6 • #5 Panthers 7 10 14 10 41 Date: September 28 Location: UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA Game attendance: 12,325 Sources:

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McNeese State at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total • #11 Cowboys 7 35 7 10 59 #14 Bears 7 14 7 0 28 Date: October 5 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Television network: SLCTV Sources:

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McNeese State at Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total #9 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 #2 Bearkats 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 19 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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McNeese State at Nicholls State

1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Colonels 0 0 0 0 0 Date: October 26 Location: John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA Sources:

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Southeastern Louisiana at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 0 0 0 0 0 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 2 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Sources:

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McNeese State at Stephen F. Austin

1 2 3 4 Total • #11 Cowboys 21 24 17 7 69 Lumberjacks 24 0 7 7 38 Date: November 9 Location: Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX Sources:

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Northwestern State at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total Demons 0 0 0 0 0 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 16 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

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McNeese State at Lamar

1 2 3 4 Total Demons 0 0 0 0 0 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 23 Location: Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX Sources:

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
Sports Network	—	18	13	12	9	11	9	9	4	4	11	9	6	6	11
Coaches	—	20	18	13	9	14	11	10	7	7	13	11	8	6	9

All McNeese State games were broadcast on Gator 99.5 FM. KVHP 30.2 is the local affiliate for SLC TV and aired McNeese State games on SLC TV.