They went on to make two more appearances in 1979 and 1980. The Cowboys football team has more recently played in two Division I-AA Finals, in 1997 and 2002.
=== Basketball ===
The Cowboys basketball and volleyball teams both moved into the venue now known as The Legacy Center in 2018. This gave the basketball teams their first on-campus facility since leaving the Ralph O. Ward arena. In 1956, the Cowboys won the NAIA Division I Men's Tournament. It was the only appearance the Cowboys made in the NAIA tournament. McNeese State defeated Texas Southern 60 to 55. The men's basketball team has made four appearances in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, most recently in 2025, and the team has qualified for the National Invitation Tournament three times, the most recent invitation being in 2011. The school's most famous basketball alumnus is Joe Dumars, who was a first-round draft pick (18th overall) of the Detroit Pistons in 1985 and went on to have a Hall of Fame career with them.
The women's basketball team …
