Welcome to the club, Louisiana-Monroe. By winning eight games last season, including a memorable overtime victory against Arkansas in the opener, the Warhawks earned their first postseason berth as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision. With ULM now in the club, 120 of the 125 FBS programs have reached the postseason.
The remaining five programs have an excuse: Massachusetts, South Alabama, Texas State and Texas-San Antonio only joined the FBS in 2012; Georgia State enlists in 2013. ULM, on the other hand, christened its football program in 1951 and joined the FBS in 1994 – and then failed to notch a winning record until last season.
ULM has joined the club. Now it's time to leave another: ULM is one of eight FBS schools to have reached the postseason yet never won a bowl game, joining Akron, Buffalo, UAB, Western Kentucky, Kent State, Western Michigan and Ball State. That's next on coach Todd Berry's to-do list.
NO. 125 TO NO. 1: College football countdown
LAST YEAR'S PREDICTION
I'm far from sold on the Warhawks scoring enough points to survive this schedule, let alone make a run towards bowl play and a conference championship. Begin with an offensive line still rounding into form, one that will continue to improve on a weekly basis but remains, as of today, far too insecure in pass protection. And if the line struggles protecting the quarterback, look for Browning to again struggle with his own bouts of inconsistency. If that happens, the Warhawks will have no chance of unseating the top slice of the Sun Belt. The Warhawks get the following teams on the road: the Red Wolves, Golden Panthers, Hilltoppers, Arkansas and Auburn. Baylor and ULL come to Monroe. With this schedule, a defense in transition and an offense short on answers, I can't see how ULM finally cracks into bowl play.
2012 RECAP
— In a nutshell: ULM might have collapsed late, losing three of four to end the year, but that does not detract in any way from the Warhawks' finest season as a member of the FBS. It was unforgettable, from the overtime win against Arkansas through the 4-0 start in Sun Belt play; by the end of October, ULM had already matched its previous high-water mark for wins on the FBS level. So what happened in November and December? ULM simply wasn't a match for SBC leaders like Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State, losing to that pair by a combined 38 points, and couldn't hold a candle to Ohio's offensive potency in the Independence Bowl. Nevertheless: ULM reached the Independence Bowl. It was a banner season.
— High point: The win against Arkansas. It was the springboard for ULM's successful season; it was also the moment the Razorbacks realized the 2012 campaign was not going to match its expectations – and yes, it was the season opener. The Warhawks would beat a pair of bowl-eligible teams in Middle Tennessee State (31-17) and Western Kentucky (43-42) and hang very tight in close losses to Auburn and Baylor.
— Low point: Losses to ULL and the Red Wolves. Though the team was drastically improved, injuries prevented ULM from contending with these conference frontrunners. Don't blame the offense, which did an adequate job in both losses – and was hampered by ULL's ability to control the time of possession; blame the Warhawks' defense for coming up short.
— Tidbit: ULM won five games in a row from Sept. 29 through Oct. 27. This winning streak was the program's longest since winning five in a row in 1993, one year before it joined the FBS. In all, this single winning streak accounted for as many or more victories than ULM notched in every season in the FBS but two: 2007 and 2009.
— Tidbit (comebacks edition): ULM won two games last season when trailing by at least 21 points. Against Arkansas, the Warhawks trailed 28-7 with six minutes left in the third quarter. Against WKU, the Warhawks trailed 28-7 with four minutes left in the first half. ULM won both games in overtime, one of four games it took to extra frames on the year.
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