Battle of the Border (Lamar–McNeese)

The Battle of the Border is the name of the athletics rivalry between the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals of Lamar University and Cowboys and Cowgirls of McNeese State University (athletically branded as "McNeese" since the 2015–16 school year).^[1][2] Originally in football, the rivalry now covers all sports. In 2009, the rivalry was expanded to include "...head-to-head and SLC [Southland Conference] Championship competition in 14 different sports...". The competition is a joint agreement with the two universities and sponsor, Verizon Wireless^[3]

Background

Both universities are public universities in their respective states. Lamar University, located in Beaumont, Texas, is part of the Texas State University System, and McNeese State University, located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is part of the University of Louisiana System. Lamar and McNeese are about 60 miles apart, accessible via Interstate 10.

Football

Battle of the Border

Lamar Cardinals McNeese Cowboys
Sport	Football
First meeting	November 10, 1951 McNeese State, 13–7
Latest meeting	November 23, 2024 Lamar, 26–24
Next meeting	November 22, 2025
Trophy	None
Statistics
Meetings total	42
All-time series	McNeese leads, 28–13–1
Largest victory	McNeese State, 38–0 (1971)
Longest win streak	McNeese State, 6 (1983–1988)
Current win streak	Lamar, 2 (2023–present)

60km
37miles

McNeese

Lamar

   

Locations along Interstate 10.

After the 1989 season, Lamar shut down its football program, before resurrecting it for the 2010 season. The Lamar–McNeese rivalry resumed in 2010.

Game results

Lamar victories

McNeese victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 10, 1951 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 13–7 2 November 8, 1952 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 42–7 3 October 29, 1955 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 17–2 4 October 27, 1956 Beaumont, TX Lamar 18–14 5 October 22, 1966 Beaumont, TX Lamar 10–7 6 October 21, 1967 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 24–8 7 September 21, 1968 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 10–0 8 September 20, 1969 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 13–7 9 October 10, 1970 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 17–12 10 October 9, 1971 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 38–0 11 October 7, 1972 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 17–7 12 September 22, 1973 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 20–7 13 November 16, 1974 Beaumont, TX Lamar 17–3 14 November 29, 1975 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 20–10 15 November 13, 1976 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 27–0 16 November 12, 1977 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 35–7 17 November 11, 1978 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 24–23 18 October 13, 1979 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 34–25 19 November 15, 1980 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 35–3 20 October 31, 1981 Beaumont, TX Tie 20–20 21 November 13, 1982 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 12–3 22 November 19, 1983 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 17–7 No. Date Location Winner Score 23 November 17, 1984 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 34–14 24 November 23, 1985 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 28–7 25 November 22, 1986 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 38–7 26 November 21, 1987 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 44–36 27 November 19, 1988 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 18–17 28 November 18, 1989 Beaumont, TX Lamar 22–17 29 September 4, 2010 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 30–27 30 November 19, 2011 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 45–17 31 November 17, 2012 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 35–0 32 November 23, 2013 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 42–38 33 November 22, 2014 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 27–24 34 November 21, 2015 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 20–14 35 November 19, 2016 Lake Charles, LA McNeese State 41–10 36 November 18, 2017 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 13–3 37 November 17, 2018 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 21–17 38 November 23, 2019 Beaumont, TX McNeese State 27–3 39 March 13, 2021 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 27–26OT 40 November 19, 2022 Lake Charles, LA McNeese 24–20 41 November 18, 2023 Beaumont, TX Lamar 52–27 42 November 23, 2024 Lake Charles, LA Lamar 26–24 Series: McNeese leads 28–13–1

Men's basketball

As of the end of the 2022–23 season, Lamar has a 62–52^[4] lead in men's basketball games against McNeese.^[5][6][7][8]

Women's basketball

As of the end of the 2022–23 season, Lamar has a 52–48 series lead in women's basketball over McNeese.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Baseball

As of the end of the 2023 season, Lamar has a 122–84–2 lead over McNeese.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

Soccer

As of the end of the 2023 season, Lamar has a 9–6–1 lead over McNeese. Each school sports 3 match winning streaks. McNeese won the first 3 matches.^[20][21]

Softball

As of the end of the 2023 season, McNeese has a 37–7 lead over Lamar^[22]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games