The Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals refers to the college athletics teams of Lamar University, in Beaumont, Texas. The Cardinals and Lady Cardinals teams compete in seventeen NCAA Division I sports as a member of the Southland Conference. The Cardinals rejoined the Southland after spending the 2021–22 athletic year in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
The Lamar Cardinals basketball team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The Cardinals currently play in the Southland Conference following a return from the Western Athletic Conference on July 11, 2022. They were one of four programs, all from Texas, that left the Southland Conference on July 1, 2021, to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Lamar left the Southland Conference for the second time, having initially joined at the league's formation in 1963, left in 1987, and returned in 1999. After one season in the WAC, Lamar returned to the Southland Conference. The Cardinals have played home games in the Montagne Center since 1984. The Lamar University basketball team is one of the school's most storied athletic programs. The Cardinals have competed in NCAA Tournament play eleven times and six times at the NCAA Division I level with the most recent appearance in the 2012 tournament. The 1979–80 team was one of the 1980 tournament's Sweet Sixteen teams. The Cardinals have also competed in four NIT tournaments. Heading into the 2014–2015 season Lamar had a 284–143 record in the Montagne Center. The Cardinals overall record going into the 2014–2015 season was 922–818.
The Lamar Cardinals football program represents Lamar University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level. The Cardinals are members of the Southland Conference and play their home games in the 16,000 seat Provost Umphrey Stadium. The Cardinals left the Southland Conference in July 2021 to join the Western Athletic Conference, which relaunched its football league at the FCS level during the 2021 season. After one season in the WAC, Lamar and the Southland Conference announced on July 11, 2022 Lamar's accelerated return to the Southland Conference effective immediately.
The 2012 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cardinals were led by third-year head coach Ray Woodard and played their home games at Provost Umphrey Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 4–8, 1–6 in Southland play to finish in seventh place.
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. 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
The 2014 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cardinals were led by fifth-year head coach Ray Woodard and played their home games at Provost Umphrey Stadium. They are a member of the Southland Conference. The Cardinals finished the season 8–4, 5–3 in Southland play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. The eight win overall and five win conference record matched the Cardinals' best overall win record in both categories as a four year program.
The 2015 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cardinals were led by sixth-year head coach Ray Woodard and played their home games at Provost Umphrey Stadium. They are a member of the Southland Conference.
The 2015 Central Arkansas Bears football team represented the University of Central Arkansas in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bears were led by second-year head coach Steve Campbell and played their home games at Estes Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 7–4, 7–2 in Southland play to finish in a tie for second place. They were not invited to the FCS Playoffs.
The 2015 McNeese State Cowboys football team represented McNeese State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cowboys were led by tenth-year head coach Matt Viator and played their home games at Cowboy Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 10–1, 9–0 in Southland play to win the Southland Conference title. They went undefeated 10–0 in the regular season. They received the Southland's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the second round to fellow Southland member Sam Houston State.
The 2016 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cardinals were led by seventh-year head coach Ray Woodard and played their home games at Provost Umphrey Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 3–8, 3–6 in Southland play to finish in a tie for eighth place.
The 1966 Lamar Tech Cardinals football team represented Lamar State College of Technology—now known as Lamar University—as a member of the Southland Conference during the 1966 NCAA College Division football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Vernon Glass, the Cardinals compiled an overall record of 6–4 with a mark of 3–1 in conference play, sharing the Southland title .sharing the conference championship with Arlington State. Lamar Tech played home games at Cardinal Stadium in Beaumont, Texas.
The 1968 Lamar Tech Cardinals football team represented Lamar State College of Technology—now known as Lamar University—as a member of the Southland Conference during the 1968 NCAA College Division football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Vernon Glass, the Cardinals compiled an overall record of 0–10 with a mark of 0–4 in conference play, placing last out of five teams in the Southland. Lamar Tech played home games at Cardinal Stadium in Beaumont, Texas.
The 1976 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. Led by first-year head coach Bob Frederick, the Cardinals compiled an overall record of 2–9 with a mark of 0–5 in conference play, placing last out of six teams in the Southland. Lamar played home games at Cardinal Stadium in Beaumont, Texas.
The 1977 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season as a member of the Southland Conference. The Cardinals played their home games at Cardinal Stadium now named Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar finished the 1977 season with a 2–9 overall record and a 1–4 conference record. One highlight for the season was that the game against the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns was the fifth-highest-attended game in the history of the stadium, with 17,222 fans in attendance.
The 1978 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Southland Conference. NCAA Division I split into Division I-A, the current Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and Division I-AA, the current Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), for football in 1978. Lamar and the Southland Conference opted to compete at the Division I-A level. The Cardinals played their home games at Cardinal Stadium now named Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar finished the 1978 season with a 2–8–1 overall record and a 0–5 conference record. The 1978 season marked Bob Frederick's final season as Lamar's head football coach.
The 2017–18 Lamar Lady Cardinals basketball team represented Lamar University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Cardinals, led by fifth year head coach Robin Harmony, played their home games at the Montagne Center and are members of the Southland Conference. The Lady Cardinals finished the season with an overall record of 22-8. They won the Southland Conference regular season championship were 17-1 in Southland play. After losing to Nicholls in a Southland Conference tournament semi-final game 68-74, the Lady Cardinals were an automatic qualifier to the WNIT. Their season ended with a first round 68-80 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs in the first round.
The 2018 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cardinals were led by second-year head coach Mike Schultz and played their home games at Provost Umphrey Stadium. They played as a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 7–5, 6–3 in Southland play to finish in third place. They received an at-large berth to the FCS Playoffs, where they lost in the first round to Northern Iowa.
The 2018 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team represented Sam Houston State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bearkats were led by fifth-year head coach K. C. Keeler and played their home games at Bowers Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 5–4 in Southland play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place.
The Lamar Lady Cardinals soccer team represents Lamar University in NCAA Division I college soccer. The team, currently led by head coach Nathan Kogut, competes in the Southland Conference. The team's initial season was 2007. The Lady Cardinals' home stadium is the Lamar Soccer Complex located on the university's campus. The team began playing home games there starting with the 2009 season. The Lady Cardinals home stadium for the first two seasons was Cardinal Stadium now named Provost Umphrey Stadium.
The 2020 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southland Conference. The Cardinals were led by first-year head coach Blane Morgan and played their home games at Provost Umphrey Stadium. Originally scheduled to play an eleven-game regular season schedule in 2020, the Cardinals played shortened 6 game schedule in Spring 2021 with all games against conference members due to the COVID19 Pandemic. The Cardinals finished the season with a 2–4 overall record. The conference record was also 2–4 tied for fifth place with McNeese.
