LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL)—The 12th R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl marks the third consecutive year the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns make an appearance, and attendance numbers are expected to break another record Saturday when the Cajuns take on Tulane’s Green Wave.

New Orleans Bowl executive director Billy Ferrante told The Times-Picayune Tuesday afternoon that ticket sales exceeded the 53,000 mark.

The lowest attendance for the Cajuns still filled 12,000 more seats than the Bowl’s highest attendance numbers before then, when Middle Tennessee bested Southern Miss in front of 30,228 spectators.

When the Cajuns made their first appearance in 2011 versus San Diego State, 42,841 attended, bringing more than 13,000 attendees than the year prior when Ohio and Troy took the field. Last year versus East Carolina, 48,828 showed up.

Before the New Orleans Bowl, the Cajuns hadn’t been invited to compete since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl, where Tennessee State landed a 26-25 victory over the team, then the University of Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 8 p.m. and will broadcast nationally on ESPN. The event has an economic impact of about $15 million, according to the New Orleans Bowl website.

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