The 2011 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, part of the 2011–12 bowl game season, took place on December 17, 2011, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 11th edition of the game featured the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference (Sun Belt), and the San Diego State Aztecs from the Mountain West Conference. The game was telecast at 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN and ESPN 3D. In March 2016, Louisiana–Lafayette vacated its 2011 and 2013 New Orleans Bowl wins, due to major NCAA violations including ACT exam fraud and payments to recruits. Teams Louisiana–Lafayette accepted a bid to compete in the 2011 edition of the game on November 21, while San Diego State accepted a bid on December 4. University of Louisiana at Lafayette On November 21, 2011, the UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns accepted an invite to represent the Sun Belt Conference. Prior to the start of the 2011 season, the Ragin' Cajuns were expected to finish last in the Sun Belt Conference and be ranked last among the 120 FBS school. However, the Ragin' Cajuns team was a surprise and finished the regular season with an 8-4 record. The New Orleans Bowl marked UL Lafayette's first ever division I FBS bowl appearance and their first bowl appearance since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl. Because of UL Lafayette's close proximity to New Orleans, the New Orleans Bowl set an attendance record at 42,841. However, in 2015, Louisiana–Lafayette was forced to vacated all nine wins including the New Orleans Bowl due to major NCAA violations including ACT exam fraud and payments to players. San Diego State University On December 4, 2011, the San Diego State Aztecs accepted an invite to represent the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs entered the bowl with a record of 8–4. SDSU's season was helped by Ronnie Hillman, who rushed for 1,656 yards and 19 touchdowns. This marked SDSU's sixth bowl appearance and their second consecutive following the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl. The bowl game also marked the first time the Aztecs appeared back-to-back division I bowl games. Neither team previously appeared in the New Orleans Bowl. The bowl game marked the first ever meeting between the two schools. Game summary The Aztecs scored first with a 27-yard field goal from Abelardo Perez. The Ragin' Cajuns responded with a touchdown to make the score 6–3, after the point after was blocked. In the second