ULM's story is even bleaker. Bryant Vincent is 8-16 in his 3 seasons running the program, and the Warhawks haven't posted a winning season since 2012 — 39 years into their FBS tenure with only 3 winning campaigns total. Last season ended with a 3-9 record and a brutal 1-7 mark in conference play, capped by an overtime loss at Louisiana to close things out. The 2026 hope in Monroe is modest: snap the bowl drought, or at minimum avoid a fourth-straight sub-.500 slide.
Marshall's roster overhaul continues this offseason with names like Jamarion Wilcox and Josiah McLaurin stepping in at running back after Antwan Roberts left for Arizona, and West Virginia transfers Robby Martin and Xavier Bausley joining a patched-together offensive line. It's still very much a work in progress, but with Del Rio-Wilson back and healthier depth than last year's skeleton crew, Marshall enters the West Division slate as the clearly more talented team on paper.
ULM does have a few building blocks — senior linebacker Noah Flemmings anchors the defense, and returning linemen David Applewhite and Drew Hutchinson give some continuity up front, with Roscoe Tucker and Reese Steele also expected back from injury. But rebuilding a roster that's lost 4 straight non-winning seasons doesn't happen in one offseason, and there's little in ULM's recent history to suggest a jump against a Marshall team that, even in a down year, still finished with more than double the Warhawks' win total.