The bowl matched Louisiana of the Sun Belt Conference against Marshall of Conference USA (C-USA). This was the first meeting of the two programs.[4] Marshall previously announced that they plan to join the Sun Belt for the 2023 season.
Louisiana
The Cajuns (12–1, 8–0 in Sun Belt play) entered the contest with a 12-game win streak, ranked 23rd in the nation, two consecutive bowl victories (2020 LendingTree and 2020 First Responder), four consecutive divisional championship, two consecutive conference championship, and a new head coach in Michael Desormeaux following Billy Napier's sudden departure to Florida. This was the Cajuns sixth time in the New Orleans Bowl (2011–2014, 2015), with an overall record of 2–1 following two vacated victories in the 2011 and 2013 matchups. The Cajuns' overall bowl record was 7–3, with its most recent bowl game, the 2020 First Responder Bowl, resulting in a win over UTSA.
Marshall
The Thundering Herd finished the 2021 regular season with a 7–5 (5–3 C-USA) record to finish in a tie for second place in the East Division. This game was the team's first appearance in the New Orleans Bowl and 18th overall bowl. This was Marshall's first bowl game against a team from the Sun Belt Conference since the 2011 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, a win over FIU.