Either history or misery awaits the Cowboys and their fans.

McNeese State’s second straight outstanding season again comes down to two days in the Legacy Center.

With a chance to become the first Cowboy team in history to win back-to-back Southland Conference titles, McNeese will have all the pressure on it.

At 25-6, the Cowboys are the heavy favorites to win the title and earn a second consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament the following week. McNeese finished the regular season 19-1, five games ahead of second-place Lamar.

“Since we came here, we have done some things for the first time,” said McNeese head coach Will Wade. “This would be a nice first for us. I really want it for the kids who haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament or won a conference title.”

Tuesday at 6 p.m., the Cowboys begin their postseason journey once again with a giant target on their backs. They will play the winner of Monday’s Northwestern State/Corpus Christi game.

“Everybody is going to come in and try to knock us off,” said McNeese guard Javohn Garcia. “We have to be ready every game.”

The Cowboys are fully loaded, having won nine straight and 20 of their last 21. They also swept the SLC’s major honors as well as the Demons and Islanders.

Garcia was named the conference Player of the Year, Christian Shumate earned his second straight Defensive Player of the Year, and Will Wade repeated as Coach of the Year. 

The Cowboys benefit from playing on their home floor. They are 29-1 overall the last two seasons and 20-0 against Southland competition. They have also won four of the five SLC Tournament games they have played on Joe Dumars Court. 

“Our home court and fans mean everything to us,” said senior forward Christian Shumate. “They really get us going. We love to play here.”

Shumate held his coming-out party in this tournament two years ago when the Cowboys made a surprising run to the semifinals from the No. 8 seed. Shumate grabbed 41 rebounds in the three games to set the tournament record.

He finished those games averaging 26.7 points and 13.7 rebounds, including 30 points in the semifinal loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. He wants to leave the McNeese fans with a second straight title.

“That’s been the goal the entire year, to get back to the NCAA Tournament and win a game,” Shumate said.

Junior guard DJ Richards is coming in hot. The sharpshooter has made 29 of his 49 3-point attempts over the last eight games, a .592 shooting percentage. He leads the league in that category with a .439 percentage for the season.

Also hot is guard Sincere Parker, who has scored 47 points in 48 minutes over his last two games.

“Sincere is not trying to force things as much,” said Wade. “He’s letting the game come to him and finding his moments to attack.”

Wade has said this will not be an easy run through the tournament. The league has improved.

“Both sides of the bracket are going to be tough,” Wade said. There is zero doubt a lot of teams can win this thing.”

That may be true, but for a team that is 55-10 over the last two years and has dominated this league in back-to-back seasons, it still feels like it’s the Cowboys’ title to lose.