Where is Nicholls anyway?

Kentucky opens its college basketball season tonight against the Nicholls Colonels, an unfamiliar opponent to Big Blue Nation. So unfamiliar that most Kentucky fans couldn’t tell you what state Nicholls State University is in. They probably couldn’t tell you what conference they play in, either. (It’s the Southland Conference.)

So before tip-off at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+, let’s get to know the Nicholls Colonels.

Located in Thibodaux, Louisiana

Nicholls is tucked away in Thibodaux, Louisiana, a small city of around 15,000 people in the heart of bayou country. It’s about an hour west of New Orleans and an hour and 15 minutes southeast of Baton Rouge, depending on how fast you drive or how often you stop for gator crossings.

In 2018, Reader’s Digest ranked Thibodaux as the “Most Charming Small Town in Louisiana.” The town’s known for its food, its friendliness, and its swampy surroundings, located near the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest river swamp in the United States.

Why the Colonel mascot?

Nicholls’ teams are called the Colonels, a nod to the school’s early days as an ROTC campus. Their mascot, Colonel Tillou, wears a bright red coat and is named after the university’s original namesake, Francis Tillou Nicholls, a Civil War general and governor of Louisiana. Colonel Tillou underwent a major rebrand in 2004 to polish a dated image.

A gumbo school

At Nicholls, the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute is a source of local pride, and probably a few hundred gumbo recipes. It’s Louisiana’s only four-year culinary program, where students earn degrees in Culinary Arts with a Cajun-Creole focus.

Yes, that means classes literally cover gumbo, jambalaya, étouffée, and the art of making red beans and rice. Kentucky may have bourbon studies. Nicholls has gumbo science.

Manning Passing Academy ties

Archie, Cooper, Peyton, and Eli host their famous Manning Passing Academy every summer at Nicholls’ Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium. Quarterbacks from across the country flock to Thibodaux to learn from football royalty and to survive the 100-degree humidity to impress college coaches.

So while you might not have known where Nicholls was this morning, Peyton Manning and several quarterback greats do.