The Sun Belt delivered a strong message to the college football world this block with 11-0 Louisiana showing up in the most recent College Football Playoff Projections. There were many pundits out there that said they stood no chance due to the SoS you typically see from Sun Belt schools. However, this Louisiana team is not your typical team. Led by Coach Doof, the high-flying Cajuns are putting up nearly 49 points per game and have shown they can go toe-to-toe with any team in the land.
The Sun Belt doesn't stop with them though as there are many great coaches in this league that have tested Louisiana and shown the high quality of ball being played in the South.
Power Rankings:
14. Old Dominion (0-7 overall, 0-3 SBCE) – Old Dominion slides down 2 rankings and into the last spot in the Sun Belt after a rough week of losses for the Monarchs. They still look good even in a loss as their uniform combo game is always on point. However, that’s about the only positive thing we can take away from ODU right now until they get their preferred run game figured out.
13. James Madison (0-5 overall, 0-2 SBCE) - The Dukes slide down two rankings as well to number 13 in this week’s power rankings. Not necessarily because they did anything to deserve it but rather because two new coaches got their assigned teams off the hot seat and into the action. James Madison gets the nod here over ODU because, while they have not won any games, they have been more competitive and could break through into the win column at any time. They’ve still got most of their conference games to play so if they can find some time over the holiday break to get games in they could see themselves move back up in the standing.
12. Arkansas State (1-4 overall, 0-2 SBCW) – While Arkansas State has a difficult schedule and we still expect them to find some wins over the back half, they fall in the rankings here due to inactivity. It sounds like that will pick up soon but until we see the Red Wolves back in action, we can’t accurately say how good or bad they are this season. We look for Jaylen Raynor to pick up where he left off and shoot up the passing yard rankings once they are playing again.
11. Southern Miss (2-3 overall, 0-2 SBCW) – Southern Miss falls four spots in this week's rankings as they have also been inactive similar to ASU. Three straight losses have them trending in the wrong direction so we’re hopeful to see them turn the direction around over the next two weeks. Tate Rodemaker is a talent QB so if the Eagles can turn him loose, they may be able to get some wins and soar back up the rankings.
10. Texas State (1-7 overall, 1-3 SBCW) – The Bobcats took a step back this week with 2 conference losses. One was to a surging Georgia State team which caught the Bobcats off guard as that looked like a win prior to their recent coaching change. Coach Dawg has started to get some solid production from Ismael Madi and their start RB is close to breaking the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season. If there’s one silver lining on the season it’s been watching Madi work as he’s a future NFL draft pick for Texas State.
9. South Alabama (2-7 overall, 2-4 SBCW) – South Alabama falls three spots in this week's rankings after a string of tough losses. The Jaguars took on Big 10 member Illinois this week and after falling behind early looked like they might pull it out with a furious second half comeback. However, they fell just short of the win losing 45-42 to the Illini. The hangover from that game carried directly over to their matchup against league power Louisiana. The Jags looked flat in that game and star Safety Wesley Miller couldn’t help in getting the defense off the field in a 32-point loss. South Alabama finished out the year with games against Southern Miss and Texas State so there will be some movement in the middle of the pack once those games play out.
8. Coastal Carolina (2-6 overall, 1-3 SBCE) – Coastal rocketed up the power rankings this week with BigBrian making his debut as the new coach of the Chanticleers. He immediately came out swinging with a statement 42-10 win over the Troy Trojans. I can assure you that no one saw that coming but it showed that anyone in the SBC can lose on any given day. The Chanticleers settle into this spot after losing a head-to-head matchup against Georgia Southern. While Coastal prefers to run the ball, they got behind early to the Eagles and had to turn to QB Ethan Vasko to try to put points on the board in a hurry. Things didn’t go well and Vasko threw five interceptions in the loss. With three games left to play, Coastal still has time to shake off this loss and put a few more wins on the board to push them up the league rankings.
7. Georgia Southern (4-8 overall, 3-5 SBCE) – Georgia Southern finishes out the year on a high note with a commanding win over division foe Coastal Carolina. While we thought the Eagles might be able to pick up the win at home, we did not expect the ball hawking defense that controlled the air against the Chanticleers. While they won’t be making a bowl game, Georgia Southern finished the year on a positive note as their fans turn the page to next season.
6. Georgia State (6-3 overall, 4-2 SBCE) – Up 8 spots from the last update as Grayson has been on quite the tear this week. He’s proving to be a very nice addition to the NDL and we’re looking forward to seeing how he finished out the season. Georgia State and Marshall had already played prior to Grayson taking over so he’s in a holding pattern to see how Marshall finishes out. If the Herd were to drop two of their final three, Georgia State could sneak into the Conference Championship game.
5. Appalachian State (5-4 overall, 3-2 SBCE) – A two game winning streak from the Mountaineers has them holding steady as the 5th best team in conference. Much like Georgia State, they are just in a wait and see role to see what happens with Marshall. They hold the tiebreaker over Georgia State due to their recent 38-17 win over the Panthers and would be next up in line to represent the East if they win out and Marshall falters. They play the exact same three teams as the Herd to round out the year, so we’ll keep our eyes on how they do against common opponents.
4. Marshall (4-5 overall, 4-1 SBCE) – Still holding steady beneath the big three. The Herd need to win two out of their last three games to lock up a berth in the conference title game. While Georgia State is coming on strong, the Herd hold the head-to-head win so they should get in barring any upsets along the way. Their final 3 opponents have a 2-17 combined record, so we don’t see that happening at this time.
3. Troy (7-4 overall, 4-3 SBCW) – Finished up the year going 0-2 against the two Louisiana schools but put up a tough fight in which earns them the #3 spot again this block. Troy looked like they may pull the upset of the year in their game against Louisiana but faltered at the end of the 7-point loss to the Ragin Cajuns. Goose Crowder continues to pile up big numbers while leading the SBC in passing. He put up an eye popping 378 yards against one of the best defenses in the league. If Troy was in the SBC East, they’d be warming up for their rematch with Louisiana in the SBC Championship game. Unfortunately, they are not so instead they’ll wait out conference championship week to see what bowl game the land next.
2. Louisiana Monroe (5-1 overall, 4-1 SBCW) – While there were no games played this block by the Warhawks, they still hold steady in this spot as they were able to maintain a two game lead over Troy due to the Trojans loss to Louisiana. We see ULM being active trying to get their remaining games scheduled so we’ll expect to see them put some more results on the board soon. While they can’t make the SBC Championship game, they are playing for the opportunity to have two Sun Belt teams ranked in the final polls. That’s a rare feat for such a young league and would be huge to building national credibility for the quality of football being played this year in the state of Louisiana.
1. Louisiana (11-0 overall, 7-0 SBCW) – Louisiana maintains the top spot in the rankings after officially clinching a spot in the conference championship with their hard-fought victory over Troy. In what was arguably the best game in the Sun Belt this year, Louisiana fought off the hard charging Trojans squad 49-42 to maintain their undefeated season and earn a spot in this blocks College Football Playoff projections With two games left to go, there is all the pressure in the country on the Cajuns to be the first Sun Belt school to ever make the playoffs. After watching this team maintain their composure time and again, we have all the confidence in the world that they will get the job done.
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