Sun Burnt

[BUTCH1991]

Looks like only our Apps will represent the conference today. Akron is whipping Lafayette, Toledo whipping the fake asu, NC State whipping USA, and Houston crushing Texas State. At least Idaho is hanging with Gaso - only down 16-13 at the half.

[hotrod2001]

Seriously, even GS is struggling against Idaho. What the heck happened to ASU, ULM and ULL? I thought they were decent teams..Akron??? I mean if this is what the conference is going to look like season-long, our chances of owning it are looking good.

BTW- Watching the GS/Idaho game and the AD basically said that their long term goal is to get into a western FCS conference (namely Big Sky) so it looks like Idaho might be out after their 4-year gig is up.

[APPdiesel]

I heard that too. Sounds like they want out. No offense to them at all but they belong in FCS. Put idaho, montana, north dakota state, eastern washington in the same league...that's a damn attractive place to be.

[hotrod2001]

Yeah I don't blame them (commentators said that behind Hawaii they are the most traveled team) Maybe by then Karl Benson will have found a more sensible conference member (looking at you JMU) to take their place.

[HkyMtneer]

Yeah I don't blame them (commentators said that behind Hawaii they are the most traveled team) Maybe by then Karl Benson will have found a more sensible conference member (looking at you JMU) to take their place.

Benson found JMU...they just didn't/don't want to be found by us (Sun Belt).

[kiddbrewer]

Yeah I don't blame them (commentators said that behind Hawaii they are the most traveled team) Maybe by then Karl Benson will have found a more sensible conference member (looking at you JMU) to take their place.

They looked the other way. Sort of how you would divert your stare when you see someone you don't want to talk to.

[EastHallApp]

Remember ULL actually looked awful for the first few games last year too, so they're certainly capable of turning it around. Especially in this league.

[ashugh]

JMU dropped the ball. If we keep improving and pounding CUSA a$$es, we will get an invite to a more prominent conference before them.
Our D is extremely aggressive and physical. If you don't want to get hit in the mouth for 60 minutes, don't play App.
Stay focused Apps and keep working hard. Awesome answer to the Clemson game.

[97grad]

JMU isn't looking to go anywhere. They've had several opportunities and squandered them all. They're one of 9 FCS schools that just said they will not provide FCOA. Time to stop talking about JMU.

[JTApps1]

Seriously, even GS is struggling against Idaho. What the heck happened to ASU, ULM and ULL? I thought they were decent teams..Akron??? I mean if this is what the conference is going to look like season-long, our chances of owning it are looking good.

BTW- Watching the GS/Idaho game and the AD basically said that their long term goal is to get into a western FCS conference (namely Big Sky) so it looks like Idaho might be out after their 4-year gig is up.

Lots of talk saying Idaho and NMSU wont be renewed after the season. Addition by subtraction.

[AppSt94]

Seriously, even GS is struggling against Idaho. What the heck happened to ASU, ULM and ULL? I thought they were decent teams..Akron??? I mean if this is what the conference is going to look like season-long, our chances of owning it are looking good.

BTW- Watching the GS/Idaho game and the AD basically said that their long term goal is to get into a western FCS conference (namely Big Sky) so it looks like Idaho might be out after their 4-year gig is up.

Lots of talk saying Idaho and NMSU wont be renewed after the season. Addition by subtraction.

So divisions for football would be :

East
App
Coastal
GA South
Ga St
Troy

West
Ark St
Louisiana
LaMo
South Alabama
Texas St

[T-Dog]

Idaho and NMSU are never going to be good in the Sun Belt. Travel is rough, donor bases aren't great and it's really hard to attract a quality coach. Any coach who gets either team to a bowl should bolt before going 3-9/2-10 the next year or two and get fired, like what happened to Rob Akey at Idaho.

Georgia State could be god as they got talented players, but they haven't turned the corner. Their big issue is toughness week in and week out. For our sake, lets hope they don't turn the corner in the next two weeks.

Ark State is finally seeing the long-term problems of having 5 coaches in 5 season from 2010-2014. That an injuries to starting QB Fredi Knighten haven't helped. Plus they ran into a buzzsaw that was Access Bowl contenders Toledo.

ULL's loss to Akron is baffling. However, I noticed ULL always has one bad loss in September. It was LaTech last year. They host LaTech this week, so if they lose again, the pressure will mount on Hud. I'm sure the boosters aren't happy with his post-game comments.

USA returned 5 starters from last year, fewest in FBS. Not surprised there. I hate that we play them in the final game because they'll be much better by then.

Troy has a new coach taking their offense to 100 mph so I give them a mulligan this season.

ULM doesn't have a dynamic playmaker on offense. They have probably the best defense out of the western-based Sun Belt teams, but the offense is lacking.

Texas State was embarrassed on Saturday. Their defensive coordinator resigned Sunday after giving up 56 and 59 points the last two games, but they just can't close games. Fran took them from 4-8 in the Southland to 7-5 in the Sun Belt, but the lack of a bowl (partially geography's fault) has the natives restless.

[hotrod2001]

Okay maybe not JMU, just some school that's located in the Eastern/Central time zone areas.

Personally I'd like to see a Kentucky or Tennessee team join as that would be a good geographical fit, but outside of EKU I'm not sure if there are any teams out there who are able/wanting to make such a move. It's all speculation, the important thing is that we are looking good while everyone else is looking bad, which bodes well for both a bowl bid and a conference championship run. Hopefully we knock out Wyoming and roll into conference play down in Atlanta. Could be good times for us!

[EastHallApp]

Seriously, even GS is struggling against Idaho. What the heck happened to ASU, ULM and ULL? I thought they were decent teams..Akron??? I mean if this is what the conference is going to look like season-long, our chances of owning it are looking good.

BTW- Watching the GS/Idaho game and the AD basically said that their long term goal is to get into a western FCS conference (namely Big Sky) so it looks like Idaho might be out after their 4-year gig is up.

Lots of talk saying Idaho and NMSU wont be renewed after the season. Addition by subtraction.

So divisions for football would be :

East
App
Coastal
GA South
Ga St
Troy

West
Ark St
Louisiana
LaMo
South Alabama
Texas St

Or no divisions since there would only be 10 teams.

[NewApp]

Seriously, even GS is struggling against Idaho. What the heck happened to ASU, ULM and ULL? I thought they were decent teams..Akron??? I mean if this is what the conference is going to look like season-long, our chances of owning it are looking good.

BTW- Watching the GS/Idaho game and the AD basically said that their long term goal is to get into a western FCS conference (namely Big Sky) so it looks like Idaho might be out after their 4-year gig is up.

Lots of talk saying Idaho and NMSU wont be renewed after the season. Addition by subtraction.

So divisions for football would be :

East
App
Coastal
GA South
Ga St
Troy

West
Ark St
Louisiana
LaMowe
South Alabama
Texas St

Or no divisions since there would only be 10 teams.

Or we will just replace dogs with dogs until we have enough programs to be allowed a conference play off game.

[APPdiesel]

IF Sunbelt stayed at 10 (unlikely b/c Benson has publicly said he wants a conference championship) we'd either have to go to a 9-team conference schedule to play everyone or stay with a two 5-team division structure, play all 4 in your division every year and rotate 4 of the 5 in the other division. Personally I like the latter, as playing one more out of conference game gives Sunbelt teams a chance to look good against another conference.

(Yes, I realize Sunbelt gets owned OOC every year...but either we collectively win more of those games and make the entire Sunbelt look better or only App wins them and look better on our own...potentially attracting a realignment bid)

[APPdiesel]

As for realignment...the FCS cupboard is pretty bare. Most of the really good teams with attendance are in the upper mid west and north west. Inviting them would only re-create the same travel problems we already have. The only options would be (and none of these have stated interest) Chattanooga, Jacksonville State, or McNeese State. I'm excluding Liberty and Eastern Kentucky as we've already told them no. None of those options are home-runs anyway...so why not stay at 10?

[hotrod2001]

As for realignment...the FCS cupboard is pretty bare. Most of the really good teams with attendance are in the upper mid west and north west. Inviting them would only re-create the same travel problems we already have. The only options would be (and none of these have stated interest) Chattanooga, Jacksonville State, or McNeese State. I'm excluding Liberty and Eastern Kentucky as we've already told them no. None of those options are home-runs anyway...so why not stay at 10?

Probably for a legitimacy standpoint. 12-teams is the standard for FBS conferences. If you're in the FBS, the schools, media, and fans expect a championship game, and it should ultimately add value to the conference (the extra game revenue probably doesn't hurt either).

Liberty I still think will ultimately join if they can prove they're not a controversial lightning rod. It get's them into Virginia and would put 5 out of 6 "east" teams in the Eastern Time Zone (with Troy like just an hour over the border) Who knows, maybe they'll send UMass an invite since since they're leaving the MAC, although I would think that is a step down, who knows.

[APPdiesel]

Forgive me for not knowing, but is UMASS *legitimately* good at anything? I don't like the idea of Sunbelt being a catch all for programs in need. And like I said in my original post, if we add another far flung school it'll create the exact same problems Idaho creates...travel headaches, a team that doesn't geographically fit (and will likely be looking for another home 3-5 years down the road).

[hotrod2001]

They were good in football in 2006...not as good as us though

UMass shot themselves in the foot by deciding to play their football games two hours away in Boston instead of Amherst where their campus is. I'm sure playing in Gillette Stadium is a neat experience, but just ask anyone who has ever went to a Georgia State game how depressing playing in an empty NFL stadium can be.