Sun Belt Power Rankings

JustinS09

JustinS09

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Looking at pre season rankings and coaches polls and taking into account the week 1 results, this is how I have the Sun Belt Power Rankings.

  1. Coastal Carolina
  2. Appalachian State
  3. Louisiana
  4. South Alabama
  5. Marshall
  6. Old Dominion
  7. James Madison
  8. Troy
  9. Georgia State
  10. Arkansas State
  11. Georgia Southern
  12. Southern Miss
  13. TXST
  14. ULM

These are the preseason rankings from the Sun Belt Coaches poll.

  1. Louisiana
  2. App State
  3. South Alabama
  4. Coastal Carolina
  5. Troy
  6. Georgia State
  7. Marshall
  8. TXST
  9. Southern Miss
  10. Arkansas State
  11. Georgia Southern
  12. JMU
  13. ODU
  14. ULM
I'll update this thread as the season goes on. Feel free to throw in your rankings if they differ. It'll get clearer as the season goes on and we start playing conference games.
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

Administrator
Staff member
Week 2 had several big upsets around the belt. Hard to tell who is legit with only 2 weeks in the books, but one thing's for sure, the East is really strong.

  1. App State (PW 2)
  2. Marshall (PW 5)
  3. Louisiana (PW 3)
  4. Georgia Southern (PW 11)
  5. South Alabama (PW 4)
  6. Coastal (PW 1)
  7. JMU (PW 7)
  8. Troy (PW 8)
  9. ODU (PW 6)
  10. Georgia State (PW 9)
  11. Arkansas State (PW 10)
  12. TXST (PW 13)
  13. Southern Miss (PW 12)
  14. ULM (PW 14)
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

Administrator
Staff member
Power rankings after week 3. Several teams have been inconsistent through the first 3 weeks. Overall, the Belt had a huge let down after all the big upsets last week. Some teams probably deserve to be higher and some probably deserve to be lower, but until we see more games and more consistency, this is what I have.
  1. App State (PW 1)
  2. Coastal (PW 6)
  3. South Alabama (PW 5)
  4. Marshall (PW 2)
  5. Georgia Southern (PW 4)
  6. Louisiana (PW 3)
  7. JMU (PW 7)
  8. Troy (PW 8)
  9. ODU (PW 9)
  10. Georgia State (PW 10)
  11. Arkansas State (PW 11)
  12. TXST (PW 12)
  13. Southern Miss (PW 13)
  14. ULM (PW 14)
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

Administrator
Staff member
Week 4. I know ULM beat ULL this week, but I don't feel confident moving ULM up that much in one week or moving ULL down that much in one week. I see it more as a rivalry win for ULM. Still think they showed they are better than last in the conference though. JMU looks to be really good and at 3-0 with wins against MTSU and a proven App State, I think they deserve to be ranked #1 for now.

  1. JMU (PW 7)
  2. Coastal (PW 2)
  3. App State (PW 1)
  4. South Alabama (PW 3)
  5. Georgia Southern (PW 5)
  6. Troy (PW 8)
  7. Marshall (PW 4)
  8. Louisiana (PW 6)
  9. ODU (PW 9)
  10. Arkansas State (PW 11)
  11. Georgia State (PW 10)
  12. ULM (PW 14)
  13. TXST (PW 12)
  14. Southern Miss (PW 13)
 
Bobcat1

Bobcat1

Active member
JustinS09 said:
Week 4. I know ULM beat ULL this week, but I don't feel confident moving ULM up that much in one week or moving ULL down that much in one week. I see it more as a rivalry win for ULM. Still think they showed they are better than last in the conference though. JMU looks to be really good and at 3-0 with wins against MTSU and a proven App State, I think they deserve to be ranked #1 for now.

  1. JMU (PW 7)
  2. Coastal (PW 2)
  3. App State (PW 1)
  4. South Alabama (PW 3)
  5. Georgia Southern (PW 5)
  6. Troy (PW 8)
  7. Marshall (PW 4)
  8. Louisiana (PW 6)
  9. ODU (PW 9)
  10. Arkansas State (PW 11)
  11. Georgia State (PW 10)
  12. ULM (PW 14)
  13. TXST (PW 12)
  14. Southern Miss (PW 13)
Click to expand...
ULM should be at #8. Anyone who saw them play UT in the early going wouldn’t have been surprised with them taking down ULL.

I don’t get why people think they are a sure win for us, they certainly are not.
 
B

Bakertxst04

Guest
Bobcat1 said:
ULM should be at #8. Anyone who saw them play UT in the early going wouldn’t have been surprised with them taking down ULL.

I don’t get why people think they are a sure win for us, they certainly are not.
Click to expand...
ULM’s only two losses are to UT and Alabama. They’ve turned the page compared to how they used to look.
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

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Bobcat1 said:
ULM should be at #8. Anyone who saw them play UT in the early going wouldn’t have been surprised with them taking down ULL.

I don’t get why people think they are a sure win for us, they certainly are not.
Click to expand...
UT isn't as good as everyone thinks. At least I don't think so. However, I certainly don't think ULM is a sure win. Looking at the remaining schedule and how we have played through 4 games, I'm not sure how anyone can say we have a sure win left on our schedule. We have a couple toss ups and a lot of sure losses IMO.

Bakertxst04 said:
ULM’s only two losses are to UT and Alabama. They’ve turned the page compared to how they used to look.
Click to expand...
The main reason I haven't moved ULM higher yet is because you can't tell too much about a team in blowout losses. Yes, their only 2 losses are to UT and Alabama, but they lost a combined 17-115 in those games. Their only other win besides the ULL win, is against FCS Nicholls. Even though Nicholls is usually a decent to good FCS team, they are 0-4 this year with blowout losses to every team. Their closest loss was to ULM 35-7. ULM is also a 7.5 point dog to Arkansas State this week. If they end up beating Arkansas State then I will start looking at their win against ULL as more than a rivalry type win. Until then, they haven't done anything (in my mind) to warrant being moved up that high.
 
X

_x_

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I agree. I have them at #11 in my power rankings on the SBC board, and Cajuns at #8 like you. As you said, they're an underdog to A-State, who I've got at #14...

Great win for the Warhawks last week, but it's just one win. They string a couple together and they'll get my attention, till then I'm keeping them near the bottom.

I expect a battle vs. them in Monroe later this season. I think we can all agree (aside from maybe jello or twinkie) we have 0 easy wins in conference this year, and we probably rarely will going forward. This isn't the old SBC with terrible Idaho/NMST/GSU/Coastal teams like it was 8-9 years ago. From 1-14 its a pretty competitive league nowadays. Conference play will be a grind every year.
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

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Here are my rankings after week 5. Troy and South Alabama are both looking to be the teams to beat in the West. Several teams better than expected and several teams worse than expected through week 5. Depending how the rest of the season plays out, Coastal at JMU could be for the championship with a formality game against the west to follow. We'll see if Coastal can make it there though. They haven't exactly been winning convincingly so far. 5-0 is 5-0 though.
  1. JMU (PW 1)
  2. Coastal (PW 2)
  3. App State (PW 3)
  4. South Alabama (PW 4)
  5. Troy (PW 6)
  6. Marshall (PW 7)
  7. Georgia Southern (PW 5)
  8. Arkansas State (PW 10)
  9. Georgia State (PW 11)
  10. Louisiana (PW 8)
  11. ODU (PW 9)
  12. ULM (PW 12)
  13. TXST (PW 13)
  14. Southern Miss (PW 14)
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

Administrator
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I agree too. To an extent. If you're playing a full FBS schedule, you should be eligible for the post season regardless of which transition year you're in. If you're still playing a majority FCS schedule with some FBS games mixed in like most 1st year transition teams do, then you shouldn't be eligible.

I believe JMU only has 1 FCS team on their schedule and the rest is FBS. Therefore, if they win 6 games, they should be eligible for post season play.
 
LTK5H

LTK5H

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No more than GASO and App State. It's a stupid rule, but there's no reason to change it just for JMU. They've been playing the "poor Dukes" card for a while with the penalties associated with swapping conference/moving up and it's pretty lame, imo. If you're going to play the martyr, do it with your chest out and head up, don't be a sniveling whiner.
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

Administrator
Staff member
Alright, week 6! Since these are my power rankings and we are just a fan site, AND the fact that I'm still riding the high from our win over a traditionally great team, I'm going heavy homer on this one. We are 3-3 through 6 games with wins against App State, FIU and HBU. Losses to a good Baylor team and a good JMU team, plus 1 bad loss to a Nevada team that we all probably wish we could have back. Combine that with how many Bye Weeks the Belt had this week and I think this ranking is pretty fair.
  1. JMU (PW 1)
  2. Coastal (PW 2)
  3. South Alabama (PW 4)
  4. Troy (PW 5)
  5. Marshall (PW 6)
  6. TXST (PW 13)
  7. App State (PW 3)
  8. Georgia State (PW 9)
  9. Georgia Southern (PW 7)
  10. ODU (PW 11)
  11. Arkansas State (PW 8)
  12. ULM (PW 12)
  13. Louisiana (PW 10)
  14. Southern Miss (PW 14)
 
Bobcat1

Bobcat1

Active member
JustinS09 said:
Alright, week 6! Since these are my power rankings and we are just a fan site, AND the fact that I'm still riding the high from our win over a traditionally great team, I'm going heavy homer on this one. We are 3-3 through 6 games with wins against App State, FIU and HBU. Losses to a good Baylor team and a good JMU team, plus 1 bad loss to a Nevada team that we all probably wish we could have back. Combine that with how many Bye Weeks the Belt had this week and I think this ranking is pretty fair.
  1. JMU (PW 1)
  2. Coastal (PW 2)
  3. South Alabama (PW 4)
  4. Troy (PW 5)
  5. Marshall (PW 6)
  6. TXST (PW 13)
  7. App State (PW 3)
  8. Georgia State (PW 9)
  9. Georgia Southern (PW 7)
  10. ODU (PW 11)
  11. Arkansas State (PW 8)
  12. ULM (PW 12)
  13. Louisiana (PW 10)
  14. Southern Miss (PW 14)
Click to expand...
I’d put ODU & GAST above us for now.
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

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ODU maybe depending on how much value you put on the VT win, but we definitely have a better resume than GAST. We're currently 3rd in the West with a 3-3 record. ODU is 3rd in the East with a 2-3 record. GAST is 4th with a 2-4 record. If anything, I probably should have thrown ODU over GAST and GS, but these things are never perfect.
 
B

Bakertxst04

Guest
GAST is getting hot right now. I’d be curious to see who would win in a matchup, but we’ll have to wait until next year to find out.
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

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Maybe, but their only two wins are against a 1-4 Army team that is significantly worse than usual, and a 3-3 Georgia Southern team with a marquee upset of Nebraska, but not much else to write home about.

I do think it would be a good matchup this year though.
 
X

_x_

M&G Gift Contributor
Bakertxst04 said:
GAST is getting hot right now. I’d be curious to see who would win in a matchup, but we’ll have to wait until next year to find out.
Click to expand...
Maybe. We'll only play 2 of GSU, GS, Marshall, Coastal, and ODU next year. With the conference expanding we'll only play teams from the East in the regular season every 3.5 years now. Maybe we can hope for some CCG appearances...
 
JustinS09

JustinS09

Administrator
Staff member
This conference has too much parody this year to make an accurate assessment of power rankings at this point lol. The last remaining unbeatens go down (JMU and Coastal). USM and ULL both show life against Arkansas State and Marshall. Texas State played hard against a Troy team that has a good defense, but still lost... I do think we surprised a bunch of folks around the conference though. To me, it at least shows the App State win wasn't a total fluke.

USA is now 5-1 (2-0 in conf) with their sole loss being a 1 point defeat to UCLA. ODU is 3-3 overall, but 2-0 in conference play and currently sitting in first place in the East. I don't like moving ODU this high, but they are sitting in 1st in the East after beating Coastal 49-21. They just need to be more consistent.

I may also be giving USM way too hard of a time. Their only losses on the year are Liberty (6-1), Miami (3-3) who was ranked #15 at the time, and Troy (5-2). They're also sitting at 3rd in the West standings after a 1-1 start. I think our game this week will be very telling of where we both belong in this ranking.

  1. South Alabama (PW 3)
  2. JMU (PW 1)
  3. Troy (PW 4)
  4. ODU (PW 10)
  5. Coastal (PW 2)
  6. Georgia Southern (PW 9)
  7. TXST (PW 6)
  8. App State (PW 7)
  9. Georgia State (PW 8)
  10. Louisiana (PW 13)
  11. Marshall (PW 5)
  12. ULM (PW 12)
  13. Southern Miss (PW 14)
  14. Arkansas State (PW 11)
 
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