This Week's Rankings & Picks

MeanGreen61 · September 27, 2006

Key Sun Belt games begin

Dan McDonald

dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

The road to the New Orleans Bowl begins this weekend with the first meaningful Saturday in Sun Belt Conference football, and a lot of questioning eyes will be on Miami.

Florida International hosts Arkansas State in one of three league games, and FIU is already in a must-win situation after a 7-6 road loss at Middle Tennessee in the odd league-game season opener. The Golden Panthers also are trying to shake off the moniker of the league's best team without a victory.

FIU's four losses have come by a combined 11 points, and the Panthers have been in a position to win every game even though three of the four have been on the road. They had Maryland on the ropes until the final play.

"Our kids are disappointed in the outcome of all those games, knowing they had the opportunity to win," said FIU coach Don Strock. "We always talk about giving yourself a chance to win in the fourth quarter and we've done that, but we haven't had someone step up and make the plays to win a football game. That's the next hurdle."

FIU's non-conference foes - South Florida, Bowling Green and Maryland - are a combined 8-4.

"We thought we could compete against everyone we played," Strock said. "I really think that now our kids understand we have to take care of the little things and the big things take care of themselves."

At least now, the Panthers don't have to exist on the road. For the rest of the season, FIU only leaves the Miami metro area one time, that on Oct. 28 when they face Alabama. In addition to the regular home games, the Oct. 14 Miami game is at the Orange Bowl and the Nov. 25 Florida Atlantic game is at Dolphin Stadium.

"We've played six of our last eight on the road," Strock said. "Now we have an opportunity to play at home, but that means we have to take care of our business there first."

This Week's Rankings

Nobody deserves to be ranked high this week. The teams ranked first through third in last week's listing lost by a combined 170-9 score last weekend. In fact, the team playing the best football in the Sun Belt right now may be:

1. Fla. International (0-4, hosts Arkansas State Saturday, 5 p.m.) - The Golden Panthers have been close all year, including their loss at Maryland last weekend. The Terrapins were lucky, since a questionable face-mask call set up one score and a replay overrule provided field position for the other, and Maryland needed a last-play interception in the end zone to hang on. LAST WEEK: 6th.

2. North Texas (1-3, hosts Middle Tennessee Saturday, 6 p.m.) - The Mean Green finally started showing signs of getting their running game untracked in a 33-13 loss at Akron, with Jamario Thomas going for over 100 yards. UNT fell behind 20-0 after one quarter and never recovered, but ended up with more total offense than their hosts. LAST WEEK: 4th.

3. Louisiana (1-2, hosts Eastern Michigan Saturday, 4 p.m.) - The Cajuns finally got to play victor instead of victim in a much-needed win over an outclassed North Carolina A&T squad. They still haven't played a game against a team on their level, but at least they showed they still know how to score and stop other people from scoring. The first true measuring stick comes this week. LAST WEEK: 5th.

4. Troy (1-3, at Alabama-Birmingham Saturday, 6 p.m.) - Nobody really knows what happened last week, even Troy head coach Larry Blakeney. A team that had solid efforts at Florida State and Georgia Tech imploded by a 56-0 mark at Nebraska. The Cornhuskers didn't beat Nicholls State that bad. The Trojans can only hope it was biorhythms or something. LAST WEEK: 1st.

5. Middle Tennessee (2-2, at North Texas Saturday, 6 p.m.) - The Blue Raiders had never lost a game by as many as 59 points until last Saturday. But after Oklahoma got jobbed by the Pac-10 officiating crew one week earlier, it was the wrong week to play the Sooners. Middle will still go into the weekend leading the Sun Belt (1-0), but it'll be an upset if they're still unbeaten after Saturday. LAST WEEK: 2nd.

6. Arkansas State (1-2, at Fla. International Saturday, 5 p.m.) - First the Indians halfway destruct against Oklahoma State, and then they get embarrassed 55-9 by an SMU team that managed one touchdown against North Texas and Texas Tech combined. ASU may have peaked too early with that win over Army. LAST WEEK: 3rd.

7. UL Monroe (1-2, hosts Fla. Atlantic Saturday, 6 p.m.) - The Warhawks may have also been an early-peaker with the close game at Kansas. Fortunately for ULM, an open date provided a chance to work things out. The 'Hawks are still very much a work in progress. LAST WEEK: 7th.

8. Fla. Atlantic (0-4) at UL Monroe Saturday, 6 p.m.) - The death march is over and none too soon. The combined scores against Clemson, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and South Carolina totaled 192-20. At least from here on in, the competition is in the Sun Belt. LAST WEEK: 8th.

This Weekend's Picks

Eastern Michigan at Louisiana (line UL -7) - EMU's better than its 0-4 record, but the Eagles may well be on a third quarterback by Saturday. The Cajuns looked good against subpar competition last week, so this game may be the first true indicator. UL 21-17

Arkansas State at Fla. International (line FIU -7 1/2) - How many thought FIU would be more than a touchdown favorite over last year's New Orleans Bowl representative? Funny thing is, that line's not enough. FIU 34-21.

Fla. Atlantic at UL Monroe (line ULM -13 1/2) - FAU's been outclassed four straight weeks. The question is how will they fare when the field is more level. The guess is they're due for a decent week, but not enough to win. ULM 31-21.

Middle Tennessee at North Texas (line UNT -2 1/2) - Middle was overwhelmed by a balanced OU attack, and that's what North Texas is trying to get going. The Mean Green's better than its recent scores. UNT 27-17.

Troy at UAB (line UAB -9) - It's not a conference game, but it's a nice little scrap between two nearby rivals that don't have a lot of love lost for each other. In one like that, take the underdog to cover. UAB 30-27.

LAST WEEK: 7-0 straight up, 4-2 against the spread. SEASON: 26-2 straight up, 15-9 against the spread.