The Improving Sun Belt

[MeanGreenGlory]

There are many of you on this forum who are very knowledgable of the SBC as a whole so I'd like your opinion.

With all of the coaching changes, facility improvements, the WAC starting to die, etc. how much stronger will the Sun Belt be in the next two to three years than it has in the past five? Is the Sun Belt starting to become as good as or better than CUSA in the sense of respect?

This is not a "We need regional rivals - JOIN CUSA!" or a "How we get in the MWC" thread. I'd just like to know what you guys think about the improving quality of the the Sun Belt and how it will compare to other conferences in the near future.

[forevereagle]

There are many of you on this forum who are very knowledgable of the SBC as a whole so I'd like your opinion.

With all of the coaching changes, facility improvements, the WAC starting to die, etc. how much stronger will the Sun Belt be in the next two to three years than it has in the past five? Is the Sun Belt starting to become as good as or better than CUSA in the sense of respect?

This is not a "We need regional rivals - JOIN CUSA!" or a "How we get in the MWC" thread. I'd just like to know what you guys think about the improving quality of the the Sun Belt and how it will compare to other conferences in the near future.

Getting better with the things you mentioned, but not near CUSA in terms of respect. This is a conference that is getting better if you are close to it, but doesn't look that great from the outside.

[FloMoGrad]

Getting better with the things you mentioned, but not near CUSA in terms of respect. This is a conference that is getting better if you are close to it, but doesn't look that great from the outside.

Pretty much dead on. From a 3rd party perspective, it's still a very tough sell. Smallest changes can have the greatest impact. We're poised and ready for something special, could really care less about the rest of the belt.

[TheTastyGreek]

One could make a very strong case that this year, Sun Belt football was even worse than it was in the much maligned 2001 season.

If the Sun Belt is improving on the football field, I'm not seeing it. The only real change is that we're playing more conference games and that's helping get more teams bowl eligible. Barely.

[shaft]

IMO the best thing the Sun Belt could do is move to 12 teams.

SBC East: FAU, FIU, Troy, USA, MTSU, WKY

SBC West: ULL, ULM, LA Tech, ARK ST, UNT, UTSA

It would dramatically lower travel costs and probably let each school avoid 1 more body bag game. It would also be nice to have all the divisional games within 6 hours. It wold also mean a bi-annual trip to Florida and Alabama instead of the annual trips.

[shaft]

One could make a very strong case that this year, Sun Belt football was even worse than it was in the much maligned 2001 season.

If the Sun Belt is improving on the football field, I'm not seeing it. The only real change is that we're playing more conference games and that's helping get more teams bowl eligible. Barely.

2010 was the SBC's worst season since 2001. The difference is 3 teams made it to bowls, and there were no d1aa/fcs upset and mega blow outs.

[Monkeypox]

One could make a very strong case that this year, Sun Belt football was even worse than it was in the much maligned 2001 season.

If the Sun Belt is improving on the football field, I'm not seeing it. The only real change is that we're playing more conference games and that's helping get more teams bowl eligible. Barely.

Agreed. The Sun Belt was AWFUL this year. One of the major problems with the Belt is that, since our run, nobody has seemed to want to take command of it. You simply can't afford parity at the lowest levels of FBS, nor can you afford to take any steps backward (as we did the last several years under Darrell Dickey).

I think it's been an issue, and remains one, that many people in the Sun Belt have taken a mentality of "We deserve better than the Belt" without actually doing anything to prove it through facilities, salaries, or consistent winning. People just want a ticket out. Think about it. We've been wallowing around in the muck since our bowl run, and nobody's seized control or made any significant gains.

Hopefully, the Belt is waking up to the idea that you have to take care of your own business, and worry about improving your conference affiliation once you've actually, you know, done something.

I agree with the sentiment that things are improving, even if only because the new stadium and coaching staff/salaries can put pressure on the Belt to keep pace. I don't know that everyone can. And if they can't, then with increasing resources, we SHOULD be able to dominate again. If we can't, then we don't deserve any better.

[Mean Green Matt]

IMO the best thing the Sun Belt could do is move to 12 teams.

SBC East: FAU, FIU, Troy, USA, MTSU, WKY

SBC West: ULL, ULM, LA Tech, ARK ST, UNT, UTSA

It would dramatically lower travel costs and probably let each school avoid 1 more body bag game. It would also be nice to have all the divisional games within 6 hours. It wold also mean a bi-annual trip to Florida and Alabama instead of the annual trips.

I would take Texas State over UTSA in a second. The name sounds better, San Marcos is close enough to San Antonio to gain that market anyway, and they have played more than zero downs of competitive football.

[PlummMeanGreen]

One could make a very strong case that this year, Sun Belt football was even worse than it was in the much maligned 2001 season.

If the Sun Belt is improving on the football field, I'm not seeing it. The only real change is that we're playing more conference games and that's helping get more teams bowl eligible. Barely.

Agree...

And even when Troy had some of its better teams the 'Belt seems to have no semblance of even a small bloc of sports media voters who ever want to put an SBC team in a Top 25 poll; unlike the MAC where media types seem to muster the votes to get the MAC's best teams in the Top 25.

If the SBC gets a Top 25 annual fixure, then you have something to build on as a league with that but I just don't see it happening any time in the next year or 2 but with Coach Mac and Co. I believe it will happen sooner than later if we're still in the SBC.

GMG!

Edited December 11, 2010 by PlummMeanGreen

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

Is the Sun Belt starting to become as good as or better than CUSA in the sense of respect?

no

[NT80]

One could make a very strong case that this year, Sun Belt football was even worse than it was in the much maligned 2001 season.

If the Sun Belt is improving on the football field, I'm not seeing it. The only real change is that we're playing more conference games and that's helping get more teams bowl eligible. Barely.

SunBelt football took a couple steps back this year. The top three in the league finished 7-5, 6-6, and 6-6. If the conference was more compact for travel I might say stick it out for awhile. Adding La Tech and another Texas school would help but with average conference attendance near 15K the product is even seen by customers as weak. We need out.

[jimbob]

There are many of you on this forum who are very knowledgable of the SBC as a whole so I'd like your opinion.

With all of the coaching changes, facility improvements, the WAC starting to die, etc. how much stronger will the Sun Belt be in the next two to three years than it has in the past five? Is the Sun Belt starting to become as good as or better than CUSA in the sense of respect?

This is not a "We need regional rivals - JOIN CUSA!" or a "How we get in the MWC" thread. I'd just like to know what you guys think about the improving quality of the the Sun Belt and how it will compare to other conferences in the near future.

The only way the SB gets respect is by winning. If a SB team or two would win outside of the conference it would make a difference, but one team completely dominating the conference would do it too. Troy has quite a bit of respect everywhere because coaches and sportswriters know its hard to win consistently regardless of the conference in D1. The MAC, CUSA, Sunbelt, even the MW, WAC & Big East are considered wimpy, so now is the chance of a lifetime to make UNT the most respected program in the Sunbelt and further. I don't give a damn if the Sunbelt is strong or not; I want UNT to be respected by everyone. You with me? We've got the base for a very good team, now lets see a coaching group take it to the next level.

[MDH]

Troy has some respect, but they really don't put a scare into any half-way legitimate BCS school most of the time (I know they've come close, so don't gimme that). They're a far cry from the top 4 WAC schools (the conference we like to pick on for being so weak)

[GreenBat]

The only way the SB gets respect is by winning. If a SB team or two would win outside of the conference it would make a difference, but one team completely dominating the conference would do it too. Troy has quite a bit of respect everywhere because coaches and sportswriters know its hard to win consistently regardless of the conference in D1. The MAC, CUSA, Sunbelt, even the MW, WAC & Big East are considered wimpy, so now is the chance of a lifetime to make UNT the most respected program in the Sunbelt and further. I don't give a damn if the Sunbelt is strong or not; I want UNT to be respected by everyone. You with me? We've got the base for a very good team, now lets see a coaching group take it to the next level.

JimBob,

Don't you have more than one way to say this. I've read the thread about UL-Lafayette Hires New Head Coach and 2010 Rivals.com All-Sun Belt Team and you have basically the same post.

[DeepGreen]

Not only was 2010 a bad year for Sun belt football, but the other piece of the formula, basketball, is not looking very good either. Together, they make the Belt look extremely weak.

[GrayEagle]

One could make a very strong case that this year, Sun Belt football was even worse than it was in the much maligned 2001 season.

If the Sun Belt is improving on the football field, I'm not seeing it. The only real change is that we're playing more conference games and that's helping get more teams bowl eligible. Barely.

Right on. With a weaker schedule the Belt won five less games. Scoring and Total Defense were weaker in 2010. The positive is Total Defense improved with the largest improvement coming from WKU. Attendance was pretty much flat thanks to ULM getting to count Arkansas as a home game.

We should show a lot of improvement next year but it's hard to predict the others although I see WKU getting better and the Muts and Troy falling a little. In other words the league should reach near parity.

[jimbob]

JimBob,

Don't you have more than one way to say this. I've read the thread about UL-Lafayette Hires New Head Coach and 2010 Rivals.com All-Sun Belt Team and you have basically the same post.

no