Just for fun ... what if this happened?

NorthTexan95 · October 23, 2011

Suppose UNT wins out over ASU, Troy, WKU, and MTSU ...

Suppose ASU beats FAU, MTSU, and TROY but loses to LAF and UNT ...

Suppose LAF beats MTSU and ASU but loses to LAM ...

Suppose WKU beats LAM, FIU, and TROY but loses to UNT ...

If all the above happens then four teams tie for the conference title:

ASU 6-2

LAF 6-2

WKU 6-2

UNT 6-2

I don't know what the tie breakers are but if you look at head to head you get the following:

ASU: 1-2

LAF: 2-1

WKU: 1-2

UNT: 2-1

If you then took LAF vs UNT, LAF wins via head to head. Again, I have no idea what the tie breakers are ... and while we can win our final four games I don't know if we can four good games in a row for wins. I'm thinking we'll lose at least one more game due to our inconsistency.

This is just a little fun exercise in what could happen and how wild the Sun Belt could wind up being this year.

Mean Green 93-98 · October 23, 2011

Tie Breaker Involving Three or More Teams: In the event of a tie involving three or more teams, the following tiebreaker will be used – in order - until one team’s record is determined to be superior or inferior to the other teams involved in the tie. When a team’s conference record is superior to the others involved in the tie, it shall be seeded highest among the teams involved, and the remaining tie between the other teams shall be broken by following the appropriate two-way or three-way tiebreaker procedures, from their start. When a team’s record is inferior to the others, it shall be seeded lowest among the teams involved, and the remaining tie between the other teams shall be broken by following the appropriate two-way or three-way tiebreaker procedures, from their start. The tiebreaker involving three or more teams is as follows:

1. Composite records of each team in competition vs. the other teams involved in the three-way tie.

2. Records of each team vs. the first-place team, or their composite records against any teams tying for first place.

3. Records of each team vs. the second-place team, or their composite records against any teams tying for second place.

4. This process continues with records vs. the third-place team, fourth-place team, etc., as necessary, until the tie is broken and seeding is complete.

5. If a tie still exists, the Conference office shall conduct a coin toss.

http://www.sunbeltsports.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4100&ATCLID=1607435

NorthTexan95 · October 23, 2011

So ... if ASU, LAF, WKU, and UNT tie at 6-2 ... and then ASU and WKU are dropped due to a worse record in the four way tie ... then UNT and LAF would then be judged but their records again ASU and WKU combined since they tied for 3rd place ... UNT would have gone 2-0 vs those teams while LAF went 1-1 ... UNT wins the conference! I think ...

NorthTexan95 · October 23, 2011

Having some more fun ... there is a way where the final standings could look like this:

ASU 5-3

LAF 5-3

WKU 5-3

UNT 5-3

FIU 5-3

LAM 5-3

MTSU 3-5

TROY 3-5

FAU 0-8

In the six way tie for first, the teams have the following records against the other tied teams ...

ASU: 3-2

LAF: 3-2

UNT: 3-2

FIU: 2-3

LAM: 2-3

WKU: 2-3

In this scenario, we drop FIU, LAM, and WKU and compare the head to head records of the other teams:

LAF: 2-0

UNT: 1-1

ASU: 0-2

So UNT finishes 2nd in the conference. However, I'm sure I could find a way for UNT to win a six team tie breaker but I need to get some sleep.

NThomas · October 23, 2011

So ... if ASU, LAF, WKU, and UNT tie at 6-2 ... and then ASU and WKU are dropped due to a worse record in the four way tie ... then UNT and LAF would then be judged but their records again ASU and WKU combined since they tied for 3rd place ... UNT would have gone 2-0 vs those teams while LAF went 1-1 ... UNT wins the conference! I think ...

All of the 6-2 teams would be co-champions. The tie breakers would come into effect when the invites start going out for bowl selections (specifically the New Orleans Bowl).