Sun Belt Gets A Few More Cracks At Power Five While Boasting Some Must-See Conference Matchups

Things were looking good for the Sun Belt Conference even before Appalachian State, Marshall and Georgia Southern went on the road last week and defeated, respectively, Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Nebraska.

It looked like Georgia State might get in on the excitement as the Panthers, playing a turnover-free game, led visiting North Carolina late in the third quarter before the Tar Heels came back to win by seven.

The Sun Belt has had a nice run with Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana each ranked at some point the past couple of years. The Ragin’ Cajuns were 16^th in the final AP poll last season and the Chanticleers were a darling of the virus-disrupted 2020 season when they cracked the top 10 and finished 12^th. The Mountaineers were in the final rankings three straight years (2018-20) and won 10 games last season.

This year, the Sun Belt welcomed Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss from Conference USA. It also brought on James Madison, which elevated to the FBS after an exceptional run as an FCS power that included a national title in 2016 and championship game appearances in 2017 and 2019.

The addition of those four programs expanded the Sun Belt’s footprint by three states for a total of 10. Indeed, many good things were taking place in the conference’s offices on Sugar Bowl Drive in New Orleans even before last week’s eye-opening wins.

The conference will have a few more opportunities with which to defeat a Power Five. Old Dominion, which won its last five games of 2021 to become bowl eligible, opened the season by defeating Virginia Tech for the second time in the last three meetings. Ricky Rahne’s team will have a chance to go 2-for-2 against the ACC as they are at Virginia this week.

Coastal also travels to Charlottesville on November 19. That same day, Louisiana will be in Tallahassee to play Florida State. James Madison is at Louisville on November 5.

While such non-conference games will be watched closely, the Sun Belt is sure to have a handful of what will be much-anticipated conference matchups. Much of the excitement will revolve around an East Division that features Appalachian State, Coastal, Marshall, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Old Dominion and JMU as its residents.

JMU, which is not eligible for postseason play in this transition year, will have its first conference game as a member of the Sun Belt when they travel to Boone, N.C. next week to play the Mountaineers. The former Southern Conference opponents last met in 2008.

Curt Cignetti, who last week lost his father, long-time coach Frank Cignetti Sr., saw his Dukes rip (44-7) Middle Tennessee in their FBS debut before rolling over Norfolk State last week. A bye this week will only add to the excitement leading up to kickoff against Appalachian State.

Too bad the Mountaineers and Thundering Herd do not play this weekend after knocking off top-10 teams last week. Shawn Clark’s team, which scored 40 fourth-quarter points before losing a season-opening overtime thriller against visiting North Carolina, held the Aggies to nine – 9! – first downs in College Station. Marshall, which forced three turnovers in South Bend, travels to Boone for a Nov. 12 game that could be for all the marbles in the East.

For Marshall, the encounter at Appalachian State is toward the end of a six-game stretch that starts on a Wednesday night in mid-October and also has the Thundering Herd hosting Louisiana, traveling to JMU, entertaining Coastal and visiting ODU before heading down to Georgia Southern.

The Mountaineers have quite a November with the aforementioned dates with Coastal and Marshall, plus concluding the regular season with Georgia Southern on Thanksgiving weekend. All three games are on the road. The lone home game in November is against ODU.

Coastal, which opened with an impressive win at West Point before struggling to fend off Gardner-Webb, will get a good look at Marshall and Appalachian State. Perhaps too good. The Chanticleers have them back-to-back and in a short week. They are in Huntington on October 29 before hosting the Mountaineers on a Thursday evening, November 3.

As for Georgia Southern, this was expected to be a season in which Clay Helton put his stamp on the program and see what he has to work with. After piling up the numbers (642 yards, 35 first downs) against Nebraska, well, you never know. Such an early jolt of confidence can go a long way for a team that won its first game, after 12 defeats, as an FBS program against a Power Five. (GSU’s 2013 win at Florida was in its final season of FCS affiliation.) The Eagles end the season with a difficult three-game stretch at Louisiana and against visiting Marshall and Appalachian State.

It all adds up to what should be a memorable season for the Sun Belt. Thanks to what took place last weekend, it has already been a blast.