How the Sunbelt has progressed in 2022

In its young history, the Sunbelt Championship Game was finally played between two teams that had yet to enter the contest.

Coastal Carolina participated in the 2020 title game, but Chanticleers was left out after the game was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns. So this was his first SB title they were aiming for. Except Troy squandered those aspirations with a 19-point victory.

Yes, this was also Troy’s first appearance in the SB Championship Game. These seven championships now lead the league.

The meeting established the 2018 championship game. Previously, it was awarded to the regular season champion. All three of his other games played since 2018 feature Appalachia versus Louisiana. Unsurprisingly, these teams were voted top of their divisions in preseason media polls.

Troy was named 3rd in the Sun Belt West. Preseason college football betting odds. It was +1000 to win the league.

Behind their dominant defense, the Trojans dominated the league in Jon Samrall’s first year at the helm. They went on an 11-game winning streak after losing to App State from Hail Mary in Week 3. They closed out the season with a win over UTSA in the Cure Bowl.

Trojans have been around for a while, but their emergence is somewhat reminiscent of Coastal’s emergence in 2020. Chants could have been crowned that year had the game been played. But it wasn’t. Unfortunately, we did not receive any awards this year.

CC started the season with a six-game winning streak, but they have not looked as consistent as they have in the last two seasons. Three of those six games featured 1-score wins in favor of 33, 10, and 13 games.

Good teams win, good teams cover.

Chants played better in the stretch before entering a three-game skid in a 47-7 loss to James Madison in the Birmingham Bowl and a 53-29 loss to East Carolina.

In his first season with FBS and part of SB, JMU quickly proved they belonged. In fact, had it not been for the NCAA transition rules, the Dukes would have played the Trojans for the title.

The Dukes’ win over CC secured the top spot in Sunbelt East after being picked 6th. This was ignited by 5-0 and 3-0 starts in league play, followed by their first SB conference loss to Georgia Southern. A 5-0 start put JMU in his AP top 25. Historical.

Can they repeat the season they had? Only time will tell, but expectations are already high.

Aside from a loss to Georgia Southern, the Dukes’ other conference losses came to the Marshalls.

Also, in his first season as part of the league, it didn’t take long for Marshall to become a contender. En route to a 9-4 record, Thundering’s flock beat his then-ranked No. 8 Notre Dame in Week 2, ending the season with five straight wins and a conference win in his play. He achieved 5 wins and 3 losses. This was a big turnaround after he was 1-3 in SB in late October.

Three league losses have come to quality teams in CC, Troy and Louisiana.

It may have been a bad year for Louisiana, but you can’t count the Ragin’ Cajuns. We have already mentioned their many years of success at conferences. ULL has been battling better teams in the league this season, and three of his four conference wins have come against teams below . 500 in the league. Three of their conference losses were to teams finishing above .500.

One of them went to South Alabama. And what a year it was for the Jaguars.

Perhaps this was a breakout season for South Alabama, surpassing the program record for wins in a season after going 10-3. It was a defeat. However, it wasn’t exactly unexpected, with Jaguar being his second choice in his SBW.

Still, they set themselves up to be another contender to move forward.

This will be one of the most interesting Groups of 5 leagues to watch going forward. The Southern Miss were competitive, going 4-4 ​​in the league. It was the worst result since before I joined FBS in 2014, but I think you can expect mixed App States.

With the addition of JMU, the recovery from Troy, and the rise of Coastal and South Alabama, can the Sun Belt quickly establish itself as the top G5 league in the country?

A new-looking AAC might have something to say about it, but a new-looking SB might give The American a competition for its money.