Brad’s 2009 Sun Belt Conference Predictions
Posted by deaconcat08 on August 18, 2009
Sun Belt
1. Troy (74)- See Notre Dame and UCLA analysis regarding Phil Steele’s continual use of hard drugs when making some of these picks. He continues this trend by ranking Troy as the # 31 team in the nation. That’s way too high for them, but they should win Sun Belt though.
2. Florida Atlantic (89)- With Rusty Smith at QB, this team will be breaking some offensive school records this season. Still will finish 2nd to Troy i but will get to 3rd straight bowl.
3. Arkansas State (101)- Don’t really see a 3rd place Sun Belt team worthy of getting a top 100 ranking like several other experts have done. No way Sun Belt gets 3 bowl bids either.
4. UL-Lafayette (109)- The Ragin’ Cajuns miraculously finished .500 and have a lot coming back to try to get the school’s first bowl bid. D-Line and QB play could be problems.
5. Florida International (110)- Offense returns intact from squad that shocked the world by finally emerging from the basement of 1-A. Should finish in the middle of the pack in Sun Belt.
6. UL-Monroe (111)- Mediocre Sun Belt team that loses QB and coordinators on both sides of the ball. Team is experienced but O-line needs to improve greatly.
7. Middle Tennessee State (112)- Former Auburn OC, Tony Franklin, has come to install the spread at MTSU. Will struggle at first but let’s hope the staff is more patient with then they were at Auburn.
8. North Texas (117)- Some are calling for this team to finally show some success this season. I’ll believe it when I see it. The Dodge experiment has failed miserably.
9. Western Kentucky (120)- I think they’ll build a nice program in Bowling Green eventually, but the adjustment to 1-A will be rough for young, inexperienced Hilltoppers.