How to watch Georgia Southern vs. Appalachian State on TV or online, plus 3 things to know

College football fans get their second dose of primetime weeknight #FunBelt action Thursday night, and it could be the Sun Belt’s game of the year.

Georgia Southern and Appalachian State are generally considered the two best teams in the Sun Belt, and since the conference doesn’t have a championship game, this matchup could very well decide which team gets the crown at the end of the year. It could decide even more than that, since the winner has an outside shot at a New Year’s Day bowl.

Both schools made the jump from FCS to the Sun Belt last year, bringing their ferocious rivalry history with them, and have quickly established themselves as dominant teams in the league, combining for a 19-2 conference record so far, including undefeated Sun Belt marks so far this season and identical 5-1 overall records.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPNU, announcers Mark Neely and Jay Walker

Radio: Here are the Appalachian State affiliates, and here are the Georgia Southern radio affiliates.

Spread: Appalachian State is favored by 6 points

Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chat for this game at Underdog Dynasty.

1. Blowing everybody out. Both teams are considered frontrunners for the Sun Belt because they’ve been destroying all of their G5 opponents this season. Appalachian State is averaging 39 points per game and giving up 11.8 while Georgia Southern is averaging 48 points and allowing 25.2. That’s a big part of why these two teams are considered the Sun Belt favorites even though Arkansas State remains undefeated in the Sun Belt as well.

2. Ground game. Don’t expect an air raid shootout. Georgia Southern plays with a dominant rushing attack led by Matt Breida, who is averaging 10.3 yards per carry on 85 attempts so far this season. The Eagles have four other runners who have all carried the ball at least 38 times and all have a minimum 5.5 yards per attempt. They’ve only thrown 70 passes this year. The Mountaineers have thrown a relatively gaudy 129 passes for 1,234 yards so far, but they still run the ball more than twice as often as they throw it.

3. Longtime rivals. Although both teams are new to the Sun Belt, they’re hardly new to each other. This is their 24th meeting in the last 23 seasons, most of which were spent in the Southern Conference at the FCS level. It was an intense rivalry with Appalachian State leading the series 16-13-1 and holding a slim 13-12 edge in the modern era.