The big 2015 Sun Belt football guide, from New Mexico State to Georgia Southern

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I have to admit, I’m pleasantly surprised. When a Sun Belt school makes a good hire, the reward is typically the opportunity to make another good hire in about three years.

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Ten years ago, Ladd Peebles Stadium was the home of the Senior Bowl, a young bowl game, and some concerts. That’s not a bad lot in life, certainly. Built in the late-1940s, the stadium had hosted plenty of college football games -- one Alabama game per year in the 1950s and 1960s, some Auburn games, some Southern Miss games -- and was outfitted with new field turf in 2004. It just didn’t have a home team.

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If you stick around long enough, you can watch the perceptions of your ability change countless times.

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In last year’s Appalachian State preview, I talked about how difficult it is to time the jump to FBS. The decision is often made following a run of success, but there’s a two- or three-year delay between the decision and the jump. And in that time, between new recruiting cycles and potential new coaching hires, you often begin to slide before you even reach the next level. Just ask UMass or Western Kentucky, which went from FCS heavyweights to welterweights just in time to become FBS bantamweights, for a while at least.

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Last season, Idaho head coach Paul Petrino tried to speed up the rebuilding process.

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Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports likes to say that when it comes to setting preseason expectations, he wishes he could stop in to watch every team during spring football or fall camp because it gives you a much stronger impression of what each team has to offer.