2016 Sun Belt football previews, from ULM to Georgia Southern

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It’s really fun to talk about the Sun Belt’s new kids. During the conference realignment frenzy of a few years ago, C-USA replaced what it had lost with long-term plays and the biggest possible markets. It plucked away some Sun Belt schools, added some startups, and made a lot of moves that a) made sense in theory and b) did nothing to help the actual on-field product in the short-term.

At the end of each conference run-through (previously: Conference USA), I take a look at how I perceive the conference’s balance of power heading into the season. This is in no way based on schedules, so they are not predictions. They’re just how I would rank the teams after writing thousands of words about each of them.

Last year’s Sun Belt race featured a plot twist we didn’t expect. On a Thursday night in October, Appalachian State pulled away from Georgia Southern in a battle of what had been easily the two best teams in the conference. It was the Mountaineers’ race to lose ... and they lost it two weeks later, getting pummeled by a late-peaking Arkansas State at home.

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Georgia Southern fans have long been known for their intensity, which makes sense. About three and a half decades ago, a school with prime football geography started up a program that, thanks to Erk Russell, immediately won big. In the Eagles’ first year (1982), they went 7-3-1, beating UCF and Florida State’s JV. In 1985, their second year in what is now FCS, they won the national title. They did it again in their third year and again in their sixth, seventh, 16th, and 17th.

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It kept going right for Appalachian State in 2015. Boy, did it ever. In last year’s preview, I said that every game but Clemson was winnable for the Mountaineers, and they damn near won every game but Clemson. The Mountaineers went 11-2, spent a good portion of the season ranked in the S&P+ top 25, and finished ranked in the top 50 in both offensive and defensive S&P+. They played Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt’s showcase game, and in front of 24,121 at Kidd Brewer Stadium, they ran away from the Eagles, 31-13.

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At least the identity was similar.

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Under normal circumstances, time is a vague concept for New Mexico State football. The program’s history has done a good job of simulating the effect of driving through New Mexico: vast swaths of nothingness followed by brief bursts of excitement.