Sun Belt Conference Odds Preview: Florida International Top Betting Pick

The Sun Belt Conference adds South Alabama to its ranks this season, bringing its ranks to a nice round 10 for 2012.

The Troy Trojans had won or shared the Sun Belt championship five years in a row, but last year Arkansas State, at odds of 5/1, went an undefeated 8-0 in conference to take it.

The Sun Belt championship odds board is fairly wide-open, with six teams at less than 10/1 at most shops tracked by OddsShark.com, the college football lines provider to SBNation. Here's a quick look at the contenders in the Sun Belt for this season, and conference championship futures odds.

Florida International is listed as a +235 favorite (risk $100 to make a $235 profit) to win the Sun Belt this season. FIU shared the league title two years ago with Troy, but last year lost three of its first five conference games to fall out of contention.

This year the Panthers return 17 starters, including 1,100-yard rusher Kedrick Rhodes, four along the O line and 10 on defense. But they'll have to replace QB Wesley Carroll and leading receiver Ty Hilton. Also, while they get Arkansas State at home, they have to play at UL-Lafayette and at Troy.

ASU is the second pick on the board to win the Sun Belt this year at +350. The Red Wolves return just 10 starters from their undefeated SBC team of last season, although among them are senior QB Ryan Aplin and five of their top six receivers. But they'll have to replace seven starters on defense, and they've got the worst conference schedule amongst the contenders, with road games at FIU, UL-Lafayette and Troy.

Louisiana-Lafayette is the third choice at +475. Last year the Cajuns were picked by most "experts" to finish near the bottom of the Sun Belt for their first season under Coach Hudspeth. Instead, they went 6-2 in conference and won a bowl game.

This year they return 13 starters, including QB Blaine Gautier, their leading rusher, their top two receivers and four along the O line. But they'll have to replace seven starters on defense, including four of their top five tacklers. However, while they have to play at Troy, they get FIU and Arkansas State both at home.

Troy comes next on the board at +500 to win the Sun Belt this season. The Trojans went off last year as 3/1 favorites to win the Sun Belt, then went 2-6 as the defense collapsed. This year, Troy gets 15 starters back, led by QB Corey Robinson, and they have the kindest schedule amongst the contenders, getting UL-Lafayette, FIU and Arkansas State all at home. The last time the Trojans had a losing conference record, in 2005, they followed that up by winning the SBC championship.

Rounding out the 2012 Sun Belt Conference championship betting board Louisiana-Monroe, with 13 returning starters, is getting +720; Western Kentucky, which gets back 16 starters from a team that went 7-1 in the SBC last year, is getting +900; North Texas, with 14 returning starters from a 4-4 SBC team of last year, is listed at +1300; Middle Tennessee State is getting +1400; Florida Atlantic, with 15 starters back for its first season without Coach Schnellenberger, is lined at +2100; and South Alabama, in its first season of FBS ball, is listed at +4200.