2010 Sun Belt Football Predictions

Written June 24, 2010 by Jack Jones

The Sun Belt is one of the more entertaining conferences in the country despite being one of the least-known. It’s filled with high-scoring games, as we saw with the 68-49 North Texas win over Western Kentucky. Little defense gets played, but it is very competitive nonetheless. Troy has owned this conference in recent years, winning back-to-back outright titles. But they lose a lot of talent, which opens the door for a few teams to sneak in and win it in 2010.

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Below I offers my predictions on how each team finishes in the Sun Belt come season’s end. Feel free to comment on whether or not you agree, and also be sure to take a look at my overall 2010 NCAA football predictions article that shows you which teams finish inside the Top-10 this year.

Sun Belt Predictions:

1.) Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders – MTSU is one of the few teams in the conference returning their starting QB, and it’s not just any signal caller. Dwight Dasher is a stud and the leading candidate to win Sun Belt Player of the Year honors. He rushed for 1,153 yards and threw for 2,789 more last season, also rushing for 13 TD’s and throwing for 23 scores. 4 starting offensive linemen are back along with WR’s Shane Blissard and Garrett Andrews and RB D.D. Kyles So this team will have no problem scoring points after averaging 32.0 PPG a year ago. Their defense only gave up 23.7 PPG and if this unit can just be average with 6 starters returning, the Blue Raiders are primed to dethrone the Trojans. Plus, they get Troy at home on October 5th.

2.) Troy Trojans – It’s hard to pick against head coach Larry Blakeney, who is 153-77 in his 19 years at Troy. He has put the Trojans on the map, and he is the best recruiter in the conference, constantly finding SEC-caliber players and sending many guys to the NFL. That being said, Troy loses too much talent to win the Sun Belt this year. Only 5 starters are back on offense, and though star WR Jerrel Jernigan returns, they lose QB Levi Brown who is earned Sun Belt POY honors last season. The defense only returns 3 starters from a unit that gave up 29.8 PPG a year ago, and chances are this unit will be even worse. Blakeney will bring in enough talent to stay near the top of this conference, but not enough to take down MTSU.

3.) Louisiana Rajin’ Cajuns – The Cajuns also bring back their starting QB in Chris Masson to an offense that has to be better this season after scoring just 22.2 PPG. I also expect a big improvement from a defense that gave up 30.3 PPG with 7 returning starters. After going 4-4 in league play a year ago, this is certainly the sleeper in this conference.

4.) Florida Atlantic Owls – The Owls should be much better defensively this season after allowing a woeful 33.8 PPG last season. But many of those points came in early losses to Nebraska (49) and South Carolina (38) so they were better in league play. 8 starters return to the defense, but what’s concerning is how only 3 starters are back offensively. They are three of their top skill players in QB Jeff Van Camp, RB Alfred Morris and WR Lester Jean, but FAU will have to replace their entire offensive line which is never good.

5.) Arkansas State Red Wolves – Only 5 starters are back on offense, but fortunately they are the 5 starting offensive linemen. But the Red Wolves must replace all of their skill players from an offense that only put up 22.7 PPG a year ago, and this unit is not likely to be any more potent in 2010. The defense also only has 5 starters back, and overall this team just doesn’t have enough experience to compete with the big boys in the Sun Belt.

6.) Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks – The Warhawks should again be able to move the ball on the ground with RB Frank Goodin back. This team rushed for 183.9 RYPG last season and Goodin was a big part of it, scampering for 1,126 yards and 13 touchdowns. New head coach Todd Berry must have a lot of confidence in redshirt freshman QB Kolton Browning, because he is at the top of the depth chart after spring ball while edging out fifth-year senior Trey Revell. The offense is in good hands, but the defense is another story with just 4 returning starters. The Warhawks will put points on the board, but they aren’t likely to stop anybody this season.

7.) North Texas Mean Green – The Mean Green are another potential sleeper in this conference with 9 offensive and 7 defensive starters back. Improvement on both sides of the ball is likely, and so is an increase in wins after a 2-10 campaign in 2009. The offense was electric at times last season, putting up 40 points against FAU and 68 points vs. WKU. With so much returning talent, North Texas will score points. The real question is whether or not they can keep their opposition out of the end zone after allowing 35.6 PPG in ‘09, which ranked 112th in the nation. They also need to improve on their -14 turnover margin. The potential is there for a big turnaround, but I think this team still may be another year away.

8.) Florida International Golden Panthers – Florida International has a lot of issues on the offensive line after rushing for just 104.3 RYPG a year ago on an offense that mustered a mere 22.9 PPG. They appear to have the same problems this year, and will also be breaking in a new starting QB. If that’s not bad enough news, the defense only returns 3 starters from a unit that gave up 35.3 PPG. The Golden Panthers were torched for 40-plus points six different times last year, a big reason for their 3-9 record. Improvement is not likely for head coach Mario Cristobal, who is 9-27 in three years at FIU.

9.) Western Kentucky Hilltoppers – The good news is that it cannot get any worse for the Hilltoppers after an 0-12 season. Former WKU star QB Willie Taggart takes over at head coach and fans are excited to have him leading this young group. There are 9 offensive and 7 defensive starters returning, so that’s a plus. This team should win a few games this season, and they came close at the end of ‘09 by losing their last 3 games by margins of 3, 6 and 4 points, respectively. This is another team that could pull off a few upsets, but the key word is “few” even though I would not be surprised to see them finish ahead of either FIU or North Texas.

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