2023 College Football Review: Sun Belt

Photo by AJ Henderson from the Sun Belt Conference

For our final season review, we have the beautiful, beautiful Sun Belt.

A conference in the South that is super fun but doesn’t get the same love as the behemoth SEC.

Now, to put a bow on things before bowl season begins tomorrow, let’s discuss the Sun Belt.

East

1. James Madison Dukes (My Prediction: 1)

JMU was preseason favorite, and lived up to every single bit of the hype, going 11-1 on the season and being the obvious favorite for a New Years 6 Bowl.

Unfortunately, they weren’t allowed to, because NCAA rules prohibit them from taking part in postseason events for two years after their jump from FCS.

Except they still are allowed to, because there weren’t enough bowl eligible teams. So they got to play in a bowl.

But not a New Years 6 Bowl.

Get it?

God, the NCAA sucks.

2. Appalachian State Mountaineers (My Prediction: 3)

App State looked to be headed towards another very disappointing season, but turned it around late to wind up 2nd in the East and make the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game.

Because JMU couldn’t go.

Remember that?

Yeah.

3. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (My Prediction: 2)

I thought Grayson McCall would lead CCU to another great year.

They didn’t, mainly due to a slow start.

But hey, that’s the downside of a new head coach.

4. Old Dominion Monarchs (My Prediction: 6)

I didn’t think Old Dominion’s offense would light the world on fire.

They didn’t, but they DID do enough to be better than the others in the East.

And that’s something!

5. Georgia State Panthers (My Prediction: 7)

I did not think Shawn Elliott was a good coach for Georgia State.

He proved me wrong, as Georgia State started the year 6-1 with their only loss being to Troy, who we’ll get to later.

And then he proved my right, by losing the remaining 5 games and turning a promising year into another mediocre one.

He still has his job, though.

So that’s something.

6. Marshall Thundering Herd (My Prediction: 4)

Honestly, there wasn’t much Marshall could do.

The schedule they got was brutal, and they didn’t pull off any upsets.

It happens.

7. Georgia Southern Eagles (My Prediction: 5)

Clay Helton made immediate progress at Georgia Southern, taking them from 3-9 to 6-7.

And they made yet another bowl game!

But they once again went 6-6.

It’s stabilizing, but it’s not continued progress.

Also, all 7 teams in the East were bowl eligible this year.

That’s crazy.

West

1. Troy Trojans [Conference Champion] (My Prediction: 1 & Conference Champion)

Before the year, Troy and South Alabama looked like clear favorites.

Troy showed it, going 11-2 and winning the conference.

Head coach Jon Sumrall may be gone for Tulane, but Troy seems like a steady program to find the right man to continue this progress.

At least I hope so.

2. Texas State Bobcats (My Prediction: 7)

I liked G.J. Kinne from Incarnate Ward as the new head coach, but this team was terrible.

The odds of him finding immediate success seemed flat out impossible.

And yet, he did it.

Texas State went 7-5 and made a bowl game.

It can not be understated the job that Kinne did year 1.

3. South Alabama Jaguars (My Prediction: 2)

As I said earlier, the battle for the Sun Belt seemed to be between Troy and South Alabama.

And there was no reason to think otherwise.

Sure, the Jaguars lost to Tulane week 1, but Tulane was really good.

And they demolished Oklahoma State just two weeks later. The battle is on.

And then…it wasn’t.

South Alabama went 6-6 on the season, and lost to Texas State and Louisiana, two schools they were surely more talented than.

3rd may not look terrible, but it is absolutely disappointing for a team like South Alabama.

4. Arkansas State Red Wolves (My Prediction: 6)

Butch Jones seemed to be a dead man walking after two atrocious games to start the season, but then they turned things around.

ASU went 6-6 on the year, which still isn’t tremendous, but was enough to save Butch Jones’ job.

Good enough.

I guess…

5. Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (My Prediction: 4)

Michael Desormeaux did a decent job last year, and he did a decent job again this year.

Nothing special, but nothing horrible for a team in Louisiana’s situation.

They do need SOME progress soon, though.

6. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (My Prediction: 3)

There was zero reason for Southern Miss to be as bad as they were, but they were, as the Golden Eagles went 3-9.

Will Hall, somehow, did not get fired for such a putrid season, but he has to be on the hottest of seats in 2024.

7. Louisiana Monroe Warhawks (My Prediction: 5)

I thought Terry Bowden was doing an excellent job at ULM, but it appeared that was just a flash in the pan instead of a sign of things to come, as ULM went 2-10 and Bowden lost his job.

ULM isn’t an easy job to take over.

That’s going to be an uphill battle.