FAVORITE TEAMS

In 2009, the Sun Belt got their first ever 10-win team. In 2016, the conference had two 10-win teams. Now for the first time in its inaugural division season of 2018, three teams won 10 games, but all came from one division. Arkansas State could’ve won the division, but Louisiana stole the West division. Appalachian State outplayed Troy in the last game to win the East and the conference. Georgia Southern bounced back from 2 wins to 10 wins, including a dramatic bowl win over Eastern Michigan. UL Monroe played a difficult schedule, but 6 wins was enough of an improvement. Coastal Carolina was 2-6 against teams that were over .500, and one of those wins was against 11-win UAB. South Alabama and Georgia State had subpar seasons. Texas State competed, but they were also subpar.

The Red Wolves had six challenging games and only won one against UL Monroe. They battled Louisiana for the West division, but they came up short even after winning the last 4 games of the season. Arkansas State’s defense was underrated and the offense played well, but it wasn’t enough to win the West division nor was it enough to defeat an above .500 team. I was wrong this season about a quality Sun Belt quarterback being enough to win the conference. Arkansas State had a quality quarterback, but they didn’t dominate the conference. It could be the conference’s first year in a division and conference title setting, but the loss of quarterback Justice Hansen and running back Warren Wand could hurt the offense’s production next season.

UL Monroe was my other riskiest pick next to UMass. They won 6 games and finished 4-4 in their conference but failed to win the division after losing the last two games to the Top 2 West division teams (Arkansas State and Louisiana). However, they did upset 10-win Georgia Southern during their 4-game winning streak. The Warhawks defense made small improvements, but the offense failed to live up to their 2017 standards. Quarterback Caleb Evans threw 12 interceptions (6 more than in 2017) and only added one passing yard to his 2018 season total. UL Monroe had the offense to possibly make a run for a bowl berth, but the miscues and a tough schedule was enough to keep them one win outside of that opportunity.