Part of the fun of college football is seeing how teams manage turnover and develop talent and depth. Unfortunately that means your team isn't likely to park at the top of the standings every year. So in what time frame do you think your team is primed to make a run at a league title or bowl game?

It's pretty early to tell with Idaho, but our 2 freshman QB's are looking sharp and we have a true freshman runningback who will see a lot of PT to build around. WR's are pretty easy to find and our OC has a great track record at Arkansas and UNLV. Virtually every other position group is young and we need to replace a lot of players who left during the transition and for our staff to get their players in so that will take a few years to develop. So we won't make many waves early, but I think if all goes well we could be threatening to make a bowl game in 3 years and maybe a darkhorse candidate to at least have an impact in the title race in year 4. Anything outside of that is probably too far out to predict.

What say you?

Many of our fans expect a 6-7 win season this year with a cahnce at an at large bowl if available. Fully expect a bowl next year and title run in the next 2-3.

The Cajuns have recruited athletes that are more highly regarded at every position than their predecessor, with QB being the exception. Will that translate to sustained success? Who knows, but I tend to believe that will be the case.

(08-13-2013 08:07 AM)slycat Wrote:  Many of our fans expect a 6-7 win season this year with a cahnce at an at large bowl if available. Fully expect a bowl next year and title run in the next 2-3.

I think 5 wins is a reasonable expectation this year, followed by a question mark next year.

2015 is the year we should have legitimate Sun Belt title aspirations.

Of course, this could change TOTALLY with our QB situation (Jones starts this year, then I think next is our golden year).

We got a young team still. Our QB this season could be a true freshman or a redshirt freshman. Thankfully, our RB's are either Jr's or Freshmen, meaning next year, we should have the same guys back there.

Our O-line has plenty of redshirt freshmen and sophomores. Next year we get a couple of solid pass rushers (theoretically) back too. Plus in the secondary, I think we only have one senior.

2016. It will be our 4th year under our new HC, and our 3rd full year in the conference. We also have a huge class of Freshmen this year that will be Seniors and Juniors that season. There should be a 12th member in the SB by then so we will play in a division made up of schools that are mostly recent move ups (minus Troy) like us. It's a long ways off, but I wouldn't be surprised to see us playing in the conference championship game.

This year and then in CUSA in about 3 more years.

2014.....Georgia Southern is suppossed to win!!! J/K That was for Tim of the power house ULL.

Like many newcomers to FBS, I suspect the Eagles will have some growing pains. I say 2016-17 is more likely.

Proud to be a member of the SBC.

Go Eagles.

I really hope there is a fierce fight for the top spot from the new guys. There are already 4 teams this year that could realistically win it. If it were 5-6 teams I think it would make the conference stronger as a whole. Plus winning those OOC games.

I think it will take 3 or 4 years in the Sun Belt to make a run at the championship and a decent bowl game.

(08-13-2013 10:00 AM)gsu2583 Wrote:  I think it will take 3 or 4 years in the Sun Belt to make a run at the championship and a decent bowl game.

I agree. If we hang onto our current staff it might be sooner, but at a minimum I would expect a near full cycle of recruits to come through before we really can consistently win and get a shot at a good bowl.

Troy's window starts this season. We have the talent and coaching to win the league, but 3 or 4 other teams also have what it takes to win the SBC title. The timing on our SBC schedule is nearly perfect, the only drawback is we don't have a lot of experienced starters returning, but we do have a lot of players with game time under their belt and some very significant highly rated transfers with enormous "paper talent." We'll only get better from here on out, so I can see that "window" open for at least 4 years. Whether we win any of those titles depends on a lot of factors, but I think we are back to having a very good chance at winning titles again.

(08-13-2013 10:09 AM)The Black Flag Wrote:  

(08-13-2013 10:00 AM)gsu2583 Wrote:  I think it will take 3 or 4 years in the Sun Belt to make a run at the championship and a decent bowl game.

I agree. If we hang onto our current staff it might be sooner, but at a minimum I would expect a near full cycle of recruits to come through before we really can consistently win and get a shot at a good bowl.

So who are you guys, the myth busters?

Agreed, and I do think the key will be maintaining the staff. I believe the recruits will come.

(08-13-2013 09:53 AM)EagleCreek Wrote:  2014.....Georgia Southern is suppossed to win!!! J/K That was for Tim of the power house ULL.

Like many newcomers to FBS, I suspect the Eagles will have some growing pains. I say 2016-17 is more likely.

Proud to be a member of the SBC.

Go Eagles.

0 wins against the FBS......Can argue that.....
Simple win some FBS games then talk trash....Have a great day.

(08-13-2013 10:53 AM)timf82 Wrote:  

(08-13-2013 09:53 AM)EagleCreek Wrote:  2014.....Georgia Southern is suppossed to win!!! J/K That was for Tim of the power house ULL.

Like many newcomers to FBS, I suspect the Eagles will have some growing pains. I say 2016-17 is more likely.

Proud to be a member of the SBC.

Go Eagles.

0 wins against the FBS......Can argue that.....
Simple win some FBS games then talk trash....Have a great day.

Ah, so the other shoe drops...

Doesn't matter what the thread is, "Mr. I root for NOT GSU" is going to troll the FBS wins argument against Southern. I am guessing your are just a rube for some other school, using an alternate login, scared to post under your "real identity." Cowardice never sounded so foolish.

We might not have any FBS wins, but you barely speak EngRish it seems.

I suppose that a bowl appearance is going to depend on more than us wining so that is just hard to say. New Bowls? Additional Tie ins?

Since we wont be bowl eligible in 2014, we know that 2015 is the earliest possible time slot. I really hope that the conference has gone to 12 members by then and as the App Fan said - we would be in a division of the conference made up of upstarts, FCS transfers and Troy. This is ideal for us and the goat lovers ( :) ).. just pick-N!

I expect to be Bowl eligible in 2015 - no way for me to say if we get an invite or not. Since there will be no conference title game in 2014 I doubt we will get a chance to really prove that we might could win it in year one. That and the fact that we will be breaking in a new starter at QB. I wouldn't be surprised to win enough games in 2014 to be bowl eligible if they allowed it (which they don't) but I also wouldn't be surprised to go through some growing pains especially with a new QB for that season. I expect us to make some heavy waves in '14 but be able to bring real heat and pressure to the title hunt in 2015 - ESPECIALLY if we get an official Conference Championship format to earn the spot from the east and go up against the "best of the west". Otherwise we likely wouldn't get a chance to play the Conference's #1 or #2 team depending on how the scheduling falls and with no FBS history to rest on and being new - the politics probably wont fall our way even in '15.

Here's to a real Conference Championship Game.. Sooner than later!
"Give me Liberty... or Give me" James Madison (#1 Choice!) or.. heck.. just give me somebody!

We already crawled through the open window...now its just about slamming the window shut on all of you guys before one of you gets any bright ideas.

So who does "Mr. zero FBS wins" root for. Is he afraid to disclose that?

(08-13-2013 11:52 AM)Dman Wrote:  So who does "Mr. zero FBS wins" root for. Is he afraid to disclose that?

Just a troll, ignore him.

Our window opens this season(it will be our first eligible season) and is open every season after this one.

In the SBC, any team at any time can stand up and win the thing, that is just the way our league is.

(08-13-2013 10:53 AM)timf82 Wrote:  

(08-13-2013 09:53 AM)EagleCreek Wrote:  2014.....Georgia Southern is suppossed to win!!! J/K That was for Tim of the power house ULL.

Like many newcomers to FBS, I suspect the Eagles will have some growing pains. I say 2016-17 is more likely.

Proud to be a member of the SBC.

Go Eagles.

0 wins against the FBS......Can argue that.....
Simple win some FBS games then talk trash....Have a great day.

listen here ********, no we dont have any wins against FBS because only SEC teams schedule Ga Southern, and Navy, no way would any CUSA, Sun Belt, MAC team EVER schedule Ga Southern, FBS has 30% more scholarships to boot - had we ever faced SBC or CUSA teams we would have WINS