Just thinking here... Is it better for the Sun Belt for App State and Georgia Southern to not do well in their first year in the league meaning the league is tough? Or is it better that they do well meaning they were great additions to the SBC and FBS and help bolster our league?

Sorry NMSU and Idaho. This is meant as a new FBS team question.

I think that if GS & App, can finish in the middle of the pack, it show both how tough the SBC has become & how both programs were good transition programs to bring move up. I kinda hope that 1 of us can make decent head waves, into the upper half of the conference.

(07-05-2014 11:40 AM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Just thinking here... Is it better for the Sun Belt for App State and Georgia Southern to not do well in their first year in the league meaning the league is tough? Or is it better that they do well meaning they were great additions to the SBC and FBS and help bolster our league?

Sorry NMSU and Idaho. This is meant as a new FBS team question.

I don't see any positives coming from having poor performances from these or any other conference teams unless one happens to be a "I told you so" person. Outside the Sun Belt people would only be looking at total records and that would make the whole conference look worse IMO.

I think both teams will wind up somewhere near the middle of the conference (either 5-3, 4-4, or 3-5) which is a pretty good showing and will prove to be a good move for the SBC for adding them. JMHO.

If you win OOC then conference is whatever it is.

Its far more about OOC play. Its winning those games that are far more important than whatever App and GS do in league play.

Perfect scenario? They run the table OOC, then struggle in conference.

(07-05-2014 12:38 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Perfect scenario? They run the table OOC, then struggle in conference.

So GS beats GT, NCST and Navy and struggles with South, TXST, Troy and ULM and outside the conference folks think, man that Sun belt is tough!
Got it.

(07-05-2014 12:47 PM)EaglesDare Wrote:  

(07-05-2014 12:38 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Perfect scenario? They run the table OOC, then struggle in conference.

So GS beats GT, NCST and Navy and struggles with South, TXST, Troy and ULM and outside the conference folks think, man that Sun belt is tough!
Got it.

If that were to happen, we'd still have people saying the SBC is the worst FBS conference. The ignorance is incredibly stubborn.

(07-05-2014 12:47 PM)EaglesDare Wrote:  

(07-05-2014 12:38 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Perfect scenario? They run the table OOC, then struggle in conference.

So GS beats GT, NCST and Navy and struggles with South, TXST, Troy and ULM and outside the conference folks think, man that Sun belt is tough!
Got it.

hey, I didn't say it would happen... I said for the Sun Belt... that would be ideal.

In the perfect scenario (for the entire conference): Everyone dominates (or at least 3-1) OOC, then all but two teams end up in the close to .500 category in conference play. The two other teams? 1 is undefeated, 1 has one conference loss.

Though I guess technically, since not all teams play each other, 2 teams go undefeated, the rest in that .500 range.

That would maximize number of bowl eligible teams, put one team in position to be possibly BCS buster or at the very least ranked, and the rest not horrible. That would improve the league image, or at least help it pretty decent.

I think it would be an awkward situation if either App or GAsouthern were somehow able to win the belt outright this year, yet couldn't go to a bowl game due to the transitioning rules

UTSA and Tstate came into the WAC in a similar situation.

Both performed better than the talking heads predicted in their first year.

App State and the Georgia Gemini's apparently have some tradition and solid fan support, so ya never know, and if they surprise to the upside, all the better.

(07-05-2014 01:31 PM)RamblinRedWolf44 Wrote:  I think it would be an awkward situation if either App or GAsouthern were somehow able to win the belt outright this year, yet couldn't go to a bowl game due to the transitioning rules

Yea, the butthurt people at AGS would have a field day with that.

(07-05-2014 01:14 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  That would maximize number of bowl eligible teams, put one team in position to be possibly BCS buster...

According to this article from USAToday, there's no such thing as a BCS buster anymore. The Big Five quietly but effectively eliminated any more Boise States ( including Boise State ) with the small playoff.

The playoff should be 16 teams - every conference winner with the rest picked by committee. Short of that, the SunBelt, CUSA, the Mountain Wurst and the rest will be poorer on the outside looking in.

(07-05-2014 11:40 AM)SkullyMaroo Wrote:  Just thinking here... Is it better for the Sun Belt for App State and Georgia Southern to not do well in their first year in the league meaning the league is tough? Or is it better that they do well meaning they were great additions to the SBC and FBS and help bolster our league?

Sorry NMSU and Idaho. This is meant as a new FBS team question.

They both need to 'Kick Ass' immediately . . help raise the perception of SBC Football from Day One and live up to their history as FCS Powerhouses !!

Go SBC !!

(07-05-2014 01:54 PM)DoubleAggie Wrote:  

(07-05-2014 01:14 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  That would maximize number of bowl eligible teams, put one team in position to be possibly BCS buster...

According to this article from USAToday, there's no such thing as a BCS buster anymore. The Big Five quietly but effectively eliminated any more Boise States ( including Boise State ) with the small playoff.

The playoff should be 16 teams - every conference winner with the rest picked by committee. Short of that, the SunBelt, CUSA, the Mountain Wurst and the rest will be poorer on the outside looking in.

I think he's referring to the Access Bowl slot.

Last year North Dakota State beat the Kansas State team that drubbed UL (granted that certainly wasn't a typical top-5 FCS team). In 2012 MTSU took a loss to a non-playoff FCS team. In 2011 WKU took a beatdown from a non-playoff FCS school.

No one really seemed to notice, though. They noticed MTSU beating Georgia Tech, and they noticed all of the wins the SBC got from the MAC and CUSA. It doesn't matter how many games GS and App win in conference play. Just get the wins in non-conference games and no one will notice how you stack up against "FCS players" (a crap term, just look at the players both squads have placed in the pros in recent years).

Like we Georgia Southern fans say, just G.A.T.A in OOC games and let the rest take care of itself.

True, there is no "official" BCS buster, but I think everyone gets the point when I use that phrase.

It's like IAA/FCS... there's no such thing as IAA anymore, but when people say it, they know what you mean.

(07-05-2014 12:47 PM)EaglesDare Wrote:  

(07-05-2014 12:38 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Perfect scenario? They run the table OOC, then struggle in conference.

So GS beats GT, NCST and Navy and struggles with South, TXST, Troy and ULM and outside the conference folks think, man that Sun belt is tough!
Got it.

Maybe not like that. No matter what, no one is going to rate NMSU, Idaho, or even GSU very highly. If GS and App were to go 3-1 OOC (GS beats Two of Navy, NCST, GT, and App beats USM) and then each turns around and goes say 4-4 in league play...then it would help the way the league looks.

If you guys have a great OOC run, then turn around and go 1-7 in league, you're going to be looked at as a team that just played above its head for a couple weeks. But if you go 4-4 or 5-3 in league...(not league title material, but upper half material) it suddenly looks like our top half is dominant in OOC Play, which helps everyone else as well.

It's more than just the name change, from Bowl Championship Series to the College Football Playoff. Along with the new format comes guaranteed access for one team from the so-called "Group of Five" conferences (American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt) to one of the upper-tier bowls being called the "New Year's Six." The breakthrough is being celebrated by college football's little guys as an important advance: no busting necessary.

Like I said previously if you don't beat Georgia Southern or App this year, it may be a few long football years
for your team.