Sun Belt vs Non-Conference (2026 edition)
Football will be kicking off soon so I'm bringing back my annual Sun Belt vs Non-Conference thread.

*All preseason projections provided by teamrankings.com

East

Appalachian St (preseason projection 2-2) --- Actual 3-1
Maine (FCS) W 55-3
@ East Carolina (AAC) W 27-24
Charlotte (AAC) W 26-21
@NC State (ACC) L 31-41

Coastal Carolina (preseason projection 1-3) --- Actual OOC 1-3
@ WVU (Big 12) L 24-31
Fordham (FCS) W 45-7
@ Delaware (CUSA) L 14-22
Liberty (CUSA) L 17-34

Georgia Southern (preseason projection 1-3) --- Actual OOC 1-3
Charleston So. (FCS) W 31-0
@ Clemson (ACC) L 7-22
@ Jax State (CUSA) L 27-31
Houston (Big 12) L 28-42

Georgia State (preseason projection 1-3) --- Actual OOC 3-1
NC A&T (FCS) W 59-10
@ Kennesaw St (CUSA) W 31-17
@ UCF (Big 12) L 30-44
N. Illinois (MWC) W 35-14

James Madison (preseason projection 3-1) --- Actual OOC 3-0
Liberty (CUSA) W 20-13
Wagner (FCS) W 87-3
@ San Diego St (PAC) W 26-13
@ UConn (Ind) W

Marshall (preseason projection 3-1) --- Actual OOC 3-1
@ Penn St (Big 10) L 0-45
MTSU (CUSA) W 28-26
@ Missouri St (CUSA) W 30-24
Gardner-Webb (FCS) W 36-35

Old Dominion (preseason projection 3-1) --- Actual OOC 1-2
Norfolk St (FCS) W 31-10
@ VT (ACC) L 21-44
East Carolina (AAC) L 17-20
@ UConn (Ind) W

West

Arkansas State (preseason projection 2-2) --- Actual OOC 2-2
@ Memphis (AAC) L 24-42
West Georgia (FCS) W 52-7
@ TCU (Big 12) L 7-31
Kennesaw St (CUSA) W 17-14

Louisiana (preseason projection 3-1) --- Actual OOC 3-1
Lamar (FCS) W 38-7
@ USC (Big 10) L 30-49
UAB (AAC) W 21-14
@ Charlotte (AAC) W 34-7

Louisiana Tech (preseason projection 1-3) --- Actual OOC 2-2
Northwestern St (FCS) W 80-6
@ LSU (SEC) L 14-45
@ Baylor (Big 12) L 19-36
Army (AAC) W 31-29

ULM (preseason projection 1-3) --- Actual OOC 0-4
@ Mississippi St (SEC) L 13-62
@ UAB (AAC) L 20-26
SE Louisiana (FCS) L 35-38
FAU (AAC) L 17- 45

South Alabama (preseason projection 2-2) --- Actual OOC 2-2
SE Louisiana (FCS) W 39-14
@ Tulane (AAC) L 24-28
Ohio (MAC) W 41-35
@ Kentucky (SEC) L 21-45

Southern Miss (preseason projection 1-3) --- Actual OOC 1-3
Alcorn St (FCS) W 49-3
@ Auburn (SEC) L 8-43
UConn (Ind) L 20-48
@ Tulane (AAC) L 21-24

Troy (preseason projection 2-2) --- Actual OOC 2-2
Sam Houston (CUSA) W 24-21
Alabama St (FCS) W 34-17
@ Missouri (SEC) L 17-27
@ Utah St (PAC) L 10 -21

--------------------

SBC vs FBS 14-26
SBC vs FCS 13-1
SBC vs P4 0-15
SBC vs G6 14-10

SBC vs Ind 0-1

SBC vs ACC 0-3
SBC vs SEC 0-5
SBC vs Big 12 0-5
SBC vs Big 10 0-2

SBC vs PAC 1-1
SBC vs American 5-6
SBC vs MWC 1-0
SBC vs MAC 1-0
SBC vs CUSA 6-3

*All Preseason projections provided by teamrankings.com

Link to last season's results: https://csnbbs.com/thread-1014232.html

Teamrankings.com says 26-30 projected overall OOC. Hopefully we can do a little better than that!

Georgia Southern @ JSU
Georgia State @ KSU
Coastal @ Delaware

These are all must win games if we really believe the Sun Belt East is one of the toughest divisions in G6 football. It shouldn’t matter that they are on the road. These games being counted as losses right out of the gate is not a good thing for our brand.

(08-06-2026 11:21 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  Georgia Southern @ JSU
Georgia State @ KSU
Coastal @ Delaware

These are all must win games if we really believe the Sun Belt East is one of the toughest divisions in G6 football. It shouldn’t matter that they are on the road. These games being counted as losses right out of the gate is not a good thing for our brand.

I'll add JMU at San Diego St should be a winnable game if JMU just reloaded.

On the west side I think there are some more winnable matchups.
Army at LA Tech
Troy at Utah St
And maybe even UAB or FAU and ULM?

Just remember, League policy is you get relegated to CUSA if you lose to an FCS.

(08-06-2026 11:21 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  Georgia Southern @ JSU
Georgia State @ KSU
Coastal @ Delaware

These are all must win games if we really believe the Sun Belt East is one of the toughest divisions in G6 football. It shouldn’t matter that they are on the road. These games being counted as losses right out of the gate is not a good thing for our brand.

I’ll add Liberty at JMU - this needs to be a smack down

(08-08-2026 04:33 PM)bcp_jmu Wrote:  

(08-06-2026 11:21 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  Georgia Southern @ JSU
Georgia State @ KSU
Coastal @ Delaware

These are all must win games if we really believe the Sun Belt East is one of the toughest divisions in G6 football. It shouldn’t matter that they are on the road. These games being counted as losses right out of the gate is not a good thing for our brand.

I’ll add Liberty at JMU - this needs to be a smack down

Yes, I'd say that's a must win for the SBC...but you guys are currently favored in that one so if you loose you'll going to get roasted!

OP updated with week 1 scores. 10-4 on the week with 2 wins vs CUSA and 8 FCS wins!

7-7 in week 2 which was better than the preseason projection for this week so I'll take it. Both App and Georgia St picked up wins vs what was predicted during the offseason.

5-9 OOC in Week 3...

Multiple close losses plus an FCS loss makes this a very bad week overall.

Massey Ratings through Week3:

1) Big 12 (8.02)

2) ACC (7.85)






3) PAC12 (7.29)

4) American (7.16)



5) SBC (6.95)
6) MWC (6.87)




7) CUSA (6.66)
8) MAC (6.54)

Some heartbreaking losses this week. All schools are updated through week 4. Overall we sit at 26-27 OOC with only three chances left to improve that record.

https://x.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/2104...92019?s=20

Non-conference records vs. Power 4 teams

SEC 10-2
Big 12 5-7
ACC 6-9
Big Ten 4-10
American 1-11
MAC 1-16
Mountain West 0-7
CUSA 0-8
Pac-12 0-12
Sun Belt 0-15


Today's The Audible Podcast covers the increasing gap between P and G.

Only 1 OOC contest this week with LA Tech getting the W over Army from the American Conference. That puts the Sun Belt at 27-27 overall in OOC contests with only two games left vs non-conference opponents this season.

(10-03-2026 09:58 PM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  Only 1 OOC contest this week with LA Tech getting the W over Army from the American Conference. That puts the Sun Belt at 27-27 overall in OOC contests with only two games left vs non-conference opponents this season.

And both against UConn?

Gotta get those.

(10-05-2026 09:52 AM)inutech Wrote:  

(10-03-2026 09:58 PM)Georgia_Power_Company Wrote:  Only 1 OOC contest this week with LA Tech getting the W over Army from the American Conference. That puts the Sun Belt at 27-27 overall in OOC contests with only two games left vs non-conference opponents this season.

And both against UConn?

Gotta get those.

I feel JMU will take the W against UConn...ODU makes me nervous.

G6 records:

AAC 5-6
CUSA 6-3
PAC 1-1
MW 1-0
MAC 1-0

14-10 overall. A lot of close games that could have gone either way. The G6 is 2-69 vs P4. The big picture for me is that no G conference stands out as significantly better than the other. All are feeling the effects of losing their rosters each year to the P4 and players running out of eligibility.