(04-06-2013 09:40 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Before we joined?

Troy was top dog. All the way. No one was even close.

After that, I would have said (of the remaining teams) Louisiana and ULM. To be honest, I had no idea there was even a western kentucky. And Arkansas State (I thought) was FCS.

Since joining the SBC, I would have to say top three teams are:

stAte, Louisiana, and then ULM. Troy being close at fourth.

Yikes!

A couple years ago we went to Illinois for Freeze's first game as head coach, and an SB Nation writer assumed we were a middle of the pack FCS school. That was the worst I remember it.

I am not surprised Troy is getting named the most. In the case of App and Georgia Southern, Troy is a well remembered FCS team that I am sure many fans pointed too. It wouldn't shock me for them to believe Troy to be the best.

The ULM comments came out of left field though. That Arkansas win must have really pushed them farther than I thought.

(04-07-2013 12:05 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(04-06-2013 09:40 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Before we joined?

Troy was top dog. All the way. No one was even close.

After that, I would have said (of the remaining teams) Louisiana and ULM. To be honest, I had no idea there was even a western kentucky. And Arkansas State (I thought) was FCS.

Since joining the SBC, I would have to say top three teams are:

stAte, Louisiana, and then ULM. Troy being close at fourth.

Yikes!

A couple years ago we went to Illinois for Freeze's first game as head coach, and an SB Nation writer assumed we were a middle of the pack FCS school. That was the worst I remember it.

I am not surprised Troy is getting named the most. In the case of App and Georgia Southern, Troy is a well remembered FCS team that I am sure many fans pointed too. It wouldn't shock me for them to believe Troy to be the best.

The ULM comments came out of left field though. That Arkansas win must have really pushed them farther than I thought.

Well over a 10 year period we have been the best... SBC football didn't start 2
Years ago.

(04-07-2013 12:11 AM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:05 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(04-06-2013 09:40 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Before we joined?

Troy was top dog. All the way. No one was even close.

After that, I would have said (of the remaining teams) Louisiana and ULM. To be honest, I had no idea there was even a western kentucky. And Arkansas State (I thought) was FCS.

Since joining the SBC, I would have to say top three teams are:

stAte, Louisiana, and then ULM. Troy being close at fourth.

Yikes!

A couple years ago we went to Illinois for Freeze's first game as head coach, and an SB Nation writer assumed we were a middle of the pack FCS school. That was the worst I remember it.

I am not surprised Troy is getting named the most. In the case of App and Georgia Southern, Troy is a well remembered FCS team that I am sure many fans pointed too. It wouldn't shock me for them to believe Troy to be the best.

The ULM comments came out of left field though. That Arkansas win must have really pushed them farther than I thought.

Well over a 10 year period we have been the best... SBC football didn't start 2
Years ago.

Over 10 years it would be:

1) Troy
2) North Texas
3) MTSU
4) Arkansas State

* You might could argue flipping MTSU and North Texas. MTSU has the second most wins in conference, but UNTs run was extraordinary. UNT is known for having what is very close to the sunbelt's best run and what was very close to the sunbelt's worst run (FIU might have had the worst stretch, WKU was bad, but not as bad as those were). I believe Troy is the only one over .500 since going FBS.

(04-07-2013 12:14 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:11 AM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:05 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(04-06-2013 09:40 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Before we joined?

Troy was top dog. All the way. No one was even close.

After that, I would have said (of the remaining teams) Louisiana and ULM. To be honest, I had no idea there was even a western kentucky. And Arkansas State (I thought) was FCS.

Since joining the SBC, I would have to say top three teams are:

stAte, Louisiana, and then ULM. Troy being close at fourth.

Yikes!

A couple years ago we went to Illinois for Freeze's first game as head coach, and an SB Nation writer assumed we were a middle of the pack FCS school. That was the worst I remember it.

I am not surprised Troy is getting named the most. In the case of App and Georgia Southern, Troy is a well remembered FCS team that I am sure many fans pointed too. It wouldn't shock me for them to believe Troy to be the best.

The ULM comments came out of left field though. That Arkansas win must have really pushed them farther than I thought.

Well over a 10 year period we have been the best... SBC football didn't start 2
Years ago.

Over 10 years it would be:

1) Troy
2) North Texas
3) MTSU
4) Arkansas State

* You might could argue flipping MTSU and North Texas. MTSU has the second most wins in conference, but UNTs run was extraordinary. UNT is known for having what is very close to the sunbelt's best run and what was very close to the sunbelt's worst run (FIU might have had the worst stretch, WKU was bad, but not as bad as those were). I believe Troy is the only one over .500 since going FBS.

I would
Swap MTSU and UNT... MTSU has not had all those bad seasons. And MTSU has had a few bowls.

(04-07-2013 12:11 AM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:05 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(04-06-2013 09:40 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Before we joined?

Troy was top dog. All the way. No one was even close.

After that, I would have said (of the remaining teams) Louisiana and ULM. To be honest, I had no idea there was even a western kentucky. And Arkansas State (I thought) was FCS.

Since joining the SBC, I would have to say top three teams are:

stAte, Louisiana, and then ULM. Troy being close at fourth.

Yikes!

A couple years ago we went to Illinois for Freeze's first game as head coach, and an SB Nation writer assumed we were a middle of the pack FCS school. That was the worst I remember it.

I am not surprised Troy is getting named the most. In the case of App and Georgia Southern, Troy is a well remembered FCS team that I am sure many fans pointed too. It wouldn't shock me for them to believe Troy to be the best.

The ULM comments came out of left field though. That Arkansas win must have really pushed them farther than I thought.

Well over a 10 year period we have been the best... SBC football didn't start 2
Years ago.

Yeah, well ASU chose to employ Steve Roberts for about 3 years too long, that cost us some time.

Our development has been slow, but steady. We were a perennial 1-2 win team pre SBC. One could argue at no point did we really take a step back in the next 10 years. We just chose to stay mediocre a little longer than normal.

(04-07-2013 12:19 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:11 AM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:05 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(04-06-2013 09:40 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Before we joined?

Troy was top dog. All the way. No one was even close.

After that, I would have said (of the remaining teams) Louisiana and ULM. To be honest, I had no idea there was even a western kentucky. And Arkansas State (I thought) was FCS.

Since joining the SBC, I would have to say top three teams are:

stAte, Louisiana, and then ULM. Troy being close at fourth.

Yikes!

A couple years ago we went to Illinois for Freeze's first game as head coach, and an SB Nation writer assumed we were a middle of the pack FCS school. That was the worst I remember it.

I am not surprised Troy is getting named the most. In the case of App and Georgia Southern, Troy is a well remembered FCS team that I am sure many fans pointed too. It wouldn't shock me for them to believe Troy to be the best.

The ULM comments came out of left field though. That Arkansas win must have really pushed them farther than I thought.

Well over a 10 year period we have been the best... SBC football didn't start 2
Years ago.

Yeah, well ASU chose to employ Steve Roberts for about 3 years too long, that cost us some time.

Our development has been slow, but steady. We were a perennial 1-2 win team pre SBC. One could argue at no point did we really take a step back in the next 10 years. We just chose to stay mediocre a little longer than normal.

And we hung onto Rowell for 3-4 years too long. Now that he's gone....

(04-06-2013 09:36 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote:  This question is for our App State, Texas State, Georgia Southern, and Georgia State fans.

Since yall are brand new to SBC membership, I am curious about something. Who did you perceive to be the best three overall football programs in the Sun Belt before joining? In order.

Troy, stAte, MTSU

Interesting question since I posted here for 3 years before we were invited and lurked even further back. I would say Troy followed by Louisiana and now more recently Arkansas State.

To add my 2 cents, I didn't (and to a large degree, still don't) know much about any of the teams in the SBC. I know we had some games with Troy and WKU, but I was MIA from App football and didn't come back until prior to our National Championship run in '05. It is my intent to learn all I can about the other teams though now that we are in the SBC.

1. Troy
2. Louisiana
3. Arkansas State

My perception was based on program history as opposed to recent on-field success:
Troy
stAte
Middle

1) Troy
2) LLU
3) Arkansas State

The order was fairly flexible though.

No doubt Troy has been the benchmark for success in the Sun Belt despite the recent struggles. MTSU was consistent, but they never seemed to play as good as Troy against the big boys. It will be interesting to see if Ark St and UL continue their success and if one of the newbies can shake things up.

With that said the Sun Belt is long overdue to have a team break into the top 25. That is a hurdle the conference needs to cross soon if the conference wants to be respected.

MTSU and WKU (recent) deserve some kudos but unfortunately they are leaving.

My perception was based on longer term achievement / recognition as well. Not saying it's an accurate ranking...just a perception from where we've been sitting.

(04-07-2013 12:14 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:11 AM)Atlanta Trojan Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 12:05 AM)chiefsfan Wrote:  

(04-06-2013 09:40 PM)TheRevSWT Wrote:  Before we joined?

Troy was top dog. All the way. No one was even close.

After that, I would have said (of the remaining teams) Louisiana and ULM. To be honest, I had no idea there was even a western kentucky. And Arkansas State (I thought) was FCS.

Since joining the SBC, I would have to say top three teams are:

stAte, Louisiana, and then ULM. Troy being close at fourth.

Yikes!

A couple years ago we went to Illinois for Freeze's first game as head coach, and an SB Nation writer assumed we were a middle of the pack FCS school. That was the worst I remember it.

I am not surprised Troy is getting named the most. In the case of App and Georgia Southern, Troy is a well remembered FCS team that I am sure many fans pointed too. It wouldn't shock me for them to believe Troy to be the best.

The ULM comments came out of left field though. That Arkansas win must have really pushed them farther than I thought.

Well over a 10 year period we have been the best... SBC football didn't start 2
Years ago.

Over 10 years it would be:

1) Troy
2) North Texas
3) MTSU
4) Arkansas State

* You might could argue flipping MTSU and North Texas. MTSU has the second most wins in conference, but UNTs run was extraordinary. UNT is known for having what is very close to the sunbelt's best run and what was very close to the sunbelt's worst run (FIU might have had the worst stretch, WKU was bad, but not as bad as those were). I believe Troy is the only one over .500 since going FBS.

Actually over the past ten years it would be Troy, Louisiana, MTSU, and stAte in that order according to winning percentage.

(04-07-2013 08:52 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  With that said the Sun Belt is long overdue to have a team break into the top 25.

We've had a few just on the border (receiving votes), in fact, I think just last year stAte, ULM, WKU, and MT all received votes at some point during the 2012 season.

Before:

Troy - that is the only team I remember being consistently successful
UL - The best of the LA teams but average at best
ULM - Not good
stAte - no clue
UNT - okay then bad
FIU - bad
FAU - bad
WKU - awful no FBS wins forever
MTSU - weird name, average team
USA - new to football

Since joing

1. UL - much improved, AD cares, good coaches, good fans
2. stAte - same as UL
3. WKU - what a turnaround
in no particular order
Troy - what happened
ULM - much better then I thought. hope that continues post current QB
USA - still new to FBS hard to tell, like us losing to UTSA looks bad
MTSU - better then I thought
UNT - still bad
FIU - still struggle
FAU - nice stadium need the team to improve as well

(04-07-2013 09:30 AM)tyler90wm Wrote:  

(04-07-2013 08:52 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  With that said the Sun Belt is long overdue to have a team break into the top 25.

We've had a few just on the border (receiving votes), in fact, I think just last year stAte, ULM, WKU, and MT all received votes at some point during the 2012 season.

MTSU is playing in CUSA in 2013....correct?

(04-07-2013 09:32 AM)slycat Wrote:  Before:

Troy - that is the only team I remember being consistently successful
UL - The best of the LA teams but average at best
ULM - Not good
stAte - no clue
UNT - okay then bad
FIU - bad
FAU - bad
WKU - awful no FBS wins forever
MTSU - weird name, average team
USA - new to football

Since joing

1. UL - much improved, AD cares, good coaches, good fans
2. stAte - same as UL
3. WKU - what a turnaround
in no particular order
Troy - what happened
ULM - much better then I thought. hope that continues post current QB
USA - still new to FBS hard to tell, like us losing to UTSA looks bad
MTSU - better then I thought
UNT - still bad
FIU - still struggle
FAU - nice stadium need the team to improve as well

And somehow people believe CUSA adding MTSU,WKU, UNT, FAU and FIU has hurt the Sun Belt beyond repair.

USA, App, Ga Southern will be better than MTSU, WKU and UNT

Ga State will is similar to F_U and will be on par with them. Idaho and NMSU will probably be on par with F_U as well. Idaho has actually had some good teams in the past, so there is hope there.

i also remember a few years back that UNT had 2 or 3 thousand yard rushers. i remember watching them on tv and the commentators talking about it.