I just need Troy to be as competitive as we were in most games, more competitive against App, BUT FINISH. Two years in a row we dropped the close games and that’s so frustrating.

Let's be frank. Troy was the first in almost everything and paved the way for all Sun Belt success. We demand your respect and nothing less.

You're welcome.

(01-12-2021 10:43 AM)balanced_view Wrote:  2 teams finished in Top 15, that is special.

I see you App St., even finishing 1st on the outside looking in, has value.

Folks will want/expect the Sun Belt to fall backwards next season, just so they can say this was all Covid related, but the on field results were going to play out the same in a regular 2020 season. The real benefit was all the TV exposure.

The NCAA rule to freeze eligibility will continue to help grow the Sun Belt, we will not be falling back in 2021. 2021 the Sun Belt makes a hard run for the top spot in the G5.

I think the TV exposure will continue considering the MWC and C-USA both left ESPN. Not sure what the Sun Belt's comparative ratings were but I'd imagine that will dictate the slots we see next season. Will look good on national TV if we can get close to full stadiums.

(01-12-2021 10:47 AM)stingingeagle Wrote:  Personally, I don't expect the Sun Belt to have much of a step back. For our part, we have high hopes in our new OC. The steps other teams have taken to rebuild are very well done. I believe the strength of the Sun Belt helped aid the rebuilding for these teams, possibly adding to the attraction of these incoming coaches (Butch Jones, Bowden and others). At the very least, we are poised to maintain the gains we have made this year.

I believe the teams will be even better next year, but the AP Top 25 results will be "worse".

(01-12-2021 10:07 AM)Troy_Fan_15 Wrote:  I think it’s a combination of both. ESPN College Football just tweeted a WAY too early top 25 and they have Louisiana at 19 (LSU at 20), and Coastal at 23

https://twitter.com/espncfb/status/13490...57032?s=21

No this is normal for a new season. No matter what a non-AAC/Boise G5 did the previous season, they're gonna get cucked in the preseason rankings the next year.

It's why guys like Herbstreit can go to hell because they feed this narrative.

(01-12-2021 11:15 AM)eaglewraith Wrote:  

(01-12-2021 10:07 AM)Troy_Fan_15 Wrote:  I think it’s a combination of both. ESPN College Football just tweeted a WAY too early top 25 and they have Louisiana at 19 (LSU at 20), and Coastal at 23

https://twitter.com/espncfb/status/13490...57032?s=21

No this is normal for a new season. No matter what a non-AAC/Boise G5 did the previous season, they're gonna get cucked in the preseason rankings the next year.

It's why guys like Herbstreit can go to hell because they feed this narrative.

I don’t understand why they don’t just start the next season ranked where they ended the previous season. To many times bad teams are given credit for beating a highly ranked team early in the season. Only for that highly ranked team to lose 5 games that season, after finishing the previous season 4-8 but being ranked because they are Michigan, or LSU.

Not sure how many time Herbstreit said what a great catch an OSU receiver had last night, that was out of bounds. News flash Herbie, a catch out of bounds is an incomplete pass.

(01-12-2021 11:37 AM)Usajags Wrote:  

(01-12-2021 11:15 AM)eaglewraith Wrote:  

(01-12-2021 10:07 AM)Troy_Fan_15 Wrote:  I think it’s a combination of both. ESPN College Football just tweeted a WAY too early top 25 and they have Louisiana at 19 (LSU at 20), and Coastal at 23

https://twitter.com/espncfb/status/13490...57032?s=21

No this is normal for a new season. No matter what a non-AAC/Boise G5 did the previous season, they're gonna get cucked in the preseason rankings the next year.

It's why guys like Herbstreit can go to hell because they feed this narrative.

I don’t understand why they don’t just start the next season ranked where they ended the previous season. To many times bad teams are given credit for beating a highly ranked team early in the season. Only for that highly ranked team to lose 5 games that season, after finishing the previous season 4-8 but being ranked because they are Michigan, or LSU.

Not sure how many time Herbstreit said what a great catch an OSU receiver had last night, that was out of bounds. News flash Herbie, a catch out of bounds is an incomplete pass.

Well it's obvious to slide teams up and down if they lose players or change coaches, but if the core team is coming back that finished a certain way one year, I agree it doesn't make much sense to move them much.

It's called "advanced analytics". Use it to determine what percentage of your offense and defense's stats are returning, compared to how they're projected to improve, compared to who they're projected to play and how much of their production is returning.

Pollsters love pre-season subjectivity because it breeds controversy, conversation, and most importantly CLICKS.

It's also easier to hype a matchup between subjective numbers 2 and 19 than an objective #9 vs unranked.

(01-12-2021 10:23 AM)kevinwmsn Wrote:  At least you didn't say when ULM beat Alabama.

That was the first one that came to mind, but Arkansas is a better win

(01-12-2021 06:55 PM)debragga Wrote:  

(01-12-2021 10:23 AM)kevinwmsn Wrote:  At least you didn't say when ULM beat Alabama.

That was the first one that came to mind, but Arkansas is a better win

Oh I agree. My son and I had just left a stAte victory when we found out about y'all hanging with the pigs. Turned the radio over to it and was huge fans of ULM. It was great.

That Marshall loss really cost us this year. The SBC would have had 3 top 25 teams heading into November and likely would have finished with three.

Next year is a huge opportunity for the league to build on the notoriety we gained during this crazy year. A few big OOC wins early are a must next year. As bad as 2020 was it MIGHT end up being the turning point for the conference.