Sun Belt preseason conference outlook

By J.R. Hopwood  |   Sunday, July 31, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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The Sun Belt Conference gains Florida Atlantic and Florida International this year, while losing Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State. The additions are about as good as the losses, and this conference is probably another year or two from getting out of the 1A cellar.

1. The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders return 18 starters and are tied with FIU for the most. QB Clint Marks will look to improve his sub par 14:14 TD to INT ratio and I think the experience will help lift this team to not only a winning season, but a conference title.
2. The North Texas Mean Green return 2 former NCAA leading rushers in Jamario Thomas and Patrick Cobbs. However, returning only 9 total starters doesn't help the quest for another Sun Belt championship.
3. The Louisiana Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns return a solid group of RBs and their top WR. However, senior QB Jerry Babb will look to improve that 12:13 ratio.
4. The Louisiana Monroe Indians return QB Steven Jyles, who threw for over 2300 yards last year and was the leading rusher with 587 yards. The offense should improve as they return 8 starters, but the defense is the question mark as they lose their top 2 tacklers who combined for 201 tackles last year.
5. The Troy State Trojans return only 8 starters from last year's 7-5 bowl team and will most certainly see a downward slip in numbers.
6. The Arkansas State Indians could be a surprise team this year. They return top passer Nick Noce and 1000+ yard rusher Antonio Warren, but may see a drop in receiving production and a slip in O-line experience. The D returns 7 and should be a step up from last year.
7. The FIU Golden Panthers return 18 starters and should be more experienced since starting football in 2002. The only big loss is 1133 yard rusher Rashod Smith, but nearly everyone else is back for another season.
8. The FAU Owls were a great story the past two years, but I have to think the loss of Crissinger-Hill and Allen will be too big to overcome. They return only 3 starters on offense and 5 on D. In addition, everyone will be gunning for them this year.
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