The Sun Belt is a complete wreck right now and I am here for it. You think Old Dominion is going to walk all over the Blundering Herd? Think again! Will the Boobcats remember that they’re supposed to win the SBC West? Nope! Coastal Carolina is terrible, right? Not even close!

The only constant in the Sun Belt Universe is Entropy, and you can either be torn apart by its terrible forces or embrace it as a friend. WE CHOOSE THE LATTER!

For the entire Sun Belt football season, Sun Belt Heat will be dissected on the FunBelt Podcast each week on the segment “Second and Short.”

Tuesday, October 14

Arkansas State Red Wolves (2-4) @ South Alabama Jaguars (1-5), 6:30PM, ESPN2, -6.5 USA

No two teams are more alike in the Sun Belt than the South Alabama Jaguars and the Arkansas State Red Wolves. Both bear dual-threat quarterbacks in Jaylen Raynor and Bishop Davenport. Both suffered grim losses to in-state rivals. Both have talent disproportionate to the number of victories in the win column. However, the Red Wolves are coming of a spirits-lifting win over Texas State while the Jags are licking their wounds after an overtime loss to Troy. Arkansas State has on opportunity to build on momentum and turn their season around. Meanwhile, opportunities for South Alabama are dwindling. It begs the question, can Major Applewhite survive a sixth loss in seven tries on national television?

RESULT: Both teams are hangry, but until A-State proves it can win on the road, the home team holds all the aces.

Saturday, October 18

Troy Trojans (4-2) @ ULM Warhawks (3-3), 2PM, ESPN+, -5.5 Trojans

Are coach Gerard Parker and the Troy Trojans fo reals? Texas State jumped out to an insurmountable 28-7 first quarter lead last Saturday only to see Ares step in and bestow enormous good fortune upon the Trojans, who’d gut out their second consecutive overtime victory. Trojan quarterback Tucker Killcrease suddenly looks like Peyton Manning, throwing end zone darts with scary precision. On the flip side, the Warhawks have scored a total 15 points in its last two games and couldn’t solve a Coastal Carolina defense that had just given up 47 points to Old Dominion.

RESULT: Monroe grants the Warhawks mystical strength, but the Trojans are just to inevitable at the moment.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (3-3) @ Appalachian State Mountaineers (4-2), 2:30PM, ESPN+, -11.5 App

After a somewhat shaky start to the season, the Mountaineers have notched victories over winless Oregon State and 1-5 Georgia State to obtain that winning feeling. With AJ Swann still recovering from injury, the 6’7″ JJ Khol stepped up on Saturday and threw for 300 yards and four touchdowns on the Panthers, which probably has new head coach Dowell Logain feeling chipper. Also feeling chipper, head coach Tim Beck of Coastal Carolina, suddenly given new life after a pair of SBC West victories over ULM and South Alabama. The Chants appear to be kicking the tires on 6’3″ quarterback Samari Collier, formerly of Illinois. Collier was only 5/15 passing against ULM, but one of those throws did result in a touchdown.

RESULT: Coastal struggles too mightily on offense to give the Mountaineers too much of a challenge in Boone.

Old Dominion Monarchs (4-2) @ James Madison Dukes (5-1), 2:30PM, ESPNU, -1.5 JMU

Admittedly, this was going to be a much better game until ODU skidded into a tree stump at Huntington, where the Monarchs fell to the Thundering Herd 48-24. Marshall QB Carlos Del Rio-Wilson simply out Colton Joseph-ed Colton Joseph, running for a pair of TDs and tossing two more. Now head coach Rickey Rahne has to contend with the Dukes’ potent run game (ranked 15th nationally) in Harrisonburg, where James Madison draws its awesome powers. That’s likely a relief to head coach Bob Chesney, because the Dukes haven’t exactly lit up the scoreboard on the road with sluggish performances against Georgia State and Louisiana.

RESULT: These feels like an opportunity for Rickey Rahne to go one million percent weird and deliver the upset.

Texas State Bobcats (3-3) @ Marshall Thundering Herd (3-3), 2:30PM, ESPN+, -2.5 Bobcats

The Farewell Sun Belt Tour has not gone well for GJ Kinne and the Bobcats, who have begun conference play 0-2 with defensive meltdowns to Arkansas State and Troy. Now they travel to Huntington where the Herd just dumped a bucket of freezing cold water on ODU. Can that once stout Texas State defense find a solution to dual-threat QB Carlos Del Rio-Wilson and a rushing offense that churns nearly 200 yards per game?

RESULT: This really feels like a You’d Better Win This game for Texas State

Southern Miss Golden Eagles (4-2) @ Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (2-4), 4PM, ESPN+, -4.5 Eagles of Gold

Is it possible to transfer key players and staff of a championship team from one conference division and get identical results in the oppositional division? That might be too much science for a sports column, so let’s just say head coach Charlie Huff and the Golden Eagles are sitting atop the SBC West standings thanks to a conference-leading 13 touchdown passes from Braylon Braxton and a defense dominated by sophomores Ian Foster (S) and Chris Jones (LB). It’s Bizzaro World for the Cajuns, who were projected to win the SBC West but are still trying to put the right mix of guys on the gridiron. However, new starting QB Lunch Winfield has looked promising,

RESULT: Cajun Field hasn’t exactly been home field advantage for Louisiana this year, and the Eagles seem awfully comfy on both sides of the ball right now.

Georgia State Panthers (1-5) @ Georgia Southern Eagles (2-4), 6PM, ESPN+, -7.5 Eagles

This was supposed to be a big year for head coach Clay Helton, quarterback JC French and Georgia Southern. Instead, the Eagles are winless in the Belt, the team ranks 94th nationally for total offense, and chances for winning the Sun Belt East are next to nil. Then again, those chances are no better for the Panthers, a team that plays well in brief bursts but has not gotten nearly enough from quarterback TJ Finley – so little so that coach Dell McGee appears to be putting Cameron Brown back behind center. Both teams are playing for state rights and not too much else.

RESULT: The Eagles are 2-1 in Statesboro, which is good enough for me

IMAGE: AI Monstrosity