Liberty at CCU

[App91]

Although historical. Penn State was, by far, a bigger game for Sunbelt prior to being played. A ranked Big 10 opponent.
We lost. It is what it was. We should have won from my viewpoint in the stands

No way it was bigger PRIOR to the game like this one. sorry, just no!

[Yosefus]

I believe this game is the biggest Sunbelt game ever. Hate it for us not being in this scenario. It is great pub for the Sunbelt and will be huge if Coastal pulls of a W. Coastal will have to play near perfect BYU will be the best team they have faced all year IMHO.

[Deliverance_People]

I believe this game is the biggest Sunbelt game ever. Hate it for us not being in this scenario. It is great pub for the Sunbelt and will be huge if Coastal pulls of a W. Coastal will have to play near perfect BYU will be the best team they have faced all year IMHO.

Agreed. On all points

[BambooRdApp]

Although historical. Penn State was, by far, a bigger game for Sunbelt prior to being played. A ranked Big 10 opponent.
We lost. It is what it was. We should have won from my viewpoint in the stands

Cmon now. Troy BEAT #13 LSU and #17 Missouri. ULM beat Nick Saban’s Alabama and #8 Arkansas. Arkansas State beat Texas A&M and Ole Miss.

Us playing ranked Penn State was important to us, not the conference.

Again, replace Coastal with App State right now and then look at it.

Imagine we are undefeated and ranked in the top 20, hosting a storied program like BYU in Boone and Gameday is coming. Imagine a win could propel us into the top 12 and have us in legitimate contention for the NY6 slot.

I don’t know how it’s a debate.

I respectfully disagree. I believe you are looking at the outcome which have luxury of the results. Win versus loss. If we had beat Penn State (I believe they were top 10 or 15 at time.. And ran the table. Same situation here but we would have played higher ranked team at time.and a Big 10 team. Better street cred than BYU will ever have. Would have been biggest game in Sunbelt history or in discussion. That did not happen. So with not being able to change history, and living in today's moment of where we are, CC/BYU is a big game for Sunbelt as of today or in discussion.

[ah59396]

Although historical. Penn State was, by far, a bigger game for Sunbelt prior to being played. A ranked Big 10 opponent.
We lost. It is what it was. We should have won from my viewpoint in the stands

Cmon now. Troy BEAT #13 LSU and #17 Missouri. ULM beat Nick Saban’s Alabama and #8 Arkansas. Arkansas State beat Texas A&M and Ole Miss.

Us playing ranked Penn State was important to us, not the conference.

Again, replace Coastal with App State right now and then look at it.

Imagine we are undefeated and ranked in the top 20, hosting a storied program like BYU in Boone and Gameday is coming. Imagine a win could propel us into the top 12 and have us in legitimate contention for the NY6 slot.

I don’t know how it’s a debate.

I respectfully disagree. I believe you are looking at the outcome which have luxury of the results. Win versus loss. If we had beat Penn State (I believe they were top 10 or 15 at time.. And ran the table. Same situation here but we would have played higher ranked team at time.and a Big 10 team. Better street cred than BYU will ever have. Would have been biggest game in Sunbelt history or in discussion. That did not happen. So with not being able to change history, and living in today's moment of where we are, CC/BYU is a big game for Sunbelt as of today or in discussion.

I’m not clear what you’re arguing here.

Are you stating that the season opener App State vs Penn State was more important, but only if after the fact App also ran the table (which we didn’t we lost to Ga Southern).

That’s kind of a chicken and egg situation, no?

Whereas Coastal BYU is actually occurring.

Maybe clarify a bit.

[postalapp90]

This will be an interesting game from the point of neiher team will have much of a chance to game plan for the other but since BYU has had time off while looking for a high profile opponent i feel sure they have some new wrinkles on offense which might give them the edge.

[ASUGrad2014]

I hope BYU beats the brakes off of CCU.

[APPChad90]

Obviously, this season will go down like no other in CFB and all of sports due to Covid. With that said, I think it’s still cool that a game like this could come together and a school like Coastal could have this opportunity. We would all love to see App in this position but it wasn’t to be this year. I really believe this is an opportunity for App, the Sun Belt Conference, and of course Coastal to raise their respective profiles and be a win win going forward for all. That’s what I’ll be pulling for.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

CCU has a great QB, a really good WR, DE and LB. Top to bottom, App probably has more higher end talent. Where they are better than App, and it matters, is they are better disciplined with fewer penalties and protect the ball better. We don’t get 100 false starts and 3 turnovers in our game, we likely beat them by double digits. But that is part of the game and why we’ve lost two games. We are still a really good team, but you have to clean up the costly mistakes. Here’s an unpopular opinion: If CCU goes on to beat BYU, win the conference championship and win their bowl game, it will be a better season that App has eve had.

I have to vehemently disagree with you on this. For one, this is "the COVID season," and will always be an aberration on any stat sheet or Wikipedia page. Second, Coastal hasn't played anybody. They won very close games against App and ULLLLLLLL. They have one P5 win over Kansas. Kansas would lose to the top 10 FCS teams this year.
Last year was one of the best year's in App history, and I think it completely eclipses CCU's season this year. App won 2 P5 games, including one win over a UNC team that went to a bowl game and obliterated Temple.
Coastal is getting all the media love this year because they are an exciting team with silly hair cuts who play in Myrtle Beach. They were better in the game we played against them, but they ain't even close to mirroring the program that App has built. Show me Coastal winning multiple Sun Belt championships in a row, multiple bowl wins in a row, all while changing coaches, and I will gladly eat my words.

If they win out, it will be a P5 win, a win over 2 top 25 teams, undefeated, no dud loss against rival and a top 15 finish with a possible premiere bowl win. We had a great year last year, but we shit the bed against Georgia Southern and beat no top 25 teams to my recollection. And I never said they were the better program. We are far ahead of them in that regards so I agree with you on that part.

[bigdaddyg]

Coastal beat us. We had opportunities to beat them but didn’t get it done. If we play 5 times maybe we win 3 of 5, maybe not. This year is a nightmare and is jacked up. Coastal might be the better team but they have a long way to go to be a program like App. Western Michigan had a flash in the pan season a few years ago as did some MAC team I think (already forgotten). It happens. Let them enjoy the ride.

[mike87]

I don't think it's as big a deal as all that. People watch CGD then turn the channel to the game they want to see. BYU is cool, but I'd take smoking both Carolinas in the same year any day over a BYU win.

However, go Beach Chickins. Pulling for you guys.

Then name a more important game for the SunBelt.

A top 15 undefeated SunBelt team in December versus a top 15 undefeated opponent.

Nothing close to that in this conference has ever happened. If it was us instead of Coastal we’d already have a 40 page thread about this game against BYU coming to Boone where we are hosting GameDay.

I named 2 of them. IMO beating a P5 trumps beating a G5. However, it is a big deal and I hope the Chickins pull it off.

[appfanz]

Coastal's new president is a BYU grad. Wonder who reached out first?

ESPN, for sure.

If Gameday hadn’t been going there the game would have been cancelled and BYU wouldn’t be playing this weekend.

[t4pizza]

BYU is NOT a G5, they are an independent FBS team much like Notre Dame. G5 refers to the teams that are members of one of 5 non Power/Autonomous 5 conferences. BYU has a rich history including a National title, Heisman trophy winner, and NFL Hall of Famers. The historical accomplishments of BYU football exceed those of any team in the Group of Five.

[Black Saturday]

I believe this game is the biggest Sunbelt game ever. Hate it for us not being in this scenario. It is great pub for the Sunbelt and will be huge if Coastal pulls of a W. Coastal will have to play near perfect BYU will be the best team they have faced all year IMHO.

The last 2 years APP was a much better team than either of those 2 that have been thrust into the Gameday spotlight. All our history and culture, we should be the one in a game that big, but we screwed the pooch each of the last 2 seasons that keeps us from being a destiny's darling, any given Saturday. Coastal is riding a perfect storm, although I think BYU -10 beats them. Envious of the circumstances. Will be pulling for the Beach Buzzards.

[Black Saturday]

Coastal's new president is a BYU grad. Wonder who reached out first?

ESPN, for sure.

If Gameday hadn’t been going there the game would have been cancelled and BYU wouldn’t be playing this weekend.

It's good to have someone aggressively advocate for you, did the SunBelt do that for us the past 2 seasons? Heard Coastals new AD on Packer yesterday, the squeaky wheels get the grease.

[Saint3333]

SBC leadership is certainly consistent, as in MIA in any and all matters that would provide the conference visibility.

[huskie3]

One thing we forget is that Coastal does have that name recognition from the baseball championship a few years ago.

[fjblair]

This is the most important game in the history of the SunBelt IMO. Coastal can make a statement in front of a whole heck of a lot of eyeballs about the quality of this conference. If they hammer BYU, it strengthens the sentiment of the high quality of Coastal, App and ULL.

If they get embarrassed, the sentiment will be that the only reason they were undefeated is that the conference is trash.

We better all be chicken fans on Saturday.

Nonsense, you act as if BYU was Alabama. Nobody will remember this game in two weeks if Coastal is embarrassed. I do hope they win though.

[CharlotteApp05]

One thing we forget is that Coastal does have that name recognition from the baseball championship a few years ago.

Honestly Coastal scares me. I know their coach won't be there long, but they do have money, location and name recognition. Yeah baseball won, Dustin Johnson, soccer has a great program.

They also benefit greatly from USC, ECU and UNCW being down across the board.

[t4pizza]

SBC leadership is certainly consistent, as in MIA in any and all matters that would provide the conference visibility.

I was listening to Full Ride on ESPNU on SiriusXM earlier this week and the Show Pony and Coach were commending the ex commish Karl Benson for his foresight in building the Sun Belt into what it has become. They lauded the additions of App State, Georgia Southern, Coastal Carolina (even Georgia State) and praised kicking out New Mexico State and Idaho to make it more regionally based. I laughed when I heard it because I have always thought the conference didn't do enough to prop up its members, but I realize that they made some good points. The Sun Belt is currently a much better place thanks in large part to the vision of Karl Benson. After the conference was depleted of teams following the 2014 season it was clearly the worst of the G5 conferences, now one can argue we are second best but clearly no worse than third best. So while I agree that the conference needs to prop up the conference and teams more than they do, I do now recognize that Benson did some very good things for the Sun Belt.