Bottom 25 - Week 4

[WVAPPeer]

Wow - I bet this will even make Honey Boo-Boo upset ---
https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... r-a-while/

[Rick83]

Georgia Southern at the bottom of the pile! I feel so sorry for them...NOT!

[GOAPPS37]

Makes me want APP to leave the Sun Belt. That's horrible the number of teams in our conference at the bottom of the barrel.

[proasu89]

Makes me want APP to leave the Sun Belt. That's horrible the number of teams in our conference at the bottom of the barrel.

4 teams from CUSA are on that list just as an FYI for all the folks that think it's a better option.

[biggie]

http://www.espn.com/college-football/st ... east-least
http://es.pn/2k0L2xd

All of the Sun Belt on deck for bottom 10.

[asu66]

Georgia Southern at the bottom of the pile! I feel so sorry for them...NOT!

How can you be worse than UNCC? Bless the GaSou iggles' precious little pea-pickin' hearts!

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

We knew the Sun Belt was garbage before we joined. Why act surprised now? No other G5 conference wanted us.

We ended our FCS days with early playoff exits and thought because of that we'd finish mid Sun Belt the first few years. Well Satt and company exceeded the expectations and have performed well above expected. So now here we are stuck in a conference that we knew was bottom of FBS from the beginning.

I am looking forward to Coastal being a nice regional rivalry, and as much as I hate them would like for Georgia Southern to get a little better to bring back joy to that rivalry. Those are some things to hopefully look forward to since an exit from Sun Belt likely isn't coming anytime soon. Would like for football to schedule stronger G5 OOC and play better against P5 schools. Other sports hopefully to get better as well.

[EastHallApp]

I think the Sun Belt took some baby steps to improving the last couple years, and may just be a notch worse this year. Doesn't mean that's a long-term trend; just happens sometimes.

[WVAPPeer]

Well the SBC was 4-2 last season in bowl games which placed them 3rd behind the ACC and Big 12 - I know the competition wasn't against the P5s but still...

[CVAPP]

I have no interest in the SoCon, or any other FCS conference. I will make the most of our time in the Belt until we are no longer there. The Belt probably likes our relative weakness in all sports except football. I know football drives the bus, but we have programs that are bottom dwellers as well.

[Rick83]

Conference alignments are not easy to put together and take time to develop. We couldn't have moved up to FBS, and had the same success we've had, without being in a conference and the Sun Belt was our only option. Not necessarily for this reason alone but, Umass is now independent and they're what 0 & 5 this year? As App fans we certainly know they had a great program at the FCS level but they'll struggle without some conference association. I've said before, and I'll say again, I believe the Sun Belt move was the best thing we could've done because we were able to be immediately competitive and continue winning. Winning begats winning. We are not serving a life sentence in the Sun Belt but it's the perfect place for us to continue our growth as a program.

[WataugaMan]

Agree, we're not serving a life sentence. As time passes and things change, wouldn't it be nice to be in a Conference like (App, The Stink, ECU, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Marshall, etc.)?

[Rick83]

Agree, we're not serving a life sentence. As time passes and things change, wouldn't it be nice to be in a Conference like (App, The Stink, ECU, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Marshall, etc.)?

Yep, and Louisville may be looking for a new home if the ACC gets fed up with them once and for all.

[AtlAppMan]

Regarding the comment about the Sun Belt in this article, he also included the SEC East. So yea, SBC will get picked on so what.

In regards to App being in Sun Belt (the other conversation in this thread), there were only two realistic avenues for us to move to FBS, SBC or CUSA. We tried CUSA and couldn't make it happen so we had to go with SBC. At this point I am glad we are here instead of CUSA. CUSA is not what it was pre-2013. Everybody we wanted to be with moved down the hall to the AAC room. The upside is we have been able to establish a place at the top of SBC which helps our FBS reputation as a winner. I don't think it is forever either. At some point either a massive realignment among G5's will occur or a slot will open at a higher level and we may have a better shot at getting it now that we have proven ourselves at FBS. I think our ideal location is AAC at some future point in time.

[EastHallApp]

Conference alignments are not easy to put together and take time to develop. We couldn't have moved up to FBS, and had the same success we've had, without being in a conference and the Sun Belt was our only option. Not necessarily for this reason alone but, Umass is now independent and they're what 0 & 5 this year? As App fans we certainly know they had a great program at the FCS level but they'll struggle without some conference association. I've said before, and I'll say again, I believe the Sun Belt move was the best thing we could've done because we were able to be immediately competitive and continue winning. Winning begats winning. We are not serving a life sentence in the Sun Belt but it's the perfect place for us to continue our growth as a program.

UMass was just as bad when they were in a conference though. Their problem is they just aren't a natural fit for any FBS conference, and they aren't willing to bring along the sport they're actually decent in (basketball).

The Northeast just isn't college football country at the FBS level. If you can't get into a P5, you're better off in FCS, because there's really nowhere else to go. (And the ones who are in P5s are all bottom feeders.)

But I agree with your thoughts on App.

[Rick83]

Conference alignments are not easy to put together and take time to develop. We couldn't have moved up to FBS, and had the same success we've had, without being in a conference and the Sun Belt was our only option. Not necessarily for this reason alone but, Umass is now independent and they're what 0 & 5 this year? As App fans we certainly know they had a great program at the FCS level but they'll struggle without some conference association. I've said before, and I'll say again, I believe the Sun Belt move was the best thing we could've done because we were able to be immediately competitive and continue winning. Winning begats winning. We are not serving a life sentence in the Sun Belt but it's the perfect place for us to continue our growth as a program.

UMass was just as bad when they were in a conference though. Their problem is they just aren't a natural fit for any FBS conference, and they aren't willing to bring along the sport they're actually decent in (basketball).

The Northeast just isn't college football country at the FBS level. If you can't get into a P5, you're better off in FCS, because there's really nowhere else to go. (And the ones who are in P5s are all bottom feeders.)

But I agree with your thoughts on App.

Yep you're probably right, and UMass may not be a good example but my point was that, unless you're like a Notre Dame it's tough to be successful as an FBS independent.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

GaSo, Arkansas State, ULL, Troy and us all have a good football history, so when any of these teams are down, I wouldn't expect it to be long term.

[CVAPP]

GaSo, Arkansas State, ULL, Troy and us all have a good football history, so when any of these teams are down, I wouldn't expect it to be long term.

I really don't know what to think about the stink right now. They may have done themselves irreparable damage. They will have to recruit talent at all levels to improve, and that ain't gonna be easy.

[EastHallApp]

GaSo, Arkansas State, ULL, Troy and us all have a good football history, so when any of these teams are down, I wouldn't expect it to be long term.

Although I'm not sure how predictive FCS success is, I agree with you on GS and Troy (and us). The recent successes of stAte and ULL are more like exceptions to their historical norms, though. I think ULL could be in trouble.

[biggie]

ULL does seem to be down over a longer period now and getting worse it seems this year.