Realistic goals for first season in Sun Belt

[appvette]

What conference record would you be happy with in our first year in the Sun Belt? I know there are tons of variables so this won't be very scientific but assume we don't have a "down" year and the current Sun Belt teams and divisions remain the same. Say we have this conference schedule and the teams have similar strength as this past year:

East Teams:
Troy
Ga Southern
South Alabama
Ga state

West Teams:
Louisianna
TEX State
UL - Monroe
Idaho

Not sure if we would play all members or just 8. I left out Ark State and NMSU (top and bottom teams) so I assume we would go 1-1 against them.

Realistic guess for me is that we get beat by Louisianna and ULM and then Troy and GA Southern are toss ups. So, I would be please with a 5-3 conference record.

Reference this to see results from last year:

http://warrennolan.com/football/2012/co ... Sun%20Belt

[WataugaMan]

I agree for the most part, however, I believe we should take UL-M. Thus, I'd say 6-2 in Conference. Overall 7-4 to 8-3.

[bh2oson]

I would think anything close to .500 would be a success. Depends on the schedule but I don't believe it will be as easy as some think.

[asumike83]

5-3 or 6-2 in conference would be an excellent first season, exceeding most expectations. Of course, a lot depends on whether we go for another 'money game' in 2014 or get some winnable home games. That will determine a lot about our overall record.

If I had to guess, I'd say the Michigan game is the only BCS game in 2014 and we play 6 home games. 6-6 overall, 4-4 in conference would be a very respectable first FBS season. One thing to consider is that the GA Southern game will likely be on the road.

[Saint3333]

Let's see how we recruit before making predictions.

Even if we recruit well a .500 season in 2015 should be considered a success. I know that will not be our coaches and players goal, but that should be our fans expectation.

I'm personally looking forward to one more trip through the SoCon. Swansong trips to Sparkletown and G'vegas. These teams are going to be gunning for us even more than usual, should be fun.

[appvette]

I agree OOC games are unknown so I didn't try to predict that. Anyone think we will try to schedule another big money game next year? We literally have nothing to lose since we aren't bowl eligible and could make another million to help with the transition.

[vegattk]

Let's see how we recruit before making predictions.

Even if we recruit well a .500 season in 2015 should be considered a success. I know that will not be our coaches and players goal, but that should be our fans expectation.

I'm personally looking forward to one more trip through the SoCon. Swansong trips to Sparkletown and G'vegas. These teams are going to be gunning for us even more than usual, should be fun.

I, for one, would be happy with a .500 season in our first "full" go-around in the Belt. It's going to be an interesting trip as we adjust to "new" opponents. In the SOCON we "knew" our opponents very well. Each coach had a pattern and we could at least expect certain things to happen in certain situations.

The first year in the SB will be like playing "new" teams every week.. I can only imagine how mentally exhausting that's going to be for the players and the coaches...

Not to mention that our team speed will not be as much of a factor against teams at the FBS level.

Like I said, .500 would be great... but I'd still not be too surprised if we don't win more than 2-3 Belt games in the first season.

[AppSt94]

I think that it would depend on who is in Boone. Home or away, USA, GaState, and LaMo do not concern me. Troy in all likelihood is a loss either way, as is, Ark St and ULL. The rest of the, depend on venue. IMO.

[ASUTodd]

Beat GSU and Beat GA St and ill be happy.

[appvette]

I think that it would depend on who is in Boone. Home or away, USA, GaState, and LaMo do not concern me. Troy in all likelihood is a loss either way, as is, Ark St and ULL. The rest of the, depend on venue. IMO.

Ulm was 6-2 in conf last year and beat Arkansas

[ASUTodd]

I should also add to my previous post.... any other fcs team that comes to the Belt.

[AppSt94]

I think that it would depend on who is in Boone. Home or away, USA, GaState, and LaMo do not concern me. Troy in all likelihood is a loss either way, as is, Ark St and ULL. The rest of the, depend on venue. IMO.

Ulm was 6-2 in conf last year and beat Arkansas

True, they did beat Arkansas, but how good was Arkansa? The lost to a bad Auburn team and they didn't beat anyone in the SB that they shouldn't. The eye test shows that they more or less out scored many of their opponents versus beating them. They score a lot of points but they give up a lot.

[T-Dog]

It depends on the OOC schedule. Since we currently have the Michigan and McNeese trips, we'll need two more home games to get six. There is an option for a 13th regular season game in 2014 which I could see being a money game. It also depends on who we get from the West Division.

Above .500 would be a success.

[Blackangold4]

Since we currently have the Michigan and McNeese trips

I thought the McNeese contract had been voided?

[TheMoody1]

Since we currently have the Michigan and McNeese trips

I thought the McNeese contract had been voided?

It will most likely be bought out but I don't think it is ofiiicial yet.

[ASUMountaineer]

Let's see how we recruit before making predictions.

Even if we recruit well a .500 season in 2015 should be considered a success. I know that will not be our coaches and players goal, but that should be our fans expectation.

I'm personally looking forward to one more trip through the SoCon. Swansong trips to Sparkletown and G'vegas. These teams are going to be gunning for us even more than usual, should be fun.

I, for one, would be happy with a .500 season in our first "full" go-around in the Belt. It's going to be an interesting trip as we adjust to "new" opponents. In the SOCON we "knew" our opponents very well. Each coach had a pattern and we could at least expect certain things to happen in certain situations.

The first year in the SB will be like playing "new" teams every week.. I can only imagine how mentally exhausting that's going to be for the players and the coaches...

Not to mention that our team speed will not be as much of a factor against teams at the FBS level.

Like I said, .500 would be great... but I'd still not be too surprised if we don't win more than 2-3 Belt games in the first season.

Luckily, Satterfield does have at least some experience with those teams/coaches. It will be interesting to see how the team reacts, for sure.

[Gonzo]

I think our record might really come down to the order of our conference schedule.

The thing that 22 scholarships adds at the mid-major level is depth more than just better players per say. This is why we were beating ECU for 3 quarters and suddenly lost by double digits int he fourth quarter. We have one and two deep rosters that are just as good as any CUSA, AAC, SBC ect's one and two deep, but we then have a steep drop off of kids that do not belong on the field at that level of play.

We could beat any Sun Belt team in any single, isolated game, but when it comes down to a full schedule full of various injuries ect, we're going to have a hard time at first. It's going to take us two years after 2014 to have a full roster of players that were recruited as FBS recruits.

If we start the season against Troy, ULL and other top contenders in the Belt, we might be able to steal a game from one of them. Georgia State and (heaven forbid) Liberty are guaranteed wins. The Stink is 50:50 of course.

I could see us doing as poorly as 3-5 and as well as 5-3.

[AppSt94]

I think our record might really come down to the order of our conference schedule.

The thing that 22 scholarships adds at the mid-major level is depth more than just better players per say. This is why we were beating ECU for 3 quarters and suddenly lost by double digits int he fourth quarter. We have one and two deep rosters that are just as good as any CUSA, AAC, SBC ect's one and two deep, but we then have a steep drop off of kids that do not belong on the field at that level of play.

We could beat any Sun Belt team in any single, isolated game, but when it comes down to a full schedule full of various injuries ect, we're going to have a hard time at first. It's going to take us two years after 2014 to have a full roster of players that were recruited as FBS recruits.




If we start the season against Troy, ULL and other top contenders in the Belt, we might be able to steal a game from one of them. Georgia State and (heaven forbid) Liberty are guaranteed wins. The Stink is 50:50 of course.

I could see us doing as poorly as 3-5 and as well as 5-3.

I would agree with your assessment.

[appmaj]

I would agree with the 3-5 to 5-3 range

[Maddog1956]

...

The thing that 22 scholarships adds at the mid-major level is depth more than just better players per say. This is why we were beating ECU for 3 quarters and suddenly lost by double digits int he fourth quarter. We have one and two deep rosters that are just as good as any CUSA, AAC, SBC ect's one and two deep, but we then have a steep drop off of kids that do not belong on the field at that level of play.

I could see us doing as poorly as 3-5 and as well as 5-3...

I would agree about the 3-5 or 5-3 and would think that either would be a good start. Fans do have to be realistic.

Depth is a problem when we play up, but the first ECU game lost was due to not playing Cadet until it was too late and then he had a brain fart on the last TD play. The second lost was due to using their replacement referee's (sorry but this is one case I think that was true).

But depth has always been a problem playing up which should be handled by the extra players.