2 Sunbelt teams in bowl games

[RaginFan2]

Motor City Bowl
Detroit, MI
Ford Field
December 26, 2006, ESPN
MAC vs. Big Ten No. 7
Bowl Projection:Central Michigan vs. Cincinnati


I surely can't explain it...who can?

Sorry, I typed before I clicked on the link. I also went onto their 119 D1A rankings. Did you look at that??? I couldn't believe it when I saw all 8 SBC teams clumped almost together in the low 100's! Ridiculous! We are one step UNDER E. Michigan, a 1-11 team we beat 33-14! WTF!!! No team lower than 100 had as many as 5 wins except the SBC teams. In fact, no team with at least 6 wins was anywhere close to 100 other than SBC teams.

85. Ball State (5-7)
# Colorado State (4-7)
# Kent State (6-6)
# Air Force (4-7)
# Akron (5-7)
90. Duke (0-12)
# Marshall (5-7)
# Tulane (4-8)
# UCF (4-8)
# Toledo (5-7)
95. UAB (3-9)
# Army (3-8)
# Fresno State (4-7)
# Memphis (2-10)
# Stanford (1-10)
100. UTEP (5-7)
# San Diego State (2-9)
# UNLV (2-10)
# Idaho (4-8)
# Louisiana Tech (3-9)
105. Miami Univ. (2-10)
# Troy (6-5)
# Middle Tennessee (7-5)
# Bowling Green (4-8)
# Eastern Michigan (1-11)
110. UL Lafayette (6-5)
# Arkansas State (6-6)
# Florida Atlantic (5-7)
# New Mexico State (3-8)
# UL Monroe (3-8)
115. North Texas (3-9)
# Buffalo (2-10)
# Temple (1-11)
# Utah State (1-11)
119. FIU (0-11)

[CajunDreDog]

Sorry, I typed before I clicked on the link. I also went onto their 119 D1A rankings. Did you look at that??? I couldn't believe it when I saw all 8 SBC teams clumped almost together in the low 100's! Ridiculous! We are one step UNDER E. Michigan, a 1-11 team we beat 33-14! WTF!!! No team lower than 100 had as many as 5 wins except the SBC teams. In fact, no team with at least 6 wins was anywhere close to 100 other than SBC teams.

106. Troy (6-5)
107. Middle Tennessee (7-5)
110. Louisiana (6-5)
111. Arkansas State (6-6)
112. Florida Atlantic (5-7)
114. UL Monroe (3-8)
115. North Texas (3-9)
119. FIU (0-11)

Yeah, I saw that earlier today. Typical, no respect for the Sunbelt. But hey, who in the SBC really deserves ANY respect besides maybe us for beating Houston? Do we really reserve that respect when we can't beat North Texas at home?

To sum up...we probably won't go bowling! Like Cubs fans always say, there's always next year.

[Arkstfan]

Yeah, I saw that earlier today. Typical, no respect for the Sunbelt. But hey, who in the SBC really deserves ANY respect besides maybe us for beating Houston? Do we really reserve that respect when we can't beat North Texas at home?

To sum up...we probably won't go bowling! Like Cubs fans always say, there's always next year.

Here's the problem with the Sun Belt.
2001. MTSU beats Vandy finishes 8-3 and loses the tiebreaker to an UNT that didn't win a non-conference game.
2002. NMSU beats New Mexico and UTEP and finishes 7-5 and loses the conference to UNT who had only beaten a I-AA team.
2003. UNT beats Baylor but no one else posts a winning record.
2004. Troy beats Marshall and Missouri gives LSU more than they want and plays South Carolina to 10 points and finishes 2 games behind UNT who doesn't win a non-conference game.
2005. The tri-champs go a combined 2-1 vs. I-AA with no I-A non-conference wins. MTSU beats Vandy denying them a bowl berth but they finish 6th.
2006. UL beats Houston and Eastern Michigan, ASU beats Army and Memphis but the likely co-champs go 0-8 vs. I-A non-conference foes.

Now if you can get Mr. Peabody to take the way-back machine and change some results you can get respect.
2001. Have MTSU win the league outright.
2002. Have NMSU win the league.
2004. Have Troy win the league.
2005. Have MTSU win the league.
2006. Have ASU or UL win the league.

With the exception of the 2003 Mean Green the "signature" wins of the conference each year came from teams that failed to win the league.

[Clutch0364]

Here's the problem with the Sun Belt.
2001. MTSU beats Vandy finishes 8-3 and loses the tiebreaker to an UNT that didn't win a non-conference game.
2002. NMSU beats New Mexico and UTEP and finishes 7-5 and loses the conference to UNT who had only beaten a I-AA team.
2003. UNT beats Baylor but no one else posts a winning record.
2004. Troy beats Marshall and Missouri gives LSU more than they want and plays South Carolina to 10 points and finishes 2 games behind UNT who doesn't win a non-conference game.
2005. The tri-champs go a combined 2-1 vs. I-AA with no I-A non-conference wins. MTSU beats Vandy denying them a bowl berth but they finish 6th.
2006. UL beats Houston and Eastern Michigan, ASU beats Army and Memphis but the likely co-champs go 0-8 vs. I-A non-conference foes.

Now if you can get Mr. Peabody to take the way-back machine and change some results you can get respect.
2001. Have MTSU win the league outright.
2002. Have NMSU win the league.
2004. Have Troy win the league.
2005. Have MTSU win the league.
2006. Have ASU or UL win the league.

With the exception of the 2003 Mean Green the "signature" wins of the conference each year came from teams that failed to win the league.

[CajunProud]

But isn't this better than the "Bustle's got rocks in his head" threads that were threatening to take over the RagePage a few short weeks ago?

Damn straight.

[CajunProud]

Here's the problem with the Sun Belt.
2001. MTSU beats Vandy finishes 8-3 and loses the tiebreaker to an UNT that didn't win a non-conference game.
2002. NMSU beats New Mexico and UTEP and finishes 7-5 and loses the conference to UNT who had only beaten a I-AA team.
2003. UNT beats Baylor but no one else posts a winning record.
2004. Troy beats Marshall and Missouri gives LSU more than they want and plays South Carolina to 10 points and finishes 2 games behind UNT who doesn't win a non-conference game.
2005. The tri-champs go a combined 2-1 vs. I-AA with no I-A non-conference wins. MTSU beats Vandy denying them a bowl berth but they finish 6th.
2006. UL beats Houston and Eastern Michigan, ASU beats Army and Memphis but the likely co-champs go 0-8 vs. I-A non-conference foes.

Now if you can get Mr. Peabody to take the way-back machine and change some results you can get respect.
2001. Have MTSU win the league outright.
2002. Have NMSU win the league.
2004. Have Troy win the league.
2005. Have MTSU win the league.
2006. Have ASU or UL win the league.

With the exception of the 2003 Mean Green the "signature" wins of the conference each year came from teams that failed to win the league.

You are absolutely correct. The problem is inconsistency. Until a majority of the SunBelt teams win on a consistent basis, we will continue to be at the bottom of the non BCS conferences.

[CajunDreDog]

SBC bowl chances...

http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=451&p=2&c=557866
http://www.sportsline.com/collegefootball/bowls/predictions
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bowls.htm

[NewsCopy]

Middle Tennessee State will play in the Motor City Bowl on Dec. 26, marking the Blue Raiders’ first ever Division I-A bowl bid. A Sun Belt Conference press release says MTSU has accepted the Motor City Bowl invitation. MTSU Athletic Director Chris Massaro said an official announcement from the Motor City Bowl is expected Sunday. The Blue Raiders (7-5) will play Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan (9-4) at Detroit’s Ford Field on ESPN. MTSU finished as Sun Belt co-champion, as Troy earned a share of the league title with a 26-13 win over Florida International Saturday. Troy will play in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 22 The source of the story By ADAM SPARKS Gannett Tennessee