From HowlRaiser on CSNbbs website: Pretty good short summaries of each week.
Match Ups, Game Times, Analysis, Broadcast and Vegas Odds for Every Game in the Sun Belt
Have you ever attempted to execute the break for a game of billiards only to see the triangle of balls barely budge – stripes and solids bunched together with no way to break them free but to smash the cue ball right back into the mass? That’s the Sun Belt, with seven one-loss teams and one no loss team vying for top position. Week 10 is the proverbial cue ball, providing space for true contenders to operate!
SUN BELT ON BYE: Arkansas State, James Madison, Southern Miss
Tuesday, October 29
Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (6-1) @ Texas State Bobcats (4-3), 6:30 PM CST, ESPN2, -3.5 Bobs
Since gaining a better-than-fair-share of preseason College Football Playoffs buzz, the Bobcats have been frustratingly inconsistent, failing to close out important games against Arizona State and Sam Houston while pounding UTSA and Arkansas State. Meanwhile, the Cajuns have performed to the expectations set for Texas State, with only a hard loss to Tulane besmirching an otherwise flawless effort. Louisiana’s Ben Wooldrige doesn’t receive the same accolades as Texas State’s Jordan McCloud, but the 150-year-old veteran is performing every it as well as the SBC preseason offensive player of the year, with the two neck-and-neck Sun Belt statistical leaders.
THE PICK: Cajuns just too stone-cold to be fazed by the Bobcats
Friday, November 1
Georgia State Panthers (2-5) @ UConn Huskies (5-3), 6:00 PM CST, CBS Sports Network, -7.5 Huskies
Call it the Commodore Cure. The Panthers have lost four straight since its program-defining win over Vanderbilt in Week 3, the latest a bruising donnybrook in Boone. We’re not sure if the competition gets any easier against UConn, who lost by a total of 8 points to Duke and Wake Forrest while compiling solid victories over Temple, Rice, and FAU. Dell McGee has done a fine job in his first year at Georgia State, and perhaps Zach Gibson is the right man to lead the huddle. The book on Gibson may be written or closed based on his road performance against the Huskies.
THE PICK: Seems like the kind of game where the Panthers surprise
Saturday, November 2
Old Dominion Monarchs (4-4) @ Appalachian State Mountaineers (3-4), 1:30 PM CST, ESPN+, -2.5 Monarchs
After the OOC (mostly) ran its course, would you have tabbed the Monarchs as the Sun Belt East leader heading into Week 10? Probably not! But that was before the nation contracted a bad case of Colton Joseph fever. Since assuming the huddle in place of Grant Wilson, the freshman QB has amassed 13 total touchdowns and has totally changed the outlook of the Monarchs, winners of three straight. Does the magic continue in Boone? The Mountaineers are struggle-bussing through the schedule, but they are enjoying the glow of victory after dispatching Georgia State on Saturday.
THE PICK: The Monarchs might very well be the kings of the SBC East
ULM Warhawks (5-2) @ Marshall Thundering Herd (4-3), 2:30 PM CST, ESPN+, -10.5 Herd
Is the Magic Victory Tour for the Warhawks over? The schedule only gets tougher for ULM, who emerges from a definitive thumping by South Alabama to visit a Thundering Herd team surging behind mega-running back AJ Turner. Offense continues to be a challenge for ULM, who hit 17 points in the first half at Mobile and then called it a day. Quarterback Aiden Armenta is still working the newness out, but freshman running back Ahmad Hardy is coming off a 104 yard performance. But if the Herd can score more than 21 points, Marshall is very much likely to chalk up the home win.
THE PICK: The Herd can score more than 21 points on ULM
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (4-3) @ Troy Trojans (1-7), 3:00 PM CST, ESPN+, -4.5 Chants
What do we make of Ethan Vasko at the Chanticleers? Early in the season, Coastal Carolina seemed ready to return to teal glory. But since starting the season 3-0, Coastal has lost three of four, with none of those losses looking particularly competitive. Vasko simply hasn’t maintained the energy he displayed earlier in the season. Troy, though 1-7, seems to be finding some identity behind its running back tandem of Gerald Green and Damien Taylor. Do they and a home field advantage pose enough danger to upend the Chants?
THE PICK: Chants finally wake up
Georgia Southern Eagles (5-3) @ South Alabama Jaguars (4-4), 6:30 PM CST, ESPNU, -6.5 USA
Before running into the Monarch Weirdsaw, the Eagles had won five of six and looked ready to run away with the Sun Belt East. Loss aside, JC French is still having a fine season in Statesboro (1,790 yards, 12 passing TDS) and WR Derwin Burgess has proven himself a dangerous receiver. However, after starting the season with its trademark sluggishness, the Jaguars have rolled their last two games, pounding Troy and ULM into meek submission. The winner of this game reasserts their program as legit divisional contenders. The loser begins pricing tickets and hotel rates for the New Mexico Bowl.
THE PICK: That Jags defense shows up again