Sun Belt Sports Fans

Scores
Tuesday, January 3
Kentucky 73, Arkansas-Little Rock 51
Thursday, January 5
Florida Atlantic 58, Louisiana-Monroe 30
North Texas 78, South Alabama 73 (OT)
Louisiana-Lafayette 72, Western Kentucky 70 (OT)
Denver 53, Arkansas State 50
Middle Tennessee 63, Troy 53
Saturday, January 7
Denver 67, South Alabama 50
Troy 67, Western Kentucky 65
Middle Tennessee 65, Louisiana-Lafayette 53
Louisiana-Monroe 54, Florida International 50
Arkansas-Little Rock 40, Florida Atlantic 38
Arkansas State 75, North Texas 72
The past week was a week for defense in the Sun Belt Conference. One might be inclined to think that a full season – or at least a full month – …

The Sun Belt completed their season over the weekend capping off a season that saw four of nine member schools finish with winning records. Of those four teams the Sun Belt is pleased to send three of them to postseason bowl games. Sun Belt Champion Arkansas State (10-2, 8-0 Sun Belt) will face MAC Champion Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on January 8th in Mobile, Alabama. Louisiana-Lafayette (8-4, 6-2 Sun belt) will make the short trip to New Orleans to face San Diego State in the R+L Carriers New …

MATCHUPS
Louisiana-Monroe at Florida Atlantic
Middle Tennessee at North Texas
Troy at Arkansas State
The headliner in the final week of Sun Belt competition is
the clash between Troy and Arkansas State. What’s so deeply and clearly ironic
about this game is that Troy once ruled the Sun Belt with decisiveness and
totality. The Trojans won three league titles in four seasons from 2006 through
2009, and they technically tied Florida Atlantic in 2007 (although the Owls won
the head-to-head matchup and thereby took the top spot in the league). Now,
Troy is trying to prevent someone else from winning …

SCORES
Western Kentucky 41, Troy 18
Florida International 31, Middle Tennessee 18
Arizona 45, Louisiana-Lafayette 37
Florida Atlantic 38, UAB 35
The top story of week 13 in the Sun Belt Conference, with
league champion Arkansas State idle, emerged from a most unlikely source: The
Florida Atlantic Owls, the last-place team in the league. FAU had suffered
through an absolutely miserable season, going 0-10 and threatening to post the
dreaded 0-12 bagel. Writers and pundits are taught not to cheer from the press
box, but as a human person, it’s never a good story when a team goes through a
football …

The Sun Belt has proven one thing this season – they are a top-heavy conference. In the 9 team conference 5 teams will finish their seasons watching bowl games and 4 will finish bowl eligible. While Arkansas State (9-2) seems locked into the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, the 2011-2012 bowl projections show just two Sun Belt schools making bowl games with Louisiana-Lafayette (8-3) being the second bowl team. That leaves Western Kentucky (6-5) and Florida International (7-4) on the outside looking in for the Sun Belt, the conference that is …

MATCHUPS
Troy at Western Kentucky
Florida International at Middle Tennessee
Louisiana-Lafayette at Arizona
UAB at Florida Atlantic
The headliner in this list of games is Western Kentucky’s
game against Troy. WKU, winner of only two games in 2010 and a 0-12
bagel-bearer in 2009, could clinch a winning (7-5) season if it can take down
the Trojans. The Hilltoppers and head coach Willie Taggart would have much to
celebrate if they can lock down this final triumph.
 
Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

SCORES
Arkansas State 45, Middle Tennessee 19
Troy 34, Florida Atlantic 7
Western Kentucky 31, North Texas 21
Florida International 28, Louisiana-Monroe 17
The top story from week 12 in the Sun Belt Conference was
the crowning of a new and very unexpected champion, the Arkansas State Red Wolves.
The ASU crew came through in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, overcoming a rough middle
patch to close down the league title by putting away Middle Tennessee. The
26-point win over the Blue Raiders wasn’t quite as simple as the point spread
might first suggest, but it was certainly good enough to send the …

MATCHUPS
Arkansas State at Middle Tennessee
Florida Atlantic at Troy
Western Kentucky at North Texas
Florida International at Louisiana-Monroe
The headliner in this list of games is the Arkansas
State-Middle Tennessee game. The Blue Raiders used to be a league contender,
but now they’re just playing spoiler. It seems that the only thing which can
prevent an Arkansas State coronation is… Arkansas State. The Red Wolves can
lose this game if they think their season is over and that they just have to
roll the ball out on the field to win. If ASU plays anywhere close to its
capabilities, a …

SCORES
North Texas 38, Troy 33
Arkansas State 30, Louisiana-Lafayette 21
Louisiana-Monroe 42, Middle Tennessee 14
Florida International 41, Florida Atlantic 7
LSU 42, Western Kentucky 9
The top story from week 11 in the Sun Belt Conference was
the main-event throwdown between Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette for the
league championship. Arkansas State was aiming to take sole possession of the
Sun Belt lead, while Lafayette was hoping to clinch a split title in its final
conference game of the season (ASU still has two Sun Belt games left on its
schedule). If Lafayette had won, the Ragin’ Cajuns would have …

WEEK TEN REVIEW
SCORES
Louisiana-Lafayette 36, Louisiana-Monroe 35
Navy 42, Troy 14
Western Kentucky 10, Florida International 9
Arkansas State 39, Florida Atlantic 21
Tennessee 24, Middle Tennessee 0
The main story from week 10 in the Sun Belt Conference was
the ability of two surprising teams to surprise once more. Arkansas State still
leads the league and has proven to be a revelation in its own right, but while
the Red Wolves easily disposed of a bad Florida Atlantic squad, the headlines
in the Belt were made by the other two teams who have made a splash in this
season marked …