2018 Sun Belt football coaches' predicted order of finish
Predicted championship game winner: Arkansas State
Team (first-place votes);points
West Division
1. Arkansas State (9);49 pts
2. Louisiana-Monroe;37 pts
In 2017, the Warhawks were 25th in the NCAA with 33.9 points per game but 125th in scoring defense at 41 points allowed per game.
Junior quarterback Caleb Evans returns (second-team preseason All-Sun Belt), but Coach Matt Viator has put his focus on the defense to improve from a 4-8 season.
"Depth-wise has to be better," said Viator, 54. "We have to get better as a unit, from tackling to getting pressure on the quarterback. Really, I believe we have the players that can get it done."
3. South Alabama (1);26 pts
Former University of Central Arkansas coach Steve Campbell is entering his first season at South Alabama, but the Jaguars earned one first-place vote in the West Division.
The Sun Belt head coaches vote on the predicted order of finish, and they can vote for their team.
"I got a good idea who it was," said Campbell, 52, who went 33-15 in four seasons at UCA, leading them to an undefeated Southland Conference title in 2017. "I go, 'Well, in the other league, we didn't vote for our self.' They said, 'Yeah, you can vote for yourself here.' I go, 'Well, I'm supposed to vote for ourselves second or fifth or what? No.' So, I got a good idea where that one came from. I have a hard time voting for, 'Oh, we're going to be fourth.' I wouldn't be able to sleep at night."
4. Louisiana-Lafayette;25 pts
Louisiana-Lafayette hired Billy Napier less than two weeks after it fired former Coach Mark Hudspeth, who missed out on a bowl for the second time in three seasons.
Napier, 39, spent last season as the offensive coordinator at Arizona State, and he previously had coached under Nick Saban at Alabama and Dabo Swinney at Clemson.
He won national championships at Alabama in 2011 as an offensive analyst and in 2015 as a wide receivers coach.
"I'm a conglomeration of every one of those guys," Napier said.
Louisiana-Lafayette went 5-7 in 2017, and Napier said it has a shorthanded roster and does not yet have a starting quarterback.
5. Texas State;13 pts
Texas State faced 23 mph winds in its 30-12 loss at Arkansas State last year, and third-year head Coach Everett Withers hopes to avoid more blow back after consecutive 2-10 seasons.
"I'm not going to sit up here and say how many games we're going to win," said Withers, 55. "We'll be a better team, and hopefully that means more wins."
Withers said true sophomore Willie Jones is the lead quarterback going into fall camp. Jones was 18-of-37 passing for 281 yards and an interception in 2017.
East Division
1. Appalachian State (6);46 pts
The Mountaineers are predicted to face Arkansas State in the inaugural Sun Belt championship game.
The two programs shared the conference title in 2016, when the Red Wolves went 8-5 and beat Central Florida 31-13 in the Cure Bowl. The Sun Belt title was shared nine times in the conference's 17-year history.
"I'm actually excited. Somebody can actually say they're the champions," said Appalachian State senior running back Jalin Moore, who was named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team. "There's no co-champion and all that. We were talking about it in my younger years: What's this 'co' thing?"
Arkansas State and Appalachian State are scheduled to play in Jonesboro on Tuesday, Oct. 9, on ESPN2. It is their first meeting since 2015, when ASU won 40-27 on its way to its fifth conference championship.
"We could play on Sunday," Moore said. "It don't matter to me. I'm just ready to play ball."
2. Troy (4);44 pts
Neal Brown said his team is using its 24-21 victory last season over No. 25 LSU to boost its profile.
Even though the Trojans lost their next game 19-8 to South Alabama, which kept Troy from an outright Sun Belt conference title, the fourth-year head coach said he noticed the LSU victory caused significant changes in the offseason.
"You can't put it into one answer," said Brown, 38. "It came down to branding. Our applications are up, season tickets are up, recruiting is up. I think all of it goes back to that game. I really do."
3. Georgia State;26 pts
The Panthers went 10-39 in the four seasons that preceded second-year head Coach Shawn Elliott, who led Georgia State to its first winning season at the FBS level and a 27-17 victory over Western Kentucky in the Cure Bowl last year.
"People are talking about it," said Elliott, 45, who spent the previous six seasons as an offensive assistant at South Carolina. "I remember at a restaurant, the hostess came out and said, 'That was a great game.' I'm in Tallahassee, Fla. Before that, nobody knows who Georgia State is. And it happens again and again."
Elliott hopes the momentum will transform the game-day environment at home.
Before the 2017 season, Georgia State transformed the Atlanta Braves' former home stadium, Turner Field, into a 25,000-seat football facility.
4. Georgia Southern;22 pts
Chad Lunsford said last season "was not up to the standards of expectations" at Georgia Southern.
The Eagles only two victories in a 2-10 season included a 52-0 pummeling of South Alabama.
Lunsford, 41, became the interim coach after an 0-6 start, and he was given the full-time job after two consecutive victories.
5. Coastal Carolina;12 pts
Head Coach Joe Moglia has returned after taking a medical sabbatical last season to take care of an allergic reaction in his lungs. Coastal Carolina finished 3-9.
The former CEO of TD Ameritrade was asked whether he had a new outlook on life.
"Remember, I wasn't dead," said Moglia, 69, who was born in Manhattan. "I wasn't dying. I grew up in a gang area. Immigrant parents. Two of my best friends got killed while I was in high school. One died of a drug overdose, one was killed by the police, robbing a liquor store. My father sold bananas and apples in the Bronx. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had two careers. Both of which I really loved. I never have taken that for granted. For me, starting this season is the same perspective."
Sports on 07/24/2018