Arkansas State Conference Champs Again in 2012

Arkansas State claims the title for the second time in a row

Arkansas State Red Wolves claimed victory once again, this time under their new head coach Gus Malzhan .

2012 SBC Champs - Arkansas State 

Playing a game against a defecting SBC member for the conference title, Arkansas State did indeed prove to Middle Tennessee who rules. The Red Wolves denied Middle Tennessee a chance to even try. Instead the Red Wolves sent them on their way to their new conference.

Ryan Aplin was a big star in Saturday conference title game in Jonesboro, he broke his own Arkansas State record for passing touchdowns in a season and the Red Wolves captured their second straight Sun Belt Conference championship with a 45-0 victory over Middle Tennessee on Saturday.

Aplin completed 19 of 21 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns -- giving him 22 TDs to break the mark of 21 he set last season. Arkansas State (9-3, 7-1) and Middle Tennessee (8-4, 6-2) came into the game tied for first place in the conference.

David Oku rushed for 102 yards and a TD for the Red Wolves, giving him 1,024 yards for the season. Arkansas State, which won its seventh straight, had 512 yards of offense to just 203 for the Blue Raiders.

Maybe Middle Tennessee was still on their conference switch high, or maybe Arkansas State said just leave….lol. Go Red Wolves!

The best of the best brought home wins on Saturday as Sun Belt Conference Football comes to an end for 2012

What a season for the Sun Belt Conference? 

With the 2012 College Football Season coming to an end for the Sun Belt Conference and only one week left to go, many of the Sun Belt teams did what they needed to do to capture bowls invitations this post season.  For two teams they will be departing the SBC for C-USA, they played their last SBC games on Saturday.

There is one more week left for SBC football, with the biggest SBC game being in Jonesboro, Arkansas at Arkansas State against Middle Tennessee for the conference title. Arkansas State switch coaches after capturing the conference title last season, and brought in former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn as their head coach, and certainly he has proven that he can be a head coach. Arkansas State is in the running for the SBC Championship once again for the second time in a row. WOW!  Middle Tennessee made a surprise turn around to rise to the top of the conference and they are also in the hunt for the SBC title.  The title game will be held at 2:00pm in Jonesboro, AR this will be a game worth watching and attending. Both teams are sitting at 8-3 for the season and both have a well qualified bowl berth.

When I look back over this season I look at it as the best season ever for the Sun Belt Conference. I also believe that the Sun Belt has proven to be a very competitive non-AQ conference. Several teams have defeated BCS conference teams and two of them in the number one conference in college football.

I give that credit to UL-Monroe, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee.

I want to especially congratulate UL-Monroe Warhawks and Head Coach Todd Berry for what they have done with the program in Monroe, LA. WOW, the staff and players have really come together to turn this program around and turn it into a winning program. The Warhawks are at their best record since being in the FBS.  They should also get a bowl invitation in this post season. They defeated then No.6 Arkansas in their first game of the season, and the second week they nearly defeated their second SEC team at Auburn in overtime. Not only did they give the SEC teams a run for their money but they gave Baylor of the Big 12 a run for their money as well in Monroe, LA.  ULM is my most improved team in the Sun Belt Conference in 2012.

Western Kentucky has maintain a second straight season of a winning program. They ended their 2012 season on Saturday with a 1-point victory over North Texas defeating the Mean Green 25-24 to improve their record to 7-5 for the 2012 season. I have to give it to coach Willie Taggert for keeping a positive team that he improved since arriving in Bowling Green, KY. For the second straight season they have reach a bowl berth. However, last season they was not invited to a bowl, which they should have. This season may be different as I hope and think they will be in a bowl game this post season.  

South Alabama is the newest team to the SBC conference in 2012. And they have proven that they are ready for the big boy game, having played 12 games thus far and winning (2) of those games. They didn’t produce the record they desired, but they put forth the efforts in every angle. They played a great game at Mississippi State and stayed within the spread. They also traveled to NC State for the second time in a row. Now that they have gotten their feet super wet, the real ball begins in this offseason in recruiting and practicing for what is to come in 2013. Before they go into the offseason, they will travel to Hawaii for their 13^th game, which they say they are treating as their bowl game. With the performance of Hawaii this season, South Alabama Jaguars may be able to produce a win in Hawaii over a Mountain West Conference team before it’s all over. I want to give credit to QB Ross Metheny the Virginia transfer that came in and took over the starting QB job for the JAGS, he really did a great job this season. Also I give credit to C.J. Bennett for bringing the team to this level of play. I also want to credit to Jake Johnson a NFL prospect and B.J. Scott for a great job they have done for the Jaguars.

Florida Atlantic has done a great job under their new head coach Carl Pelini. The Owls have produced three wins this season. They captured 2 conference wins this season, it shows improvement. The OWLS also took Sun Belt Conference new member South Alabama into overtime, before losing that close game. Next season I think they will be more competitive under Carl Pelini and his staff.

Troy improved their season, but not enough to get back to the top of the Sun Belt and reach that bowl berth.  The Trojans lost a close game to Middle Tennessee on Saturday to get that bowl berth. The Trojans are sitting at 5-7 for the 2012 season.  Troy also played great games against Mississippi State and Tennessee, nearly defeating both. When Navy came to town, the Trojans showed no mercy has they defeated Navy 41-31 to inch closer to a bowl berth.

Let us not forget that the Blue Raiders went to Atlanta and defeated ACC - Georgia Tech with a commanding turndown. WOW!

UL-Lafayette also did it once again. They got that bowl berth and continuing to produce and maintain a winning program. I do expect this team that head coach Mark Hudspeth and staff has put together to rise to the top of the Sun Belt Conference. They turn away South Alabama to get that bowl invitation on last night from R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl scheduled for Dec. 22, 2012. WOW! 

North Texas & Florida International is off to the C-USA now that their era in the Sun Belt Conference is over as of Saturday. Both teams were defeated and were sent away with losing seasons. Florida International was the team to beat in the pre-season with projections nationwide to win the conference title before they depart. Other teams in the Sun Belt Conference showed them otherwise. North Texas also was looking to improve and get to a bowl berth this season before exiting the Sun Belt Conference but those hopes faded quickly.

Here is a quick look at the scores on Saturday:

South Alabama   - 30

@ UL-Lafayette    - 52

North Texas  - 24

@ Western Kentucky - 25

Troy  - 21

@ Middle Tennessee - 24

UL-Monroe – 23

@ FIU – 17 (FINAL OT)

Next Saturday will be the final week of SBC football and the conference title game in Jonesboro, AR. Here is a look at this week schedule as the season comes to a close.

South Alabama

@ Hawaii

UL-Lafayette

@ Florida Atlantic

Middle Tennessee

@ Arkansas State (Conference Title GAME)  2:00pm

UL-Lafayette invited to the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl again

The Ragin Cajuns is on their way once again to the 

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns 

With Saturday’s win over South Alabama at Cajun Field, the Ragin’ Cajuns football team locked up a winning mark for the second straight season.

During the postgame celebration, the team picked up its second straight trip to New Orleans for a postseason bowl game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (7-4, 5-2 Sun Belt) were extended an invitation for a repeat trip to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, by Jay Cicero, the president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Commission moments after the final horn sounded in the 52-30 win over South Alabama on Senior Day.

“Coach Hudspeth, Dr. Savoie and members of the Ragin’ Cajuns football team, on behalf of the Greater New Orleans Sports Commission and the New Orleans Bowl committee, I would like to formally invite you to participate in the 2012 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl,” Cicero said.

Louisiana president Dr. Joseph Savoie, Director of Athletics Scott Farmer and head coach Mark Hudspeth accepted the New Orleans Bowl’s invitation, signaling the first ever back-to-back bowl bids in school history.

Louisiana is now officially set to return to the site of the program’s first bowl appearance in the modern era where the Ragin’ Cajuns upended San Diego State 32-30 on a Brett Baer 50-yard field goal as time expired on Dec. 17, 2011 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“I couldn’t be happier going back to New Orleans,” Hudspeth said. “It is a testament to the young men on this team that they fought through the adversity and injuries this season and put ourselves in a position to get invited back to New Orleans. We’ve fought hard all season, and it’s nice to see all of that work pay off. Our players and fans couldn’t be happier to be going back to the Big Easy - let’s paint the town red, again.”

Louisiana will face an opponent to be named – at the latest by Sunday, Dec. 2 – on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 11 a.m. inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for the 12th annual R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

Fans are reminded to purchase R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl tickets only through the Ragin’ Cajuns Athletics Department because these purchases help the department continue to establish a history of selling tickets for bowl games. In addition, the athletics department will be allotted the best seats available for the game.

ABOUT THE R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

The New Orleans Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana since 2001. The game was sponsored by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from 2002 to 2004 and was officially called the Wyndham New Orleans Bowl. R+L Carriers replaced Wyndham as the sponsor in 2006, and thus it became officially known as the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
The game pits a team from Conference USA versus a team from the Sun Belt Conference. From the beginning of the New Orleans Bowl until recently that automatically went to the Sun Belt champion, but since the conference earned a second bid, to the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in 2010, the bowl is required to take the SBC champion only twice every four years. If Conference USA does not have enough bowl eligible teams the bowl will choose an at-large team, which they did in 2011 when Mountain West Conference member San Diego State was picked to play.

Congratulations to UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns for another great season and bowl bid.