http://myespn.go.com/blogs/others/0-2-361/Sun-Belt-Conference-review.html

Sun Belt Conference review

December 16, 2008 4:04 PM

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

The Sun Belt season might be deemed disappointing considering just two teams are going to bowl games this season – Troy and Florida Atlantic – but the conference did notch four bowl eligible teams, the most since 2006, and Florida Atlantic became the first 6-6 Sun Belt team to receive an at-large bid.

The competition for the Sun Belt title went down to the wire with the final game between Troy and Arkansas Sate ultimately deciding the league champion. Troy won its first outright conference title and now has won at least a share of the conference championship in each of the past three seasons.

Although Troy won eight games and no other team won more than six, the conference still showed parity with the uprising of Florida International, which won five games, the most since 2005, and only one team – North Texas – finished with fewer than four wins for the first time since the conference started sponsoring football in 2001.

OFFENSIVE MVP

Tyrell Fenroy, RB, Louisiana-Lafayette
Fenroy was 11th in the country in rushing with 226 carries for 1,375 yards and 19 touchdowns. He became just the seventh player in NCAA history with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

DEFENSIVE MVP

Alex Carrington, DE, Arkansas State

Carrington led the Sun Belt with 19 tackles for loss and ranked sixth in the country in the category. He was also 11th in the country with 10.5 sacks. He had at least one sack in seven games.

TURNING POINT
On Oct. 7, Troy starting quarterback Jamie Hampton left the game against Florida Atlantic with a knee injury that would ultimately cause him to miss the rest of the season. Third-string quarterback Levi Brown, a transfer from Richmond, took over the quarterbacking duties and helped lead Troy to its third consecutive eight-win season and first outright Sun Belt championship.

WHAT'S NEXT
Troy returns a lot of its talent from this season, but Florida Atlantic, which came on strong toward the end of the season, will also be a power in the conference. There will be several sleeper teams to watch, too, including Florida International, which returns most of its key players, including receiver T.Y. Hilton, who became the first FIU receiver to catch for more than 1,000 yards. This conference should be much improved from this year.

Jab979 said

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/others/0-2-361/Sun-Belt-Conference-review.html

Sun Belt Conference review

December 16, 2008 4:04 PM

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

The Sun Belt season might be deemed disappointing considering just two teams are going to bowl games this season – Troy and Florida Atlantic – but the conference did notch four bowl eligible teams, the most since 2006, and Florida Atlantic became the first 6-6 Sun Belt team to receive an at-large bid.

The competition for the Sun Belt title went down to the wire with the final game between Troy and Arkansas Sate ultimately deciding the league champion. Troy won its first outright conference title and now has won at least a share of the conference championship in each of the past three seasons.

Although Troy won eight games and no other team won more than six, the conference still showed parity with the uprising of Florida International, which won five games, the most since 2005, and only one team – North Texas – finished with fewer than four wins for the first time since the conference started sponsoring football in 2001.

OFFENSIVE MVP

Tyrell Fenroy, RB, Louisiana-Lafayette
Fenroy was 11th in the country in rushing with 226 carries for 1,375 yards and 19 touchdowns. He became just the seventh player in NCAA history with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

DEFENSIVE MVP

Alex Carrington, DE, Arkansas State

Carrington led the Sun Belt with 19 tackles for loss and ranked sixth in the country in the category. He was also 11th in the country with 10.5 sacks. He had at least one sack in seven games.

TURNING POINT
On Oct. 7, Troy starting quarterback Jamie Hampton left the game against Florida Atlantic with a knee injury that would ultimately cause him to miss the rest of the season. Third-string quarterback Levi Brown, a transfer from Richmond, took over the quarterbacking duties and helped lead Troy to its third consecutive eight-win season and first outright Sun Belt championship.

WHAT'S NEXT
Troy returns a lot of its talent from this season, but Florida Atlantic, which came on strong toward the end of the season, will also be a power in the conference. There will be several sleeper teams to watch, too, including Florida International, which returns most of its key players, including receiver T.Y. Hilton, who became the first FIU receiver to catch for more than 1,000 yards. This conference should be much improved from this year.

You know, we heard this kind of talk last year and look how we started the season… Although we have learned to win some key games, we still haven't learned to enjoy our victories and our strengths without becoming complacent and screw up… I will wait till our first game of next season to see how strong or not we will be in 2009