22 College Football Thoughts for 2022, No. 18: The Sun Belt is coming out of the expansion moves as one of the biggest surprises
22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
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18. All of a sudden, the Sun Belt has become the cool conference
22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22. College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
The conference has only been doing football since 2001, and it was always the land of the paycheck programs – the ones the big boys scheduled for an easy 55-3 win on Homecoming.
In one of the shockers of the conference realignment changes over the last year, the Sun Belt wasn’t picked off in the expansion run. Instead, it added James Madison from the FCS and snagged Marshall, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion from Conference USA.
It was a battle to see if Conference USA could hold on to the Thundering Herd, the Golden Eagles, and the Monarchs through the football season, but the divorce is final, and those three are getting remarried right away to go along with a fun James Madison program.
How ugly did it get? Both Conference USA and the Sun Belt released their 2022 schedules including those three teams, but the Sun Belt has their teams.
The Sun Belt East will be made up of Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Marshall, and Old Dominion. The West will be Arkansas State, Louisiana, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Texas State, Troy, and ULM.
No, it’s not time for the SEC to start shaking, but it’s an amazing story that the Sun Belt is not only surviving, but it’s getting a whole lot stronger and more entertaining.
22 College Football Thoughts For 2022
22. College football is changing, and it’s okay
21, Texas & Oklahoma, you really want the SEC?
20. SEC is really, really good if you like it or not
19. James Madison, welcome to the show
