The Sun Belt is one of the fastest rising conferences in college football. Gus Malzahn is the new coach at Arkansas State and Florida International has had a miraculous turnaround with Mario Cristobal.
Western Michigan has been a ton of fun to watch in the past couple years, but the team is looking to put together a few extra wins this year. The team lost a 66-63 shootout to Toledo on national television last year. They then lost a heart breaking 37-32 decision to Purdue in the Motor City Bowl. There’s plenty of returning talent for this team to make a serious run at the MAC title in 2012.
Virginia Tech has simply been one of the most consistent programs of the past decade and a half of college football. The Hokies are all about coaching continuity; head coach Frank Beamer has been at the helm for over 25 years (the 2012 campaign marks his 26th season holding the clipboard in Blacksburg); offensive co-ordinator Bryan Stinespring is in his 20th year on the staff and “D”
co-ordinator Bud Foster has held that position since 1995.
2012-13 Football Previews – Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) – North Carolina (NC) State Wolfpack
It has been a long road of incremental steps for the Wolfpack during head coach Tom O’Brien’s tenure. Injuries, flirtations from the baseball diamond and transfers have seen a lot of NC State’s best talent squandered; it also must compete every year with a cross-state rival Tar Heels squad that reels in a lot of the best recruits in the state.
You might be surprised to learn that Northern Illinois has the longest current winning streak in all of FBS football right now. Northern Illinois has won nine straight games heading into this season. The Huskies won the MAC Championship and their bowl game in Dave Doeren’s first season as their coach.
Darrell Hazzell took the Kent State job before last season, and the team proceeded to start 0-6 against FBS competitors. In those six games, the Golden Flashes averaged a pathetic 7 points per game on the offensive end. By the end of the year, the Golden Flashes had a 5-7 record and some momentum heading into the 2012 season.
Ruffin McNeill’s goal was to take Skip Holtz’s success and move it to the next level at East Carolina. In his first two years that hasn’t worked out. The defense has been awful and the offense has been one-dimensional. The Pirates have gone 5-7 in consecutive seasons, and the fan base expects more.
The Ohio Bobcats won the first bowl game in the team’s history last year. It’s hard to imagine that this team hadn’t won a bowl game before, but Frank Solich really has things looking up at Ohio. The Bobcats were the class of the Mid-American Conference last year, and the oddsmakers have them listed as the favorite again this season.
Toledo has had a very nice little run of late in the MAC. The Rockets saw their head coach leave for Illinois at the end of last season. The 32-year-old Matt Campbell takes over the Rockets program this season. Campbell has lots of talent at the skill positions on this roster, but there are plenty of holes to fill as well.
Bowling Green went 2-10 two years, but the team improved to 5-7 in 2011. Bowling Green returns 20 starters, so the expectations for this team are much higher in 2012. Coach Dave Clawson has circled this year as one in which his team can compete for the MAC Championship.
The Miami (Ohio) Redhawks football program has had a rough few years. After tons of success in the early 2000’s, Miami is 17-33 in their last 50 games. Ten of those 17 wins came in 2010 when the team had an amazing Cinderella season. There has been tons of transition in the program with four different coaches in four years.
Tulsa has largely flown under the radar over the last few years, but this is a very successful football program. The Golden Hurricane have won at least 8 games in all but one year since 2005. Bill Blankenship kept the tradition going in his first year with the program in 2011.
June Jones has turned around the SMU program nicely, and now the goals and expectations are much higher for the Mustangs. Texas transfer Garrett Gilbert will be eligible at quarterback at this year, and many people believe the Mustangs should have a powerful offense in 2012.
2012-13 Football Previews – Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) – North Carolina Tar Heels
After NCAA investigations (gosh, aren’t we getting used to hearing that phrase) cost former coach Butch Davis his job in 2011, defensive co-ordinator Everett Withers took over on an interim basis; he was just keeping the seat warm.
Arkansas State won the Sun Belt Conference last season. Hugh Freeze did a brilliant job in his first season as the Red Wolves coach, but Freeze left Jonesboro in the offseason to take over the top job at Ole Miss.
Florida International went 1-26 during a stretch between 2006 and 2008. That’s why it is so impressive that Mario Cristobal has taken this team to the place it is right now. FIU is one of the best in the Sun Belt. The Golden Panthers knocked off Louisville and UCF last year en route to a solid 8-5 year.
