{"id":12476,"date":"2009-08-15T13:45:38","date_gmt":"2009-08-15T18:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=12476"},"modified":"2023-02-07T07:40:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T15:40:30","slug":"sun-belt-conference-2009-ncaa-football-preview-150809","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/cappers\/sun-belt-conference-2009-ncaa-football-preview-150809\/","title":{"rendered":"Marc Lawrence\u2019s 2009 Sun Belt Conference Football Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sun Belt Conference 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW<\/h2>\n
\"Marc<\/a>
Marc Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marc Lawrence \u2022 PLAYBOOK.com<\/p>\n

If the SUN BELT CONFERENCE was a racetrack, they would running low-level claiming races.<\/p>\n

Sure, one or two thoroughbreds surface each season and find their way to a stakes race (read: bowl game), but in sport where breeding is key, the SBC is a league filled with geldings.<\/p>\n

Entering its 33rd season as a conference, the Sun Belt has had a modicum share of success of late.To put itself on a scale with other lightweight conferences, the Sun Belt points out the fact that it is 3-2 in bowl games the last three years and last season swept the MAC, winning all three games in head-to-head battles.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MARC LAWRENCE\u2019S PICKS PAGE @ CAPPERSPICKS.COM \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is my outlook on the SBC for 2009. Returning starters are listed alongside each team\u2019s name (returning QB\u2019s designated with an *).<\/p>\n

Coming up next: the WAC CONFERENCE.<\/p>\n

Enjoy\u2026<\/p>\n

Sun Belt Conference<\/h3>\n

ARKANSAS STATE \u2013 *6 \/ 8
\nTeam Theme \u2013 ROUTE 66<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have to hand it to Steve Roberts. He is not shy when it comes to tackling non-conference opposition. In his 7 years with the Red Wolves, Roberts has taken on the likes of Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia Tech. This year\u2019s itinerary takes them to Nebraska, Iowa and Louisville. They are led by SR QB Corey Leonard (28-19 as a starter), a 2nd team all-SBC selection last season. SR RB Reggie Arnold, a 1st team all-SBC member who has rushed for over 1000 yards each of the last three seasons, complements Leonard in the backfield. The biggest hang-up is a schedule that finds the Red Wolves with 7 road games. They suffered the same plight in 2006 and managed a 6-6 effort. In fact, they have recorded 6-6 seasons three of the last four years. Another tough row to hoe. PLAY AGAINST: vs. Louisville (10\/31)<\/p>\n

FLORIDA ATLANTIC \u2013 *6 \/ 4
\nTeam Theme \u2013 PROFESSIONAL RUSTOLEUM <\/strong><\/p>\n

After building this program from scratch, Howard Schnellenberger is enjoying the fruits of his labor. The Owls celebrate back-to-back bowl victories – the only SBC team to ever do so – with a new stadium in 2009. Here\u2019s hoping their new digs will help them overcome yet another taxing 7-game road slate (for the 6th straight year). Ironically, life on the road has been good for FAU. Since entering the major college level in 2004, the Owls are 12-5 SU and 10-3 ATS when squaring off against .333 or less opposition (FYI: they are 3-15 SU and 4-13-1 ATS on the road versus greater than .333 opposition). Star SR QB Rusty Smith, with 6912 passing yards and 56 TD\u2019s the last two seasons, will air it out looking to enhance his professional chances against a schedule with only three winning teams, two of whom are right out of the gate. PLAY ON: vs. Middle Tennessee State (10\/31)<\/p>\n

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL \u2013 *9 \/ 5
\nTeam Theme \u2013 CRYSTAL BALL: BOWL GAME<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it. When you are a fledgling program residing in a bottom-tier conference your travel schedule more closely resembles passage via Pony Express than Federal Express. But, the fact of the matter is it\u2019s a pleasure to be aboard. That being the case, FIU will journey out onto the road in four of its first five games in 2009. Amazingly, over the last four years, in their first eight games of the season the Panthers have been on the road 24 of a possible 32 games. It appears to have toughened them. Mario Cristobal\u2019s young bunch enters this campaign with wins in five of the final nine games last season. FYI: FIU had won only one of its previous twenty-six games! With 14 starters back, including 1st team Freshman All American WR\/KR T.Y. Hilton, the spring press guide said it all\u2026 Postseason: None Yet. PLAY ON: as a dog vs. Florida Atlantic (12\/5)<\/p>\n

LA LAFAYETTE \u2013 7 \/ 9
\nTeam Theme \u2013 RICKEY DON\u2019T LOSE THAT NUMBER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lafayette appeared on the way to its best season-ever under head coach Rickey Bustle last year before a 1-3 finish stifled those aspirations. Instead, for the third time in the last four years, they settled on a 6-win season. The Cajuns are a well-coached team. That\u2019s confirmed by the fact that Lafayette has been the least penalized team in the Sun Belt Conference during Bustle\u2019s tenure. Rickey\u2019s skills will be put to the test in 2009 when his team takes the field minus the services of the SBC\u2019s Offensive Players of the Year in QB Michael Desormeaux and RB Tyrell Fenroy. As a result, Bustle will be forced to rely his TNT (Tackles and Turnovers) defense, one that returns 9 starters. Suddenly, another 6-win season is looking pretty good. PLAY AGAINST: vs. Louisiana Monroe (11\/21)<\/p>\n

LA MONROE \u2013 7 \/ 7
\nTeam Theme \u2013 WEATHERING THE STORM<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a new look and attitude in Monroe and it can\u2019t get here soon enough. The promise to break through to the winning side didn\u2019t materialize last season. It wasn\u2019t even close. As a result, Charlie Weatherbie brought in a new defensive coordinator, Troy Reffett. The Warhawks have switched to a 3-3-5 defense to better utilize the athletes they have on that side of the ball. Offensively, 6\u2019 5\u201d JR QB Trey Revell is the leading candidate to replace Kinsmon Lancaster, a three-year starter.\"\"<\/a> Revell played in 9 games last year and 5 games in his freshman campaign. Well respected in coaching-circles, Weatherbie has tutored the likes of Paul Johnson, Gary Patterson and Jim Zorn. When asked if he is an \u201coffensive-minded\u201d or \u201cdefensive-minded\u201d coach, Weatherbie said, \u201cI\u2019m a win-minded coach.\u201d We\u2019re waiting. PASS<\/p>\n

MID TENNESSEE STATE \u2013 10 \/ 7
\nTeam Theme \u2013 STOCK UP<\/strong><\/p>\n

Refusing to stand still following a second straight 5-7 campaign, Rick Stockstill added high-profile OC Tony Franklin to his staff this season. Franklin had a brief stint with Auburn last season after masterminding Troy\u2019s offense to back-to-back Sun Belt titles the previous two years. Stockstill\u2019s staff sports 3 national championships, 72 bowl rings and 204 years of experience. Speaking of experience, the Blue Raiders return plenty of it on the playing field in 2009, including their top 8 receivers. Schedule-wise, four of the first five games of the campaign are on the road. After that, MTSU closes out the season against only one winning opponent over the final seven games, five of which are at home. It\u2019s our feeling the home finale will be the game that makes the Raiders bowl-eligible. We\u2019re there. PLAY ON: vs. Arkansas State (11\/21)<\/p>\n

NORTH TEXAS \u2013 *8 \/ 9
\nTeam Theme \u2013 CHAPTER 11<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems like only yesterday that the Eagles ruled the roost in the Sun Belt Conference. No football team in Division-1 football owned a better league record than NTSU when it won four straight championships, going 25-1 from 2001-04. Like the stock market, the bottom has fallen out. \u201cMean\u201d has changed to \u201cLean\u201d for the Green with only five wins in their last 28 league games. Todd Dodge understands he was hired to stop the bleeding, but he has failed to apply a tourniquet. Dodge knows the fans want results, yet he refuses to waver from his game plan. Back-to-back 4000-yard offensive efforts more than doubled the numbers of his predecessors. Unfortunately, his stop-troops have suffered through back-to-back 5000-yard campaigns. It\u2019s numbers like those that have led to federal bailouts. PLAY AGAINST: vs. Western Kentucky (10\/31)<\/p>\n

TROY \u2013 *8 \/ 5
\nTeam Theme \u2013 PAINT IT BLACK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year we pointed out the fact that the Troy team spring prospectus stated, \u201cLarry Blakeney is a winner. Always has been.\u201d It would be hard to refute those words. Blakeney is 144-73-1 in 18 years at Troy, with only four losing seasons. Included in those numbers is a nifty 29-6 mark against teams from the Yellowhammer state. Despite the loss of his offensive coordinator and his top two skill players in QB Omar Haugabook and RB Kenny Cattouse, who had over 4,600 combined total yards the previous year, Troy captured another conference championship last season. Blakeney\u2019s teams just happen to own a better record than any program in the state of Alabama in his tenure. It\u2019s why he was voted into the Alabama Hall of Fame this spring. The bottom line is the man can coach. PLAY AGAINST: vs. Louisiana Monroe (10\/31)<\/p>\n

WESTERN KENTUCKY \u2013 9 \/ 6
\nTeam Theme \u2013 TIGHTEN YOUR BELT, SUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sun Belt Conference Member. Bowl Eligible. Those are the two phrases adorning the Hilltoppers\u2019 media guide this season. David Elson leads his charges with a new feeling of vim, vigor, hope and pride. The season-ending 8-game losing skid last season is history. Unlike last year when Western Kentucky was forced to play five of its first six games on the road, the Hilltoppers will be home for four dates during the first half of the campaign this year. Offensively, Elson\u2019s squad brings nine starters back, including an entire OL that averages 6\u2019 3\u201d and 287 lbs. The defensive line was hit hard by graduation, with all four starters gone. Win, lose or draw, this will be a season to remember for WKU. The company they keep is now for keeps. PLAY AGAINST: vs. South Florida (9\/12)<\/p>\n

Note: <\/strong>Marc Lawrence<\/strong> is a 30-year veteran handicapper. He finished No.1 in the nation (88-63 +25.7 Net Units) in MLB during the 2007 season as documented by Sports Watch in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Comments are Welcome!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

========================================<\/p>\n

Marc Lawrence Has Been Handicapping Sports Professionally Since 1975 – Check Out His Weekly Picks & His DAILY MLB PLAYS Today Here at Capperspicks.com >>><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marc Lawrence from Playbook.com brings us his 2009 Sun Belt Conference football preview and betting predictions. If the SUN BELT CONFERENCE was a racetrack, they would be running low-level claiming races…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[41,312,319,9912,14022,13474,9913,13479,763,16439,16440,16225,16226,16053,16435,16436,16437,16438],"class_list":["post-12476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cappers","tag-41","tag-college-football","tag-college-football-gambling","tag-marc-lawrence","tag-marc-lawrence-cfb-betting-picks","tag-marc-lawrence-handicapping","tag-marc-lawrence-picks","tag-marc-lawrence-predictions","tag-ncaa-football-betting","tag-sbc-predictions","tag-sbc-preview","tag-sec-football-conference","tag-sec-football-conference-football-preview","tag-sun-belt-conference","tag-sun-belt-conference-football","tag-sun-belt-conference-football-picks","tag-sun-belt-conference-football-prediction","tag-sun-belt-conference-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12476"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108488,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12476\/revisions\/108488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}