Florida International went 1-26 during a stretch between 2006 and 2008. That\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
Sun Belt 2012-2013 College Football Previews: Florida International
\nHead Coach: Mario Cristobal
\n2011 Record: 8-5
\nFIU Gambling Odds from JustBet to win BCS Championship: (Part of Field) +1,800
\nFIU Gambling Odds from 5Dimes to win Sun Belt: +235<\/strong>
\nFIU Team Page \u2013 Players Stats \u2013 Roster \u2013 2012 Schedule \u2013><\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nCristobal is likely destined for a big-time BCS job in the near future, but Florida International still has a hold of this impressive coach for now.<\/p>\n
Florida International will make a big jump to Conference USA next season. The team wants to leave a mark on the Sun Belt Conference in their final year. After winning the Sun Belt two years ago, the team was actually disappointed with eight victories a year ago. The goals are now higher at Florida International. The team goes into the 2012 season as the favorite in the Sun Belt.<\/p>\n
Team Strengths:<\/h3>\n
No team in the Sun Belt can match Florida International\u2019s depth on the defensive line. The Golden Panthers led the Sun Belt in sacks a year ago, and they should do the same this season. Tourek Williams had 13 tackles for loss a year ago, and he looks like a guy who could be playing on Sunday in the future. Isame Faciane is a force in the middle of the defensive front, and he\u2019ll command double-teams this year.<\/p>\n
Winston Fraser leads a terrific group of linebackers. Fraser is this team\u2019s defensive MVP. He led the team in tackles with 108 last year. The coaching staff sees Fraser as a real coach on the field because of his smarts and knowledge of their defenses. Jordan Hunt starred at another linebacker spot last year, and he should be great again in 2012.<\/p>\n
Florida International trains all their offensive linemen each position on the line, which I think is a great idea at this level. This team has eight or nine guys who are fully capable of playing every position on the offensive front. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n
Team Weaknesses:<\/h3>\n
The quarterback spot is the biggest question mark heading into the 2012 season. Jake Medlock appears to be the starter, but there is absolutely no experience behind him. Medlock was hurt part of the year in 2011, and he doesn\u2019t have the kind of experience that the coaching staff would like. Can the Golden Panthers get consistent play from this position?<\/p>\n
Losing T.Y. Hilton will really hurt this team\u2019s play making ability on offense. He was the best game breaker in the conference, and there simply isn\u2019t anyone on this roster who is ready to step in and produce the way he has the past few years.<\/p>\n
2012-2013 FIU Golden Panthers Football Prediction: 10-3<\/h3>\n
Florida International has the best defense in the Sun Belt by a mile. That defense should carry the team to quite a few victories in the season ahead. The offense may not win many shootouts, but they likely won\u2019t have to with this terrific defensive unit. It\u2019s strange to find a team in this league with so much talent on the defensive side of the ball.<\/p>\n
The game at Louisiana-Lafayette on September 29 will be key, as will the October 4 meeting at home against Arkansas State. Look for a double digit win total from FIU this year. The Golden Panthers should be the best in the Sun Belt.<\/p>\n
2012 FIU Schedule<\/h3>\n
9\/1\/12\t 7:00 PM ET\t @DUKE
\n9\/8\/12\t TBD\tAKR
\n9\/15\/12\t TBD\t @CENFL
\n9\/22\/12\t 7:00 PM ET\tLOU
\n9\/29\/12\t TBD\t @ULLAF
\n10\/4\/12\t 7:30 PM ET\tARKST
\n10\/13\/12\t TBD\tMTENN
\n10\/20\/12\t TBD\t @TROY
\n10\/27\/12\t TBD\tWKEN
\n11\/3\/12\t TBD\t @SALB
\n11\/16\/12\t 8:00 PM ET\t @FLATL
\n11\/24\/12\t TBD\tULMON<\/p>\nGRAB OUR BEST Expert CFB Picks for 2012 NCAA FOOTBALL Betting! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2012-13 Football Previews \u2013 (Sun Belt) \u2013 FIU Golden Panthers Florida International went 1-26 during a stretch between 2006 and 2008. That\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":25483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[44530,55989,49957,55998,51519,51520,6524,51522,51518,55997,51223,50774,16438],"class_list":["post-53676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-2012-sun-belt-conference-football-previews","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-fiu-football","tag-fiu-football-predictions","tag-fiu-gambling-odds","tag-fiu-golden-panthers","tag-fiu-schedule","tag-golden-panthers-bcs-futures","tag-golden-panthers-predictions","tag-sun-belt-conference-football-predictions","tag-sun-belt-conference-odds","tag-sun-belt-conference-picks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53676","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\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53676"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53723,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53676\/revisions\/53723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}