We're just four days away from kicking off week one of what should be yet another exciting scramble that is the race for the Sun Belt Title Race! Even though it's week one, their are plenty of story lines and other aspects to watch for as we bop into first full week of action! Like...

How will the preseason darlings do Thursday against the Tennessee Volunteers?

Many pundits and the league itself has put a mighty amount of stock into the Mountaineers this 2016 season and App State will have the spotlight to make some significant INSTANT noise on the SEC Network when they face the Volunteers. Many college football prognosticators also expect big things from the Vols, with a preseason AP ranking of #9 and also pegged to win the SEC East. It maybe a tall challenge to score the upset in Knoxville (as Scott Satterfield told Boone media "that Tennessee is "further along" than Clemson was at this point last season."). However, I still am anxious to see how much of fight/scare Appalachian State can put into Tennessee, and if they can somehow pull off the upset watch out Sun Belt!

The Jags also have an opportunity to get a big time victory when they travel to take on Mississippi State in Starkville on Saturday the 3rd; the first of two SEC opponents the South Al program will play this season (the other being LSU in November) I dunno if the Jags have it in the tank to pull it off, but lets not forget FCS Jacksonville State darn near did it to Auburn a year ago so anything is possible.

 "Can the Belt Knock Off Peer Universities?"

We've pointed out before the Sun Belt members did rather poorly in non conference games last season (in fact, they were dead last in 2015 in OOC wins). If the 'Belt is ever going to get some respect, they have GOT to start winning these games and week one definently will provide plenty of opportunities to do so;

-Arkansas State will have one more chance to get a win from Toledo after failing to do so last season and in the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl. While the Quarterback situation still hasn't been exactly determined between Justice Hansen and Chad Voytik (Blake Anderson even telling media both QBs playing is seeming more and more likely), the Defense appears extremely stout for the Red Wolves and that (plus being at home) could be the edge Astate needs to get the win

-News from Las Cruces went from bad to incredibly god awfully in matter of days; Starting QB Tyler Rogers was arrested nearly a week ago for battery charges against his girlfriend.   While his status is unknown at this time pending investigation, it is DEFINENTLY safe to say he probably won't play against UTEP. Before that broke out, news also came out that Larry Rose III had "Sports Hernia Surgery" and was questionable against UTEP. 

-Georgia State was one of the few teams that was able to nab an out of conference victory against a fellow G5 member last year when they defeated the Cardinals at Ball State. BSU returns the game to Atlanta and if the Panthers can solve their QB conundrum, they appear to have a great chance at getting the sweep against the Cards.

-Texas State also faces a MAC team when they travel on the road to Athens, Ohio to take on the other Bobcats. This will be a very challenging road game for first year head coach Everett Withers and company as Ohio has been a very consistent performing program over the years under Frank Solich (80 career wins and bowl apperances 6 out of the last 7 seasons).

-The Cajuns have the marquee match up among peer institutes as they host Bryan Harsin and the Boise State Broncos in Lafayette on Friday the 2nd. This is a return game from back in the 2014 season when Boise steam rolled the Cajuns in Boise, 34-9. It'll be curious to see how LSU transfer Anthony Jennings (who was named the Cajuns starter back on the 24th), performs in his first game as a Cajun and against arguably the quintessential program in the Group of Five.

 Neal Brown: Year Two
Despite only winning four games a year ago,
Brown has made an already impressive mark on the Troy program, boasting among the most explosive offenses in the league; they just were unable to stop the other teams from doing the same. While some have Troy pegged to be the surprise team in 2016, the slate is pretty imposing and if they continue to find ways to lose like they did in '15, it will be challenging to get back to 4 wins let alone 6.





Fly Tyson FLY!!! (...and Freedom).
The new hire of Tyson Summers at Georgia
Southern was an interesting one, and while the

Eagles should be able to smash Savannah State
at home, the tune up game should prove beneficial
as they'll immediately jump into conference play
in week two against the Jags.

ULM and Idaho...Please don't lose :(

The Vandals play host to Montana State on Thursday and the last time Idaho played someone from the Big Sky (Eastern Washington in 2011) they lost 20-3. I'll still give a slight benefit of the doubt to Idaho, but then again it wouldn't surprise me if Bobcats send the Vandals a rude future awakening. 

Meanwhile, Matt Viator will also make his head coaching debut as he and the Warhawks will host the Southern Jaguars of the SWAC; While many have ULM pegged to be among the worst in the Belt, ULM should have the better talent over Southern to get the W. Hopefully they won't blow it and enjoy the victory as they will be underdogs for probably the remainder of the season (might be a push against Idaho on October 8th).

The Rise of Coastal

Last but not least, we have the Chanticleers as they begin year one of three of their transitioning to FBS football. Many will call this the throwaway season, as they will be playing as a "FCS Independent" and will be ineligible for the FCS playoffs. Many have taken this irritating route (ask App and Southern fans), and while it maybe hard to get too exciting about Coastal this year, it should still be interesting to watch their progress as they try to make themselves viable in the 'Belt.