Predicting Future Cross Divisional Rivalry Pairings in the Funbelt

Among some of the interesting topics discussed by King Karl today during the Sun Belt Football Media Day, one of the more interesting nuggets was when KK confirmed that come next season when divisional play begins in the league, both Troy and South Alabama will continue to battle one another for "The Belt" despite being destined for separate divisions (USA in the West, Troy in the East). In fact, it was particularly interesting that Benson distinctly mentioned both as "permanent cross divisional rivals."

Nothing more was said regarding the matter, but to me this little quip pretty confirmed that the SBC will see permanent cross divisional rivals; after all, if you're going to have two teams permanently battle one another from different divisions, it would only seem logical to keep everything balanced and give the other members of the #FunBelt their own cross divisional rivals. The question now is who and why?



Fortunately, that's why I'M HERE! On this edition of the Ramblin' Blog, lets take a look at who and why I feel should be cross divisional rivals. Now, to begin let's set some parameters and check out the league geographic map...

Ok, so as stated at the beginning, we have official confirmation that the two bama schools will be each other's cross divisional rivals so we can scratch them off the list. That leaves...

WEST:                                                                                                                                     EAST:

Arkansas State                                                                                                                      App. State

Louisiana Lafayette                                                                                                         CoastalCarolina

ULM                                                                                                                                 Georgia State

Texas State                                                                                                                    Georgia Southern

The first match up that not only seems pretty obvious but one that both fanbases want to see paired and that is Arkansas State vs Appalachian State.

ARKANSAS STATE VS APPALACHIAN STATE

They've only played twice. Both scored surprising and emotional victories on the road. And both are the reigning co-conference champions in the league. Furthermore, both ASU's have been absolutely dominate in league play as Astate has only lost six conference games since 2011 and on the flipside App State has gone an impressive 20-4 since joining the Sunbelt in 2014. Some might argue about "power scheduling" your top teams but considering how some of the biggest complaints about the league was the scheduling (specifically certain teams not playing other teams) this not only quell those criticisms but really legitimizes your conference championship by having the best beat the best for the gold. 

GEORGIA SOUTHERN VS LOUISIANA (..AT LAFAYETTE)..

My next match up would be pairing up Georgia Southern and Louisiana (...AT LAFAYETTE) as permanent cross divisional rivals. They've only played one time since the Eagles joined the league in 2014, but if that first game was indication (both teams combined for nearly 800 total offensive yards not to mention 16 penalties for 167 yards in a close 33-26 victory for the Cajuns) this certainly could quickly turn into a spirited rivalry, especially when you consider the fans of Statesboro and Lafayette who are not only proud of their respective squad but of there cultural background in the regions both universities are located in. 

We're half way there! That leaves Texas State, ULM and the Georgia Schools. You really could probably coin flip and call it a day, but I don't have a coin. So with that said, my next pairing...

TEXAS STATE VS GEORGIA STATE

This one makes sense to me: You have two incredibly large student body programs located in very football hungry states and both came into the league at the same time in 2013. They've battled three times (both missed one another last season as well as this season) with the Bobcats holding a 2-1 edge in the potentially young series. Might not be as potentially strong as the first two match ups we've created, but if both University's marketing and promotional department got behind this (maybe hype it up as the "Battle of the STATES-Georgia vs Texas!) I think this could continue to be a pretty competitive series. 

And finally, that leaves our last two members to square up!

ULM WARHAWKS VS COASTAL CAROLINA CHANTICLEERS

Unlike the other members we've already discussed, both ULM and CCU have never played one another. However, as you can see above both have bird mascots...VERY extravagant bird mascots in Ace the Warhawk and Chauncey the Chanticleer. There are a lot of fun possibilities in term of promotions you could do with both mascots and at least starting off, both squads are on pretty even ground with Matt Viator still trying to rebuild the program in his second season at the helm and Coastal making the big leap from FCS level to FBS Competition. I think this could be a very competitive, evenly match up (again starting off).