Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and The Sun Belt: Hardly A Loss

A common occurrence among college football fans is the discussion regarding the best conferences in football. Whether you're an SEC guy, Big 12 man, or Pac-10 fan, you, the fan, know who's best.

But what happens if you're a fan of a smaller conference? Say the Sun Belt?

You know you're not close to being the best, but are you truly the worst?

Many people emphatically will choose yes, but perception is not reality.

Perception: I've never heard of these schools, and my favorite teams beat these guys up all the time.

Reality: The conference started playing 1-A, FBS football in 2001. It's impossible to expect to catch up to 100 years of tradition in only 10 years. Furthermore, some of these schools are even less experienced in their FBS history.

Perception: These guys can't beat anyone.

Reality: Some notable wins for the Sun Belt include: Alabama, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kansas State, Central Michigan, Memphis, Rice, Akron, Minnesota, and Texas A&M. So, they've beaten BCS qualifiers and non-BCS teams as well.

Perception: Who comes from the Sun Belt?

Reality: DeMarcus Ware, Osi Umenyiora, Jake Dellhome, Leodis McKelvin, Kelley Holcomb, Brandon Stokley, Ike Taylor, Charles Tillman, and Mean Joe Green...just to name a few.

So let's look at each Sun Belt Squad and see if this conference has truly proven its perception as the worst around.

Middle Tennessee:

The Blue Raiders were underdogs the first three weeks of the college football season. What did they do? They won two of the three, thrashing Memphis and beating Maryland on the road. Clemson is the only team to beat the Blue Raiders this season. Two impressive wins for the conference already.

Louisiana-Monroe:

The Warhawks, formerly known as the Indians, are 2-2 with loses to Arizona State and Texas. Their wins came against Texas Southern (FCS) and Florida Atlantic, a Sun Belt squad, on the road. A neutral judgement for the Warhawks.

Troy:

Troy has been the banner squad for the Sun Belt. They've beaten ranked squads as well as played tough with teams such as Ohio State and LSU just last season. This year, Troy has defeated UAB and Alcorn State. An opening season loss to Bowling Green was shocking because the Trojans were favored to win the game. Troy's other loss came at Florida.

Troy's decision to play bigger squads have either been feast or famine for the conference.

Louisiana-Lafayette:

The Ragin' Cajuns have beaten Kansas State and Southern University this year. Their two loses have come to LSU and Nebraska, certainly acceptable when considering their opponents.

Florida International:

The Golden Panthers were once the laughing stock of the league, but times have changed. The team is 0-3, but they've played tough with all of their opponents. Losses to Alabama, Rutgers, and Toledo have been close but losses nonetheless.

Western Kentucky:

The worst thing about the Hilltoppers, is that this is their first full season in Division 1-A. WKU has yet to win a game, but they played tough against Navy following a disappointing Central Arkansas (FCS) defeat. It's not going to be as easy as Hilltopper fans had expected to make the leap to major college football.

Arkansas State:

The Red Wolves, formerly Indians as well, have beaten Mississippi Valley State while losing to Troy and Nebraska. Nebraska has feasted on Sun Belt squads, including the Red Wolves.

North Texas:

The Mean Green (Eagles) defeated Ball State as an underdog, and they put Ohio into double overtime before falling as the result of a personal foul call. North Texas has certainly improved from a one-win team from 2008.

Florida Atlantic:

The Owls are currently on a two-game bowl winning streak. They defeated Memphis in 2007's New Orleans Bowl and upset Central Michigan in the 2008 Motor City Bowl. This year's squad has lost to South Carolina, Nebraska, and Louisiana-Monroe. FAU is another team that can increase the conference's reputation with a less demanding schedule.

Overall, the Sun Belt has done more for their reputation than in previous years. The league has two BCS wins as well as an undefeated record against the CUSA. The league has also created secondary bowl tie-ins for the St. Petersburg, Independence, Papajohns.com, and Motor City Bowl.

The Sun Belt conference has moved from body bag game to trap game. It's not where you'd want your conference to stay, but it is does show much improvement in such a young league.