10 Reasons South Alabama Will Shake Up the Sun Belt Conference in 2012

South Alabama officially opens it's dress rehearsal for their 2011 debut into Sun Belt Conference football Thursday night when it hosts West Alabama in Mobile.

It's a pretty good bet that the unbeaten Jags are staring down the barrel of at least two losses on this year's schedule, which will be the first setback in the program's brief two-year history.  It comes with the territory of stronger Division I competition.

But next year is really what the Jags have on their radar screen when they start laying the hammer down on SBC competition.

How will they do?  Will reality set in about what D-I competition is all about? Will they be a flop?

Not hardly.

Here are 10 reasons why South Alabama will throw a huge monkey wrench into the the SBC next season: 

No. 10: They're already better than half the teams in the conference

Florida International and Troy, predicted to battle it out for the conference title this year, are without question in the upper echelon of the SBC. 

Louisiana Monroe, Florida Atlantic and the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee are easily the best of the rest.

Which brings us to the bottom part of the league: North Texas, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State and Louisiana Lafayette.  U.S.A. would have a 4-0 record against them all right now. 

No. 9: The Gulf of Mexico

Hell of a recruiting tool, huh?  Take a kid down to Dauphin Island or Gulf Shores on his recruiting visit and he'll be tweeting half his high school team to come on down too. 

No. 8: Facilities

When U.S.A. Athletic Director Emeritus Joe Gottfried went to ex-U.S.A. President Fred Whiddon years ago about bringing major-college football to the school, he insisted that in order to be successful the facilities had to be second to none. 

Trust me, they are.  Recruits know it and love it too. 

No. 7: Dr. Joel Erdman, Ph.D.

The third-year athletic director is no joke.  He smiles and glad-hands a lot, but he's a quiet assassin whose looking to make his mark among big time AD's nationwide.

He is also committed to carrying out Gottfried's vision of a big-time college program very soon. 

No. 6: Defensive Coordinator Bill Clark

If you ever invite him over to dinner, be prepared to talk about blitzes, tackles dropping into pass coverage and everybody on defense meeting at the quarterback. 

His players love him because he trusts them and lets them loose like wild attack dogs. 

No. 5: Gwen ("Ms. Gwen") Williams, Media Relations Secretary

 Hey, if you don't know her, don't laugh.  She epitomizes the quiet killer attitude of the entire football team. 

For such a sweet woman, she can be truly scary, especially on game day. Try to get by her without a legit credential if you dare. 

No. 4: Dr. Gordon Moulton, USA President

He's completely bought into the idea that football drives so many of U.S.A.'s other sports entities.

No. 3: The Players

They want to be known for themselves. They're good and they want everybody to know it.

No. 2: Head Coach Joey Jones

 It's kind of easy, yet hard at the same time, to figure out Jones' mentality and approach to where he wants to take the Jags. 

When he speaks, he says ALL the right things.  Still, when you look in his eyes you see that he wants to kick somebody's ass every day, for real. 

No. 1: It's Alabama

Don't look now, but the big-time athletes that don't go to 'Bama, Auburn or completely out of state will soon see each other in either a Troy State uniform or South Alabama gear. 

Let the rivalry begin!