2012 Sun Belt Conference football season

2012 Sun Belt Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)
Sport	football
Duration	August 30, 2012 - January 6, 2013
Number of teams	10
TV partner(s)	ESPN, CSS/CST
2013 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	S Johnathan Cyprien, FIU
Picked by	Jacksonville Jaguars, 33rd overall
Regular season
Season champions	Arkansas State
Runners-up	Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State
Football seasons
←  2011 2013  →

2012 Sun Belt Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Arkansas State $		7	–	1					10	–	3
Louisiana–Monroe		6	–	2					8	–	5
Middle Tennessee		6	–	2					8	–	4
Louisiana–Lafayette *		4	–	2					5	–	4
Western Kentucky		4	–	4					7	–	6
Troy		3	–	5					5	–	7
North Texas		3	–	5					4	–	8
Florida Atlantic		2	–	6					3	–	9
FIU		2	–	6					3	–	9
South Alabama **		1	–	7					2	–	11
$ – Conference champion * – Louisiana–Lafayette vacated 4 wins due to NCAA violations. ** – South Alabama was ineligible for the conference title or a bowl game as part of their transition to the FBS.

The 2012 Sun Belt Conference football season was the 12th season of college football play for the Sun Belt Conference. The season began August 30, 2012 and concluded January 6, 2013 as part of the 2012-13 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Ten teams participated in the competition: Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, South Alabama, Troy and Western Kentucky.

As part of the 2010-13 NCAA conference realignment, this was Florida Atlantic's and Florida International's final season in the conference before moving to Conference USA in 2013.

South Alabama competed in the Sun Belt for the first time and became the conference's tenth team. Due to NCAA transitional rules, South Alabama was not eligible for a conference championship or postseason play.

Preseason

Award watch lists

The following Sun Belt players were named to preseason award watch lists:

Walter Camp Award [1] Player Team Ryan Aplin Arkansas State

Doak Walker Award [2] Player Team Kedrick Rhodes Florida International Benny Cunningham Middle Tennessee Shawn Southward Troy

John Mackey Award [3] Player Team Jack Doyle Western Kentucky

Manning Award [4] Player Team Ryan Aplin Arkansas State Blaine Gautier Louisiana–Lafayette

Bronko Nagurski Trophy [5] Player Team Andrew Jackson Western Kentucky

Outland Trophy [6] Player Team Caylin Hauptmann Florida International

Lombardi Award Player Team Adam Smith Western Kentucky Andrew Jackson Western Kentucky Winston Fraser Florida International

Rimington Trophy [7] Player Team Andre Huval Louisiana–Lafayette

Davey O'Brien Award [8] Player Team Ryan Aplin Arkansas State

Jim Thorpe Award [9] Player Team Brynden Trawick Troy Jonathan Cyprien Florida International

Ray Guy Award [10] Player Team Will Atterberry North Texas

Lou Groza Award [11] Player Team Brett Baer Louisiana–Lafayette Jake Griffin Florida International

Sun Belt Media Day

The Sun Belt media day was held on 16 July, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Florida International received five first place votes and were selected by the coaches as the favorites to win the conference. ^[12] Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette each received two first place votes, while Western Kentucky received one.

Coaches Poll

Position	Team	Votes	First-place votes
1	Florida International	92	5
2	Arkansas State	85	2
3	Louisiana–Lafayette	81	2
4	Western Kentucky	70	1
5	Troy	60
6	Louisiana–Monroe	47
7	Middle Tennessee	42
8	North Texas	36
9	Florida Atlantic	23
10	South Alabama	14

Preseason All–Conference Team

The head coaches of the competing teams selected their All–Conference Team. ^[13] The coaches also selected Ryan Aplin of Arkansas State as the preseason offensive player of the year, and Tourek Williams of Florida International as the preseason defensive player of the year.

Offense Position Name Team QB Ryan Aplin Arkansas State RB Kedrick Rhodes Florida International RB Alonzo Harris Louisiana–Lafayette WR Josh Jarboe Arkansas State WR Javone Lawson Louisiana–Lafayette WR Eric Thomas Troy TE Jack Doyle Western Kentucky OL Zack McKnight Arkansas State OL Rupert Bryan Florida International OL Caylin Hauptmann Florida International OL Leonardo Bates Louisiana–Lafayette OL Cyril Lemon North Texas

Defense Position Name Team DL Isame Faciane Florida International DL Tourek Williams Florida International DL Tony Davis Troy DL Quanterus Smith Western Kentucky LB Andrew Jackson Western Kentucky LB Winston Fraser Florida International LB Kanorris Davis Troy DB Brynden Trawick Troy DB Jonathan Cyprien Florida International DB Don Jones Arkansas State DB Melvin White Louisiana–Lafayette

Specialists Position Name Team PK Brett Baer Louisiana–Lafayette P Will Atterberry North Texas RS John Evans Western Kentucky

Coaches

NOTE: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	Sun Belt record
Arkansas State	Gus Malzahn	1	0–0	0–0	0–0
Florida Atlantic	Carl Pelini	1	0–0	0–0	0–0
Florida International	Mario Cristobal	6	24–38	24–38	18–20
Louisiana–Lafayette	Mark Hudspeth	2	75–25	9–4	6–2
Louisiana–Monroe	Todd Berry	3	38–74	9–15	7–9
Middle Tennessee	Rick Stockstill	7	35–40	35–40	26–19
North Texas	Dan McCarney	2	61–92	5–7	4–4
South Alabama	Joey Jones	4	26–11	23–4	0–0
Troy	Larry Blakeney	24	163–92–1	163–92–1	42–17
Western Kentucky	Willie Taggart	3	9–15	9–15	9–7

Sun Belt vs. BCS AQ Conference matchups

Date	Visitor	Home	Notes
September 1	Arkansas State 34	#5 Oregon 57
September 1	North Texas 14	#3 LSU 41
September 1	Florida International 26	Duke 46
September 8^	#8 Arkansas 31	Louisiana–Monroe 34	Played in Little Rock, AR. First SBC win over Top 10 team in history
September 8	Western Kentucky 0	#1 Alabama 35
September 15	Arkansas State 13	Nebraska 42
September 15	Louisiana–Lafayette 24	Oklahoma State 65
September 15	Louisiana–Monroe 28	Auburn 31
September 15	South Alabama 7	NC State 31
September 15	Mississippi State 30	Troy 24
September 15	North Texas 21	Kansas State 35
September 15	Western Kentucky 32	Kentucky 31	WKU's first win over SEC competition
September 15	Florida Atlantic 20	Georgia 56
September 21	Baylor 47	Louisiana–Monroe 42
September 22	Florida Atlantic 7	Alabama 40
September 22	Louisville 28	Florida International 21
September 22	South Alabama 10	Mississippi State 30
September 29	Middle Tennessee 49	Georgia Tech 28
October 20	Middle Tennessee 3	#15 Mississippi State 45
November 3	Troy 48	Tennessee 55
November 10	Louisiana-Lafayette 20	#7 Florida 27
^Denotes neutral site game

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
Sun Belt member won
Sun Belt member lost
Sun Belt teams in bold

The Sun Belt has teams in two different time zones. Times reflect start time in respective time zone of each team (all teams central time except for Florida Atlantic and Florida International which are in eastern time). Conference games start times are that of the home team.

Rankings reflect that of the USA Today Coaches poll for that week, until week eight when the BCS poll was used.

Week 1

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	6:30 p.m.	McNeese St	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN3	L 21-27	18,690
August 31	8:00 p.m.	Wagner	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ESPN3	W 7-3	14,510
September 1	11:00 a.m.	Troy	UAB	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	Fox College Sports	W 39-29	28,612
September 1	1:00 p.m.	UTSA	South Alabama	Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN3	L 31-33	17,144
September 1	6:00 p.m.	North Texas	#3 LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	ESPNU	L 14-41	92,059
September 1	6:00 p.m.	Austin Peay	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPN3	W 49-10	16,327
September 1	6:00 p.m.	Lamar	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN3/Ragin Cajuns Network	W 40-0	25,803
September 1	7:00 p.m.	Florida International	Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC	ESPN3	L 26-46	31,117
September 1	9:30 p.m.	Arkansas State	#5 Oregon	Autzen Stadium • Eugene, OR	ESPN	L 34-57	56,144

Players of the week: ^[14]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Shawn Southward	Troy	De'Von Terry	Troy	Brett Baer	Louisiana–Lafayette

Week 2

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	2:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky	#1 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	SEC Network	L 0-35	101,821
September 8	4:00 p.m.	Nicholls State	South Alabama	Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN3	W 9–3	15,237
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Memphis	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	W 33-28	28,041
September 8^	6:00 p.m.	#8 Arkansas	Louisiana-Monroe	War Memorial Stadium • Little Rock, AR	ESPNU	W 34-31 OT	53,089
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Texas Southern	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	TXA21	W 34-7	22,259
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Akron	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL	ESPN3	W 41-38	15,685
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN3	MT 31-17	16,227
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPN3	ULL 37-24	17,981

^ Neutral site

Players of the week: ^[15]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Kolton Browning	Louisiana-Monroe	Jemarlous Moten	Louisiana-Lafayette	Brett Baer (2)	Louisiana-Lafayette

Week 3

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 15	11:00 a.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, AL	SEC Network	L 28-31 OT	85,214
September 15	11:00 a.m.	Arkansas State	Nebraska	Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ESPN2	L 13-42	85,290
September 15	11:00 a.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, OK	FSN	L 24-65	56,062
September 15	4:00 p.m.	Florida International	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, FL	CSS	L 20-33	40,478
September 15	5:00 p.m.	South Alabama	NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC	ESPN3	L 7-31	54,132
September 15	6:00 p.m.	Mississippi State	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPN3	L 24-30	29,013
September 15	6:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY	ESPNU	W 32-31 OT	53,980
September 15	6:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, TN		W 48-30	27,113
September 15	6:00 p.m.	North Texas	#15 Kansas State	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium • Manhattan, KS	FSN	L 21-35	50,290
September 15	6:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	#7 Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	CSS	L 20-56	92,746

Players of the week: ^[16]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Antonio Andrews	Western Kentucky	Jonathan Dowling	Western Kentucky	Hendrix Brakefield	Western Kentucky

Week 4

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 21	7:00 p.m.	Baylor	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	ESPN^	L 42-47	31,175
September 22	4:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	#1 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	PPV	L 7-40	101,821
September 22	6:00 p.m.	#18 Louisville	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL	ESPN3	L 21-28	12,318
September 22	6:00 p.m.	Southern Miss	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPN3	W 42-17	23,252
September 22	6:00 p.m.	Alcorn St.	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	W 56-0	21,559
September 22	6:00 p.m.	South Alabama	#23 Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, MS	Bulldog Sports	L 10-30	55,186
September 22	6:00 p.m.	Troy	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	ESPN3	Troy 14-7	21,823

^ULM-Baylor game was most watched Sun Belt game on ESPN in history.

Players of the week: ^[17]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Antonio Andrews (2)	Western Kentucky	Brynden Trawick	Troy	Will Scott	Troy

Week 5

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 29	11:30 a.m.	Middle Tennessee	Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA	ACC RSN	W 49-28	39,270
September 29	2:30 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Tulane	Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA	CST	W 63-10	18,063
September 29	2:30 p.m.	Troy	South Alabama	Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	SBN	Troy 31-10	23,789
September 29	4:00 p.m.	North Texas	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ESPN3	UNT 20-14	13,888
September 29	6:00 p.m.	Florida International	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN3	ULL 48-20	21,109
September 29	6:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	WKU 26-16	25,160

Players of the week: ^[18]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Benny Cunningham	Middle Tennessee	Quanterus Smith	Western Kentucky	Brett Baer (3)	Louisiana-Lafayette

Week 6

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 4	6:30 p.m.	Arkansas State	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL	ESPNU	ASU 34-20	13,612
October 6	2:30 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	SBN	ULM 31-17	21,067
October 6	4:00 p.m.	Tulane	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	RCN/Cox4/ESPN3	ULL 41-13	29,758
October 6	6:00 p.m.	North Texas	Houston	Robertson Stadium • Houston, TX	CSS	L 21-44	25,476

Players of the week: ^[19]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Kolton Browning (2)	Louisiana-Monroe	Qushaun Lee	Arkansas State	Brett Baer (4)	Louisiana-Lafayette

Week 7

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 11	6:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPNU	WKU 31-26	16,426
October 13	5:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL		MT 34-30	15,234
October 13	6:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, AR		ASU 36-29	22,143
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	SBN/CSS	ULM 35-14	16,782

Players of the week: ^[20]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Benny Cunningham (2)	Middle Tennessee	Nathan Herrold	Arkansas State	Michel Chapuseaux	South Alabama

Week 8

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 16	8:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX	ESPN2	UNT 30-23	17,055
October 20	12:00 p.m.	Florida International	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	SBN/CSS	Troy 38-37	17,354
October 20	2:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	South Alabama	Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL		USA 37-34	17,566
October 20	3:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPN3	ULM 43-42	22,323
October 20	6:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Mississippi St	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, MS	ESPN2	L 3-45	55,108

Players of the week: ^[21]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Kolton Browning (3)	Louisiana-Monroe	Zach Orr	North Texas	Pat Moore	South Alabama

Week 9

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 23	7:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN2	ASU 50-27	19,873
October 27	2:30 p.m.	North Texas	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN3	MT 38-21	14,102
October 27	4:00 p.m.	Troy	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL		FAU 34-27	11,968
October 27	5:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL	ESPN3	WKU 14-6	12,842
October 27	6:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA		ULM 38-24	14,556

Players of the week: ^[22]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Logan Kilgore	Middle Tennessee	Quanterus Smith (2)	Western Kentucky	Brian Davis	Arkansas State

Week 10

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 1	8:15 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	ESPNU	MT 34-29	17,327
November 3	11:00 a.m.	Troy	Tennessee	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN	SEC Regional	L 48-55	84,189
November 3	2:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	L 17-24	29,326
November 3	3:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	SBN/ESPN3	ULL 40-24	20,203
November 3	3:30 p.m.	Florida International	South Alabama	Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL		FIU 28-20	11,936
November 3	4:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX		ASU 37-19	17,534

Players of the week: ^[23]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Terrance Broadway	Louisiana-Lafayette	Jordan Hunt	Florida International	Reggie Whatley	Middle Tennessee

Week 11

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 8	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPNU	ASU 45-23	30,243
November 10	11:20 a.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL	SEC Regional	L 20-27	86,482
November 10	12:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	SBN	FAU 37-28	14,185
November 10	2:30 p.m.	Navy	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPN3	W 41-31	24,321
November 10	4:30 p.m.	South Alabama	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, TX		UNT 24-14	15,963

Players of the week: ^[24]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Ryan Aplin	Arkansas State	Emeka Onyenekwu	Louisiana-Lafayette	Will Scott (2)	Troy

Week 12

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 16	7:00 p.m.	Florida International	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL	ESPNU	FIU 34-24	15,405
November 17	2:30 p.m.	Arkansas State	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	IMG Sports	ASU 41-34	20,614
November 17	2:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	South Alabama	Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL		MT 20-12	15,087
November 17	3:00 p.m.	North Texas	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	ESPN3	ULM 42-16	14,079
November 17	6:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN3	ULL 31-27	20,314

Players of the week: ^[25]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Ryan Aplin (2)	Arkansas State	Jajuan Harley	Middle Tennessee	Richard Leonard	Florida International

Week 13

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 24	12:00 p.m.	North Texas	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY	SBN	WKU 25-24	11,074
November 24	2:30 p.m.	Troy	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN3	MT 24-21	18,605
November 24	4:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	RCN/ESPN3	ULL 52-30	20,333
November 24	TBD	Louisiana-Monroe	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, FL		ULM 23-17	12,115

Players of the week: ^[26]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Antonio Andrews (3)	Western Kentucky	Kevin Byard	Middle Tennessee	Michel Chapuseaux (2)	South Alabama

Week 14

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
December 1	2:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, FL		ULL 35-21	11,522
December 1	2:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	ASU 45-0	31,243
December 1	6:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Hawaii	Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI	Root	L 7-23	27,865

Players of the week: ^[27]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Ryan Aplin (3)	Arkansas State	Nathan Herrold (2)	Arkansas State	Brian Davis (2)	Arkansas State

Bowl games

The Sun Belt placed four teams in bowl games with five teams bowl eligible in 2012. This was the highest number of SBC bowl teams in the conference's history. Only Middle Tennessee was not selected for a bowl. ^[28] Two Sun Belt teams made their first bowl games in school history: Western Kentucky and Louisiana-Monroe.

NOTE: All times are local

Bowl	Date	Time	SBC team (Record)	Opponent (Record)	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
2012 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	December 22	11:00 a.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette (8–4)	East Carolina (8–4)	Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA	ESPN	W 43–34	48,828
2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	December 26	6:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky (7–5)	Central Michigan (6–6)	Ford Field • Detroit, MI	ESPN	L 21–24	23,310
2012 Advocare V100 Independence Bowl	December 28	1:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe (8–4)	Ohio (8–4)	Independence Stadium • Shreveport, LA	ESPN	L 14–45	41,853
2013 GoDaddy.com Bowl	January 6	8:00 p.m.	Arkansas State (9–3)	#25 Kent State (11–2)	Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN	W 17–13	37,913

Players of the Year

Main article: Sun Belt Conference football individual awards

2012 Sun Belt Player of the Year awards ^[29]

Award	Player	School
Player of the Year	Ryan Aplin	Arkansas State
Offensive Player of the Year	Kolton Browning	Louisiana-Monroe
Defensive Player of the Year	Quanterus Smith	Western Kentucky
Freshman of the Year	J. D. McKissic	Arkansas State
Coach of the Year	Todd Berry	Louisiana-Monroe

All-Sun Belt Team

Coaches All-Conference Selections ^[29]

Position Player Class Team First Team Offense QB Ryan Aplin SR Arkansas State RB David Oku JR Arkansas State RB Antonio Andrews SR Western Kentucky WR Brent Leonard SR Louisiana-Monroe WR Anthony Amos SR Middle Tennessee WR Chip Reeves SR Troy TE Jack Doyle SR Western Kentucky OL Zack McKnight SR Arkansas State OL Micah James SR Middle Tennessee OL Aaron Fortenberry SS North Texas OL Kyle Wilborn SR Troy OL Adam Smith SR Western Kentucky First Team Defense DL Ryan Carrethers JR Arkansas State DL Tourek Williams SR Florida International DL Emeka Onyenekwu SR Louisiana-Lafayette DL Quanterus Smith SR Western Kentucky LB Nathan Herrold SR Arkansas State LB Jake Johnson SR South Alabama LB Andrew Jackson JR Western Kentucky DB Johnathan Cyprien SR Florida International DB Jemarlous Moten SR Louisiana-Lafayette DB Brynden Trawick SR Troy DB Jonathan Dowling SO Western Kentucky First Team Special Teams PK Brett Baer SR Louisiana-Lafayette P Brett Baer SR Louisiana-Lafayette RS Reggie Whatley SO Middle Tennessee AP Antonio Andrews JR Western Kentucky

Position Player Class Team Second Team Offense QB Kolton Browning JR Louisiana-Monroe RB Benny Cunningham SR Middle Tennessee RB Shawn Southward SR Troy WR J. D. McKissic FR Arkansas State WR William Dukes SO Florida Atlantic WR Harry Peoples SR Louisiana-Lafayette TE Nexon Dorvilus JR Florida Atlantic OL Caylin Hauptmann SR Florida International OL Leonardo Bates SR Louisiana-Lafayette OL Jonathon Gill SR Louisiana-Monroe OL Andre Huval JR Louisiana-Lafayette OL Josh Allen JR Louisiana-Monroe Second Team Defense DL Tim Starson SR Arkansas State DL Omar McLendon SR Middle Tennessee DL Alex Page JR South Alabama DL Tony Davis SR Troy LB R. J. Young SR Louisiana-Monroe LB Zach Orr JR North Texas LB Kanorris Davis SR Troy DB Brent Harstad SR Florida Atlantic DB Isaiah Newsome JR Louisiana-Monroe DB Kevin Byard FR Middle Tennessee DB Zac Whitfield FR North Texas Second Team Special Teams PK Brian Davis JR Arkansas State P Will Atterberry SR North Texas RS Antonio Andrews JR Western Kentucky AP Deon Anthony JR Troy

Home attendance

Team	Stadium (Capacity)	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Total	Average	% of Capacity
Arkansas State	Liberty Bank Stadium (30,964)	28,041	21,559	25,160	22,143	30,243	31,243	158,389	26,398	85.3%
Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium (30,000)	14,510	13,888	11,968	15,405	11,522		67,293	13,459	44.9%
Florida International	FIU Stadium (23,500)	15,685	12,318	13,612	15,234	12,842	12,115	81,806	13,634	58.0%
Louisiana–Lafayette	Cajun Field (31,000)	25,803	21,109	29,758	19,873	20,314	20,333	137,190	22,865	73.8%
Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium (30,427)	31,175	16,782	14,556	20,203	14,079		96,795	19,359	63.6%
Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium (30,788)	18,690	16,227	21,067	14,102	18,605		88,691	17,738	57.6%
North Texas	Apogee Stadium (30,850)	22,259	21,823	17,055	17,534	15,963		94,634	18,927	61.4%
South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium (33,471)	17,144	15,237	23,789	17,566	11,936	15,087	100,759	16,793	50.2%
Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium (30,000)	17,981	29,013	16,426	17,354	24,321	20,614	125,709	20,952	69.8%
Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium (22,000)	16,327	23,252	22,323	17,327	14,185	11,074	104,488	17,415	79.2%

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