2016 Sun Belt Conference football season

Last updated

2016 Sun Belt Conference football season
League NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport Football
DurationSeptember 1, 2016
through January 2017
Number of teams11
Total attendance1,079,575
TV partner(s) ESPN, CST
2017 NFL Draft
Top draft pickTE Gerald Everett, South Alabama
Picked by Los Angeles Rams, 44th overall
Regular season
Season champions Appalachian State & Arkansas State
  Runners-up Troy & Idaho
Season MVP Ja’Von Rolland-Jones
Top scorer Austin Rehkow (120 points)
Football seasons
←  2015
2017  →
2016 Sun Belt Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
Appalachian State +  7 –1   10 –3  
Arkansas State +  7 –1   8 –5  
Troy  6 –2   10 –3  
Idaho  6 –2   9 –4  
Louisiana–Lafayette  5 –3   6 –7  
Georgia Southern  4 –4   5 –7  
Louisiana–Monroe  3 –5   4 –8  
South Alabama  2 –6   6 –7  
Georgia State  2 –6   3 –9  
New Mexico State  2 –6   3 –9  
Texas State  0 –8   2 –10  
  • + – Conference co-champions

The 2016 Sun Belt Conference football season was the 16th season in which the Sun Belt Conference operated a football league, and was part of the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on September 1 with Appalachian State facing Tennessee. [1] This was the third season for the Sun Belt since realignment that took effect in 2014, which added the tenth and eleventh members — Idaho and New Mexico State. Both teams were previously independents before joining the conference. The Sun Belt Conference is a "Group of Five" conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, and the Mountain West Conference.

Contents

In this season, the Sun Belt football conference included 11 members: Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, New Mexico State, South Alabama, Texas State, and Troy. The conference championship was determined by win–loss record within the conference.

Arkansas State entered the season as defending Sun Belt champions, as they went undefeated in 2015 conference play. The Red Wolves went on to lose to Louisiana Tech in the New Orleans Bowl 28–47. [2]

Preseason

2016 predictions

The 2016 preseason coaches predictions were released on July 21, 2016, with the vote conducted by the head football coaches of each conference school. Appalachian State was picked to win the conference for the first time in school history. After coming second in the conference last year which resulted a trip to the Camellia Bowl, the Mountaineers returned 22 starters on the field for the upcoming season. Arkansas State, which had won at least a share of the conference title in four of the previous five seasons and was returning 13 starters (6 on offense, 7 on defense), was tapped to finish second.

Below are the results of the coaches poll with total points received next to each school and first-place votes in parentheses.

References: [3]

Season

For the first time in the 16-year history of Sun Belt football, a team from the conference was ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll. In Week 11, the Troy Trojans, with a record of 8-1, received the #25 spot in the AP Poll. The Trojans lost their next game, to Arkansas State, to drop back out of the rankings.

Sun Belt vs other Conferences

Sun Belt vs Power Conference matchups

This is a list of the power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC) Sun Belt played in non-conference play. (Rankings from the AP Poll):

DateVisitorHomeSiteScore
September 1Appalachian State#9 Tennessee (SEC) Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, Tennessee L 13–20 OT
September 3South Alabama Mississippi State (SEC) Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi W 21–20
September 10Arkansas State Auburn (SEC) Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, Alabama L 14–51
September 10Idaho#8 Washington (Pac-12) Husky Stadium • Seattle L 14–59
September 10Troy#2 Clemson (ACC) Memorial Stadium • Clemson, South Carolina L 24–30
September 10Louisiana–Monroe#14 Oklahoma (Big 12) Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma L 17–59
September 17 Miami (ACC)Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, North Carolina L 45-10
September 17Georgia State Wisconsin (Big Ten) Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, Wisconsin L 17–23
September 17Idaho Washington State (Pac-12) Martin Stadium • Pullman, Washington L 6–56
September 17New Mexico State Kentucky (SEC) Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, Kentucky L 42–62
September 17Texas State Arkansas (SEC) Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, Arkansas L 3–42
October 1Louisiana–Monroe Auburn (SEC) Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, Alabama L 7–58
October 15Georgia Southern Georgia Tech (ACC) Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta L 24–35
October 29New Mexico State Texas A&M (SEC) Kyle Field • College Station, Texas L 10–52
November 5Georgia Southern Ole Miss (SEC) Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi L 27–37
November 19South Alabama LSU (SEC) Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana Canceled due to Hurricane Matthew [4] [5]
November 19Louisiana–Lafayette Georgia (SEC) Sanford Stadium • Athens, Georgia L 21–35

2016 records against non-conference opponents

Players of the Year

2016 Sun Belt Player of the Year awards [6]

AwardPlayerSchool
Player of the Year Ja'Von Rolland-Jones Arkansas State
Offensive Player of the YearJalin MooreAppalachian State
Defensive Player of the YearRashad DillardTroy
Freshman of the YearClifton DuckAppalachian State
Newcomer of the YearAikeem ColemanIdaho
Coach of the Year Paul Petrino Idaho

All-Sun BeltTeam

Coaches All-Conference Selections [6]

Honorable Mention:Appalachian State: Barrett Burns, A. J. Howard, Taylor Lamb, Myquon Stout; Arkansas State: Justice Hansen, Chris Humes, Waylon Roberson, Kendall Sanders; Georgia Southern: Kevin Ellison, Darius Jones, Jr., Ukeme Eligwe, B. J. Johnson III; Georgia State: Shawanye Lawrence, Alonzo McGee, Keith Rucker, Chandon Sullivan; Idaho: Trent Cowan, Kaden Elliss, Tony Lashley, Jordan Rose; Louisiana-Lafayette: Keenan Barnes, Karmichael Dunbar, Eddie Gordon, Tre'maine Lightfoot; Louisiana-Monroe: Justin Backus, David Griffith, Ajalen Holley, Frank Sutton, Jr.; New Mexico State: Kourtland Busby, Greg Hogan, Anthony McMeans, Tyler Rogers; South Alabama Roman Buchanan, Kalen Jackson, Xavier Johnson, Kevin Kutchera; Troy: Ryan Kay, William Lloyd, Kamryn Melton, Baron Poole; Texas State: Aaron Brewer, Bryan London, Gabe Loyd , Jordan Mittie.

Home attendance

TeamStadium (Capacity)Game 1Game 2Game 3Game 4Game 5Game 6Game 7TotalAverage% of Capacity
Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium (24,050)23,37434,65824,78226,93128,47218,699—156,91626,152108.74%
Arkansas State Centennial Bank Stadium (30,382)26,18228,01219,38122,27720,17020,178—136,20022,70074.72%
Georgia Southern Paulson Stadium (25,000)21,25025,73523,47416,78616,850——104,09520,81983.28%
Georgia State Georgia Dome (28,155)12,23313,17915,22313,36313,10623,513—90,61715,10253.64%
Idaho Kibbie Dome (16,000)11,98713,39210,2789,04911,242——55,94811,19069.94%
Louisiana–Lafayette Cajun Field (36,900)22,66126,89119,20816,96021,36714,259—121,34620,22454.81%
Louisiana–Monroe Malone Stadium (30,427)24,7189,52412,73516,073——63,05015,76251.8%
New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium (30,343)17,8528,14210,0856,2805,366——47,7259,54531.46%
South Alabama Ladd–Peebles Stadium (33,471)17,69113,08614,74130,83711,56511,01798,93716,48949.26%
Texas State Bobcat Stadium (30,000)33,13322,84518,27815,3148,010—97,58019,56065.05%
Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium (30,000)18,88521,14623,91321,76325,78223,764—135,25322,54275.14%

Bold – Exceed capacity
†Season High

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References

  1. ↑ "2016 Sun Belt Football Schedule Announced". sunbeltsports.org. March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Louisiana Tech, Kenneth Dixon topple Arkansas State in New Orleans Bowl, 47-28". NOLA.com. New Orleans. The Times-Picayune. December 20, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Mountaineers Picked to Win League Title in 2016". Sun Belt Conference. July 21, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  4. ↑ "LSU vs Florida Rescheduled After Hurricane Matthew". Bleacher Report. October 13, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Football to Host Florida Nov. 19 in Tiger Stadium". LSUSports.net. October 13, 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Sun Belt announces 2016 Football All-Conference teams and individual awards". www.sunbeltsports.org. Sun Belt Conference. December 7, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
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