2006 was a great year for the Sun Belt, with only 3 teams having losing records. Unfortunately, one of those teams, Florida International, went 0-12. The conference race came down to Troy and Middle Tennessee State in 2006, with Troy taking the crown and winning the New Orleans Bowl against Rice 41-17. Troy won the title because of their one point victory at MTSU the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
In 2007 6 of the 8 teams really could win the conference and represent the Sun Belt in New OrleansIf things go really, really well for North Texas maybe. I just don't see FIU getting the breaks to pull off enough upsets after last year's season. Nearly everyone will be trying to run the ball, and run often. Every team has their stud RB who will be able to go for 1000 yards this season
Calvin Dawson (ULM)
Tyrell Fenroy (ULL)
Jamario Thomas (North Texas)
Reggie Arnold (Arkansas State)
Julian Reams and A'mod Ned (FIU)
DeMarco McNair (MTSU)
Charles Pierre (FAU)
Sean Dawkins and Kenny Cattouse (Troy)
Whichever team can come up with some sort of run defense will win this crazy conference. I'm going to go ahead and pick Middle Tennessee State to take the title, but watch out for Troy
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The Rest of the Independents
There are three teams still listed as Independents with Temple moving on to the MAC. Army, Navy, and of course Notre Dame, along with newcomer to Division 1A Western Kentucky to leave us with still 4 independents.
The Army Black Knights are coming off a 3-9 season with wins coming against Kent State, @Baylor, and Virginia Military Institute. This season I see the Black Knights having another tough year again only winning a handful of games with Carson Williams again running the show at QB. Sure he didn't have the best season last year, but he was a true freshman and looks to improve in his second year. The rest of the Black Knight backfield is back, too, so look for a more potent attack to be there this season. The defense won't be great, so a bowl might be a year away. Top stud DE Cameron Craig isn't there anymore along with the top three tacklers from last year's team. Looks like home dates with Rhode Island and Temple will provide the best chances of wins. The final date against the Midshipmen is always fun, and the best rivalry in college sports!
2007 Schedule (projected wins)
@Akron
Rhode Island
@Wake Forest
@Boston College
Temple
Tulane
@Central Michigan
@Georgia Tech
@Air Force
Rutgers
Tulsa
Navy
The Navy Midshipmen are coming off a 9-4 campaign in 2006 (including a close 25-24 loss in their bowl game against Boston College) with no signs of slowing down. Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada is back at QB after taking over midseason for Brian Hampton, and really should be good in the Navy attack. The top speed backs return along with FB Adam Ballard who returns from injury to bring the ground game back to form. The defense isn't going to be great with only three starters coming back from last season. The offensive line loses some big guys upfront, but I think they will be able to reload. The passing game was the worst in the nation last year and with the loss of top WR Jason Tomlinson isn't going to be much better. Luckily, the schedule includes only three bowl teams from a year ago. They may not pull off another 9 wins, but another bowl game should definitely be a reality with the offense being great again this season.
2007 Schedule (projected wins)
@Temple
@Rutgers
Ball State
Duke
Air Force
@Pittsburgh
Wake Forest
Delaware
@Notre Dame
@North Texas
Northern Illinois
@Army
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are beginning their first season of D1a football. I don't know much about the Hilltoppers other than the fact that they are led by Coach David Elson who has been on the WKU staff since 1996 and is in his 5th year as the head man. Over the last 11 years WKU has gone 91-41 going to the NCAA 1-AA playoffs 6 times. Since Elson took over they have gone 30-17 (63.8%). The 35 year-old Elson has a contract through 2012 with the team. WKU is currently an independent, but they will be eligible for the Sun Belt Conference championship and a bowl birth beginning in 2009. WKU won the Div1-AA national championship in 2002, along with top-15 finishes in 2003 and 2004 and then were ranked as high as #1 twice in 2005. Last year was a down year with the team going 6-5, though they did have the 23rd best offense. With this their first year in D1A not a lot is to be expected out of WKU, but look out for this team to make some noise in 2009. Lots of D2 teams are still on the schedule, surely a holdover from previous years. Look for this team to have a better record than expected, but upon looking at their SOS, it will be more clear. The biggest challenge for Coach Elson will be trying to hold the defending national champion Florida Gators under 100 in their first game
2007 Schedule (projected wins)
@Florida
West Virginia Tech
Eastern Kentucky
@Middle Tennessee State
@Bowling Green
@Ball State
@Indiana State
North Carolina Central
@Chattanooga
Troy
Morehead State
@North Texas
The Army Black Knights are coming off a 3-9 season with wins coming against Kent State, @Baylor, and Virginia Military Institute. This season I see the Black Knights having another tough year again only winning a handful of games with Carson Williams again running the show at QB. Sure he didn't have the best season last year, but he was a true freshman and looks to improve in his second year. The rest of the Black Knight backfield is back, too, so look for a more potent attack to be there this season. The defense won't be great, so a bowl might be a year away. Top stud DE Cameron Craig isn't there anymore along with the top three tacklers from last year's team. Looks like home dates with Rhode Island and Temple will provide the best chances of wins. The final date against the Midshipmen is always fun, and the best rivalry in college sports!
2007 Schedule (projected wins)
@Akron
Rhode Island
@Wake Forest
@Boston College
Temple
Tulane
@Central Michigan
@Georgia Tech
@Air Force
Rutgers
Tulsa
Navy
The Navy Midshipmen are coming off a 9-4 campaign in 2006 (including a close 25-24 loss in their bowl game against Boston College) with no signs of slowing down. Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada is back at QB after taking over midseason for Brian Hampton, and really should be good in the Navy attack. The top speed backs return along with FB Adam Ballard who returns from injury to bring the ground game back to form. The defense isn't going to be great with only three starters coming back from last season. The offensive line loses some big guys upfront, but I think they will be able to reload. The passing game was the worst in the nation last year and with the loss of top WR Jason Tomlinson isn't going to be much better. Luckily, the schedule includes only three bowl teams from a year ago. They may not pull off another 9 wins, but another bowl game should definitely be a reality with the offense being great again this season.
2007 Schedule (projected wins)
@Temple
@Rutgers
Ball State
Duke
Air Force
@Pittsburgh
Wake Forest
Delaware
@Notre Dame
@North Texas
Northern Illinois
@Army
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are beginning their first season of D1a football. I don't know much about the Hilltoppers other than the fact that they are led by Coach David Elson who has been on the WKU staff since 1996 and is in his 5th year as the head man. Over the last 11 years WKU has gone 91-41 going to the NCAA 1-AA playoffs 6 times. Since Elson took over they have gone 30-17 (63.8%). The 35 year-old Elson has a contract through 2012 with the team. WKU is currently an independent, but they will be eligible for the Sun Belt Conference championship and a bowl birth beginning in 2009. WKU won the Div1-AA national championship in 2002, along with top-15 finishes in 2003 and 2004 and then were ranked as high as #1 twice in 2005. Last year was a down year with the team going 6-5, though they did have the 23rd best offense. With this their first year in D1A not a lot is to be expected out of WKU, but look out for this team to make some noise in 2009. Lots of D2 teams are still on the schedule, surely a holdover from previous years. Look for this team to have a better record than expected, but upon looking at their SOS, it will be more clear. The biggest challenge for Coach Elson will be trying to hold the defending national champion Florida Gators under 100 in their first game
2007 Schedule (projected wins)
@Florida
West Virginia Tech
Eastern Kentucky
@Middle Tennessee State
@Bowling Green
@Ball State
@Indiana State
North Carolina Central
@Chattanooga
Troy
Morehead State
@North Texas
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Independents - Notre Dame
To start off the year, CFBRPI is going to break down the different conferences and pick the winners of each. Notre Dame is still an independent (luckily for them and their pocketbook) and are also the most popular college team in America, so this first post is just for them. Most teams will not get such an indepth look, but whether you love them or hate them, it is undeniable that the Irish are special.
Last year, with Brady Quinn at quarterback, Notre Dame was at the top of many lists for potential national championship teams. The year started off great for the Irish, getting an early win against ACC runner-up Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Notre Dame then destroyed Penn State at home before getting blown up by Mario Manningham and Michigan 47-21. They followed that up with a come from behind win against Michigan State, leading to one of the funniest rants in recent memory. The Irish were able to run off 8 consecutive wins after being crushed by Michigan (albeit against much weaker competition outside of the UCLA come from behind win) before playing @USC to finish the season. Some national pundits were still calling this team a possible NC contender with their one loss, especially if they could upset the Trojans in L.A. Lucky for Florida, it wasn't even close. USC demolished the Irish in much the same manner as Michigan, flying out to a 44-24 win. Voters still saw fit to rank Notre Dame high enough after the loss for the Irish to sneak into the BCS against another elite team, this time Les Miles' LSU tigers. While Weiss did have his team tied 14-14 into the second quarter, it was all LSU after halftime with the Bayou Bengals routing Notre Dame 41-14. While the season record of 10-3 along with a BCS bowl game are certainly worth being proud of, the three losses did come at a combined score of 132-59.
Looking into the 2008 season, things aren't looking good for the Irish. While Charlie Weiss has recruited a ton of top talent, they are still very young, and probably a year away from truly producing. Couple that with an incredibly difficult opening eight games to the season, and it isn't too hard to imagine Notre Dame starting 2-6 before winning their final 4 easily. A 6-6 season is what I'm seeing in the middle of July, especially if the Irish drop the season opener at home against the Yellow Jackets
Notre Dame's 2007 schedule (projected wins)
9/1 Georgia Tech
9/8 @Penn State
9/15 @Michigan
9/22 Michigan State
9/29 @Purdue
10/6 @UCLA
10/13 Boston College
10/20 USC
11/3 Navy
11/10 Air Force
11/17 Duke
11/24 @Stanford
Last year, with Brady Quinn at quarterback, Notre Dame was at the top of many lists for potential national championship teams. The year started off great for the Irish, getting an early win against ACC runner-up Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Notre Dame then destroyed Penn State at home before getting blown up by Mario Manningham and Michigan 47-21. They followed that up with a come from behind win against Michigan State, leading to one of the funniest rants in recent memory. The Irish were able to run off 8 consecutive wins after being crushed by Michigan (albeit against much weaker competition outside of the UCLA come from behind win) before playing @USC to finish the season. Some national pundits were still calling this team a possible NC contender with their one loss, especially if they could upset the Trojans in L.A. Lucky for Florida, it wasn't even close. USC demolished the Irish in much the same manner as Michigan, flying out to a 44-24 win. Voters still saw fit to rank Notre Dame high enough after the loss for the Irish to sneak into the BCS against another elite team, this time Les Miles' LSU tigers. While Weiss did have his team tied 14-14 into the second quarter, it was all LSU after halftime with the Bayou Bengals routing Notre Dame 41-14. While the season record of 10-3 along with a BCS bowl game are certainly worth being proud of, the three losses did come at a combined score of 132-59.Looking into the 2008 season, things aren't looking good for the Irish. While Charlie Weiss has recruited a ton of top talent, they are still very young, and probably a year away from truly producing. Couple that with an incredibly difficult opening eight games to the season, and it isn't too hard to imagine Notre Dame starting 2-6 before winning their final 4 easily. A 6-6 season is what I'm seeing in the middle of July, especially if the Irish drop the season opener at home against the Yellow Jackets
Notre Dame's 2007 schedule (projected wins)
9/1 Georgia Tech
9/8 @Penn State
9/15 @Michigan
9/22 Michigan State
9/29 @Purdue
10/6 @UCLA
10/13 Boston College
10/20 USC
11/3 Navy
11/10 Air Force
11/17 Duke
11/24 @Stanford
Welcome to the new blog
College Football RPI is a new blog we're starting to introduce our totally new ranking system
for college football. Finally a poll that takes into account the opponents played and a real strength of schedule. No longer the days of bickering across message boards claiming certain conferences are so much stronger than others. Finally a poll has been created that looks at a team's dominance throughout the season and compares that to how good those teams they dominated were. Stay tuned, the season is only 7 weeks away!
for college football. Finally a poll that takes into account the opponents played and a real strength of schedule. No longer the days of bickering across message boards claiming certain conferences are so much stronger than others. Finally a poll has been created that looks at a team's dominance throughout the season and compares that to how good those teams they dominated were. Stay tuned, the season is only 7 weeks away!
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