The 2019 Sun Belt Conference football season was the 18th season of college football play for the Sun Belt Conference. It was played from August 29, 2019, until January 2020. The Sun Belt Conference consists of 10 members in two divisions. It was part of the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
Preseason
Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout & 24/7SigneesAppalachian State101st18Arkansas State95th24Coastal Carolina122nd27Georgia Southern121st21 Georgia State98th22Louisiana76th26Louisiana–Monroe128th20South Alabama126th30Texas State133rd16Troy80th23
Sun Belt Media Days Preseason Media polls
The 2019 preseason coaches football poll was released on July 19, voted from the 10 coaches of the conference. Appalachian State and Louisiana were chosen to be the finalist for their division, with the Mountaineers predicted to win the Sun Belt Championship Game.
East Division Appalachian State (7) – 46 pts Troy (1) – 39 pts Georgia Southern (2) – 35 pts Coastal Carolina – 17 pts Georgia State – 13 pts
West Division Louisiana (6) – 46 pts Arkansas State (3) – 42 pts ULM – 27 pts South Alabama (1) – 19 pts Texas State – 16 pts
Preseason awards Preseason All-Sun Belt
Offensive Player of the Year: B.J. Smith (Troy, Senior) Defensive Player of the Year: Kindle Vildor (Georgia Southern, Senior)
Position Player Team First Team Offense WRCorey SuttonAppalachian StateWRKirk MerritArkansas StateWRJa'Marcus BradleyLouisianaOLNoah HannonAppalachian StateOLVictor JohnsonAppalachian StateOLKevin DotsonLouisianaOLRobert HuntLouisianaOLKirk KelleyTroyTEJavonis IssacArkansas StateQBZac ThomasAppalachian StateRBDarrynton EvansAppalachian StateRBB.J. SmithTroy First Team DefenseDLWilliam Bradley-KingArkansas StateDLForrest MerrillArkansas StateDLTyree Turner South AlabamaDLRaymond JohnsonGeorgia SouthernLB Akeem Davis-GaitherAppalachian State LB Jordan FehrAppalachian StateLBBryan London IITexas StateCBDesmond Franklin Appalachian StateCBJerry JacobsArkansas StateCBMonquavion BrinsonGeorgia SouthernCBKindle VildorGeorgia Southern First Team Special TeamsK Tyler BassGeorgia SouthernPBrandon WrightGeorgia StateRSTra Minter South Alabama
Position Player Team Second Team OffenseWROmar BaylessArkansas StateWRKawaan Baker South AlabamaWRTrey EaffordTroyOLJacob StillArkansas StateOLHunter AtkinsonGeorgia StateOLT.J. FiailoaLouisiana–MonroeOLAaron BrewerTexas StateOLTristan Crowder TroyTECollin ReedAppalachian StateQBCaleb EvansLouisiana–MonroeRBElijah Mitchell LouisianaRBTrey RagasLouisiana Second Team DefenseDLKevin ThurmonArkansas StateDLTarron JacksonCoastal CarolinaDLZi'Yon HillLouisianaDLJarvis HayesTroyLB Jacques BoudreauxLouisianaLB Nikolas DanielsTexas StateLB Carlton MartialTroyCBJosh ThomasAppalachian StateCBB.J. EdmondsArkansas StateCBDarreon JacksonArkansas StateCBMichael Jacquet IIILouisiana Second Team Special TeamsKTyler SumpterTroyPCody GraceArkansas StateRSDarrynton EvansAppalachian State
Ref:
Head coaches
Coaches Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school Sun Belt recordAppalachian State Eliah Drinkwitz 1 7–1 7–1 4–1Arkansas State Blake Anderson 6 43–29 43–29 33–11Coastal CarolinaJamey Chadwell 1 66–48 6–13 2–9Georgia Southern Chad Lunsford 3 17–10 17–10 11–7Georgia State Shawn Elliott 3 16–22 15–17 9–11Louisiana Billy Napier 2 12–9 12–9 7–4Louisiana–Monroe Matt Viator 4 95–59 17–26 13–14South Alabama Steve Campbell 2 64–39 4–16 2–10Texas State Jake Spavital 1 2–5 2–5 1–2Troy Chip Lindsey 1 3–4 3–4 1–2
Rankings
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 FinalAppalachian State AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 21 20 RV 23 22 20 20 19C RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 22 20 RV 24 22 22 20 20 18 CFP Not released 25 24 25 21 20 Arkansas State AP C CFP Not released Coastal Carolina AP C CFP Not released Georgia Southern AP C CFP Not released Georgia State AP C CFP Not released Louisiana AP RV RVC RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Louisiana–Monroe AP C CFP Not released South Alabama AP C CFP Not released Texas State AP C CFP Not released Troy AP C RV RV RV CFP Not released
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Schedules
Regular season The regular season will begin on August 29, 2019, and will end on November 30, 2019.
Index to colors and formattingSun Belt member wonSun Belt member lostSun Belt teams in bold
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Week Twelve
Week Thirteen
Week Fourteen
Championship Game
Week Fifteen (Sun Belt Championship Game)
Sun Belt records vs. other conferences 2019–2020 records against non-conference foes:
Regular season
Power 5 ConferencesRecordACC1–1Big Ten0–2Big 121–1BYU/Notre Dame0–0Pac-120–0SEC2–5Power 5 Total4–9Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–4C-USA1–2Independents (Excluding BYU and Notre Dame)4–0MAC2–2Mountain West1–1Other FBS Total8–9FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision9–0Total Non-Conference Record21–18
Post Season
Power Conferences 5RecordACC0–0Big Ten0–0Big 120–0BYU/Notre Dame0-0Pac-120–0SEC0–0Power 5 Total0–0Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–0C–USA0–0Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)1–0MAC0–0Mountain West0–0Other FBS Total0–0Total Bowl Record0–0
Sun Belt vs Power Five matchups This is a list of games the Sun Belt has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, BYU/Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 29 SEC Texas State Texas A&MKyle Field • College Station, TX L, 7-41 August 31 Big Ten South Alabama NebraskaMemorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE L, 21–35 August 31 SEC Mississippi State Louisiana Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA L, 28–38 August 31 SEC Georgia State Tennessee Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN W, 38–30 August 31 SEC Georgia Southern LSUTiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA L, 3–55 September 7 ACC Louisiana-Monroe Florida StateDoak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL L, 44–45 (OT) September 7 Big 12 Coastal Carolina Kansas Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, KS W, 12–7 September 14 SEC Arkansas State GeorgiaSanford Stadium • Athens, GA L, 0–55 September 14 Big Ten Georgia Southern MinnesotaTCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN L, 32–35 September 21 Big 12 Louisiana-Monroe Iowa StateJack Trice Stadium • Ames, IA L, 20–72 September 21 ACC Appalachian State North Carolina Kenan Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC W 34–31 October 5 SEC Troy MissouriFaurot Field • Columbia, MO L 10–42 November 9 SEC Appalachian State South CarolinaWilliams–Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC W 20–15
Sun Belt vs Group of Five matchups The following games include Sun Belt teams competing against teams from the American, C-USA, MAC or Mountain West.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 31 MAC Eastern Michigan Coastal CarolinaBrooks Stadium • Conway, SC L, 23–30 August 31 American SMU Arkansas State Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR L, 30–37 September 7 C-USA Charlotte Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC W, 56–41 September 7 Mountain West Wyoming Texas StateBobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX L 14–23 September 7 Mountain West Arkansas State UNLVSam Boyd Stadium • Whitney, NV W, 43–17 September 14 American Memphis South AlabamaLadd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL L, 6–42 September 14 C-USA Southern Miss Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL L, 42–47 September 14 American Texas State SMUGerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX L, 17–47 September 14 MAC Georgia State Western Michigan Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI L, 10–57 September 21 MAC Louisiana OhioPeden Stadium • Athens, OH W, 45–25 September 21 MAC Troy AkronInfoCision Stadium • Akron, OHW, 35–7 September 21 C-USA South Alabama UAB Legion Field • Birmingham, ALL, 35–3 October 5 American Memphis Louisiana–MonroeMalone Stadium • Monroe, LAL 33–52
Sun Belt vs FBS independents matchups The following games include Sun Belt teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes Army, Liberty, New Mexico State, or UMass.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score September 7 Independents Liberty LouisianaCajun Field • Lafayette, LA W 35–14 September 21 Independents Coastal Carolina UMass Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Amherst, MA W 62–28 October 19 Independents Army Georgia State Veterans Memorial Stadium • Atlanta, GA W 28–21 October 26 Independents New Mexico State Georgia Southern Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA W 41–7
Sun Belt vs FCS matchups
Date Visitor Home Site Score August 31 East Tennessee State Appalachian StateKidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC W, 42–7 August 31 Campbell Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL W, 43–14 August 31 Grambling State Louisiana–Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA W 31–9 September 7 Maine Georgia SouthernPaulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA W 26–18 September 7 Furman Georgia State Georgia State Stadium • Atlanta, GA W 48–42 September 14 Norfolk State Coastal CarolinaBrooks Stadium • Conway, SC W 46–7 September 14 Texas Southern Louisiana Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA W 77–6 September 21 Southern Illinois Arkansas StateCentennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR W 41–28 September 28 Nicholls Texas StateBobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX W 24–3
Postseason
Bowl games Legend Sun Belt win Sun Belt loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (CST)Sun Belt teamOpponentScoreAttendance Cure Bowl December 21 Exploria Stadium • Orlando, FL CBSSN 1:30 p.m. Georgia Southern Liberty 16–23 18,158 Camellia Bowl December 21 Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL ESPN 4:30 p.m. Arkansas State FIU 34–26 16,209 New Orleans Bowl December 21 Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA ESPN 8:00 p.m. No. 20 Appalachian State UAB 31–17 21,202 Arizona Bowl December 31 Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ CBSSN 3:30 p.m. Georgia State Wyoming 17–38 36,892 LendingTree Bowl January 6, 2020 Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL ESPN 6:30 p.m. Louisiana Miami (OH) 27–17 29,212
Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Mountain Time Zone. Sun Belt teams shown in bold.
Selection of teams Bowl eligible: Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana Bowl-ineligible: Coastal Carolina, Louisiana–Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors