Bless you, Fun Belt. No, that is not the classic Southern “Bless Your Heart” (Fun Belt folks would know), rather it’s a genuine heartfelt bless you to the boys of the Fun Belt. On Saturday Louisiana-Lafayette took Iowa State to the woodshed, Arkansas State scored a road win at Kansas State, and Coastal Carolina took care of business at Kansas.
First of all, I would like to congratulate the Fun Belt on its annexation of the state of Kansas. All that wheat they grow now belongs to you. But I would also like to congratulate the Fun Belt on bringing that first jolt of energy to a strange college football season. The sparse schedule in week one saw nothing but blowouts, and on paper week two appeared to be heading in a similar direction. However, the Fun Belt was here to give us that shakeup, and it is the perfect conference to do so. In a normal year these wins would make headlines, but they would be buried under marquee non-conference games that the media would be salivating over. This year, the Fun Belt has put itself squarely on the map as a league of interest. And oh by the way, the best team in the conference was not even a part of these three big wins.
This weekend was maybe the most important weekend in Fun Belt football history. Of the ten FBS conferences, the Fun Belt is almost always 9th or 10th in conference power rankings. Appalachian State has dominated the league since moving up to FBS, and last year's App team is the only Fun Belt team ever to finish the year ranked. The ceiling for the league has always been a berth in the R+L Carriers New Orleans bowl, but this could be an opportunity to break through that ceiling. With COVID-19 who knows how the bowl situation plays out, but with all of the conferences not playing, and the big wins scored by Fun Belt teams, the door is as open as it's ever been for this little southeastern segment of college football. As the nickname would indicate, these teams are fun as hell. App State just romps over everyone and has no fear, Billy Napier is an up and coming coach whose Ragin Cajuns were flat out faster than Iowa State, Georgia Southern’s triple option is downright mean, and Blake Anderson at Arkansas State is one of the most inspiring stories in all of college football. The Fun Belt now has two ranked teams, and a third knocking on the door.
The league that was most known for playing on Wednesday nights in October with few fans at games will now have games that are nationally relevant. It’s only right that in an extremely wacky year of college football this extremely wacky conference gets to step into the spotlight. Go ahead and circle Wednesday, October 7th, on your calendar. The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns travel to Boone, NC, that night in what could be the most important conference matchup in Fun Belt history. It’s only right that we get that game on a Wednesday. Y’all tune in for some Fun Belt action this year. Savor every second of college football that is played, and give this wacky little league its shine. This conference has been fighting for years for some respect and it sure as hell deserves it. To Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas State, and Coastal Carolina thank you for making college football truly feel “back”. Thank you for bringing your Fun Belt flavor to the forefront of a college football Saturday. Thank you, Fun Belt, stay blessed.
Also Georgia State still has a win streak over Tennessee #FunBelt
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