The last full week of the season came by with a bit of a whimper for the Sun Belt. The Louisianas both needed upsets to get up to 7-5 and into better bowl position, but both came up short and will almost certainly call their seasons over at this point. Middle Tennessee continues to be a big bright spot for the league, earning their 9th win, which gives them the best record in the at-large bowl pool by two games. Things aren’t all done yet, as there are a few games coming up this weekend, including Western Kentucky’s last chance to send their coach on his way with one win on Thursday night.
Sun Belt Standings
| Conf | Overall | |
| Troy | 8-0 | 9-3 |
| Middle Tennessee State | 7-1 | 9-3 |
| Louisiana Monroe | 5-3 | 6-6 |
| Florida Atlantic | 4-3 | 4-7 |
| Louisiana Lafayette | 4-4 | 6-6 |
| Florida International | 3-4 | 3-8 |
| Arkansas State | 2-5 | 3-8 |
| North Texas | 1-7 | 2-10 |
| Western Kentucky | 0-7 | 0-11 |
Week 13 Results
Arkansas State 30, North Texas 26- North Texas staged a valiant comeback at the end, but the Red Wolves held them off and went on to grab their third win of the year. North Texas concludes a disappointing season after the promising win over Ball State in the first weekend.
Florida Atlantic 29, Western Kentucky 23- WKU inches closer to finding a win, but it wasn’t there this week either. With a win over Florida International, FAU will actually share third place in the league with Louisiana Monroe, although the Warhawks did take their game earlier this year. FAU’s terrible start doomed them to a poor record.
Middle Tennessee State 38, Louisiana Monroe 19- This game was a de facto fight for 2nd in the league and very possibly a berth in the GMAC or even New Orleans bowl, from what I’ve read. If Monroe had gotten to 7 wins, they might have been a better pick for a game in New Orleans or Mobile, but the Blue Raiders capped off their best season since joining 1-A, and appear poised to move into an at-large bowl spot comfortably.
Troy 48, Louisiana Lafayette 31- The Sun Belt doesn’t really recognize tiebreakers in their historical records of league champions, meaning that a Troy loss here would have meant that MTSU would have been league co-champion. Troy appeared to want no part in that, racing to a 24 point lead in the second quarter. Lafayette rallied in an attempt to salvage postseason hopes, even clawing back to a 25-24 lead, but Troy dominated the fourth quarter to conclude the perfect league season.
Week 13 Power Rankings
Unchanged from last week, actually, as the teams ahead beat the teams behind evenly.
- Troy
- Middle Tennessee State
- Louisiana Lafayette
- Louisiana Monroe
- Florida Atlantic
- Florida International
- Arkansas State
- North Texas
- Western Kentucky
Two belt games this weekend that we’ll try to preview, or at least mention, then a season wrapup next week.