It feels so damn good to have college football back. Even if we aren’t getting the marquee match-ups we thought we were going to get, and even if some conferences are starting later than others, it’s just nice to get back at it after everything we’ve been through this year. I’ll sit and watch Oklahoma, Texas, and Clemson blow out inferior competition – I don’t care. But, it’s pretty wild to see that even as some things stay the same, like those early season cupcake games, there’s still room for surprises in this strange season. Namely, the fact that THREE Sun Belt teams went up against the Big 12 on Saturday, and spoiler alert – the Sun Belt conference went 3-0.
So, I think it’s only reasonable that we look at this as our first big surprise of the season – the Sun Belt owns the Big 12. How’d we get here?
- Louisiana 31, Iowa State 14
- Arkansas State 35, Kansas State 31
- Coastal Carolina 38, Kansas 23
Man, what WASN’T there to like about the Iowa State Cyclones prior to the season starting?! Brock Purdy is back at quarterback, a kid who could be one of the top few quarterbacks selected in the NFL Draft next spring. Matt Campbell is one of the best coaches in college football, and it seems like only a matter of time before he takes a gig at a bigger job. This was supposed to be a program on the rise, and if ever there was a year for them to take that next step, it was 2020. Instead, this was the scene after the game:
Just another Saturday afternoon for the #cULture. pic.twitter.com/S70w1bCG1m
— Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns® Football (@RaginCajunsFB) September 12, 2020
Tough day for Iowa State fans and also for sports writers that may or may not have gone on Twitter the morning of the game and called the Cyclones a dark horse contender for a College Football Playoff appearance (oops, guilty).
The Red Wolves came back to beat K-State with just 38 seconds left in the game. At one point, they hung 21 unanswered on the Wildcats. Just a gutsy win for a program that hasn’t done something like it since beating Texas A&M in 2008. They’re going to be one of the teams to watch in this conference.
What’s crazy is that this is the second year in a row that Coastal Carolina has beaten Kansas. Wasn’t Les Miles supposed to turn that Jayhawks program around? Nah, he still thinks he’s at LSU. Anyway, being upset by what was eventually a 5-7 team in 2019 is one thing – doubling down and losing to that program in 2020 is another. This just isn’t a good look for the Big 12.
While everyone was talking about whether or not they’d be playing football this fall, the Sun Belt was like, “hell naw, we’re going no matter what.” There was never a question of whether or not the season would go on (I can’t actually confirm this) because nothing stops the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt fears nothing, not even a global pandemic. I think that sort of brazen toughness gives every team in this conference an edge in mental fortitude. Terrorists could be dropping nukes on the United States and the Sun Belt would still be holding conference games. Completely unbothered.
When you factor in App State and Georgia Southern also starting the season undefeated, I think it’s safe to say that the Sun Belt has arrived as one of the new Power 5 conferences since the Big Ten and Pac-12 canceled. Maybe that’s a bigger surprise than any of us could’ve seen coming, but here we are. Time to start talking about a potential College Football Playoff contender out of this bunch…
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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