PHIL STEELE RANKS AAC BEST G5 CONFERENCE, SUN BELT LAST. COMPARE OUR 3RD PLACE SUN BELT RANKING TO STEELE'S

PHIL STEELE RANKS CONFERENCES

Original G5 Blog Material

Phil Steele, the College Football prediction guru, has released his College Football Conference rankings list. Steele lists the G5 conferences in the following order:

1. AAC
2. MWC
3. MAC
4. CONFERENCE USA
5. SUN BELT

Steele's rankings and the G5 Blog rankings are similar only in the first two spots where we both have the AAC and MWC in the 1 and 2 positions.  Here are the G5 Blog Conference rankings from  two months ago.

1. AAC
2. MWC
3. SUN BELT
4. MAC
5. CONFERENCE USA
( For a more in depth explanation of these rankings click here: G5 NEWS AND ISSUES CONFERENCE RANKINGS


Some disagreed with the G5 Blog and its number 3 ranking of the the Sun Belt .  Here is what I wrote about the Sun Belt and its number 3 spot in our list:

3. SUN BELT CONFERENCE : This might come as a surprise to some people, but not to those who follow the Belt closely.  The Sunbelt has earned its number 3 rating because of strong football and strong football schools that have been added since realignment. App State and Ga Southern were excellent  picks for the Sunbelt.  The Sunbelt has more pure football schools in it's conference than the MAC and Conf USA do. What the Sunbelt is missing however, is competitive basketball. Sunbelt basketball should be sued for gross negligence. If I were Commissioner  Karl Benson, I would hold an emergency meeting with the conference AD's to discuss the dismal state of Sunbelt basketball. On the other hand, football schools like Ark State, ULL and the new additions of the Sunbelt should keep this conference competitive for many years to come.

I am perplexed as to why Steele ranks the Sun Belt last among the G5 Conferences as his own statements and data seem to contradict his rating of the Belt.  Concerning the 2014 Sun Belt Steele writes:

"Last year the Sun Belt went 19-21 in nonconference action, which was the best mark in their history and a better overall record than the Mountain West, C-USA and MAC. "

These comments and data make it clear that the Sun Belt was more competitive than both the MAC and Conference USA last year. Not only did the Sun Belt have the best non conference record last year but one of the Belt's best teams,  UL , has beaten the likes of ECU, Tulane and San Diego State in the last 3 years. 

It's clear that the Sun Belt still has work to do in transforming its brand and image. The Belt  will need to continue to win key OOC games as well as games  against  other G5 schools  in order to make believers out of doubters. The good news for Sun Belt fans is that it's leadership has chosen wisely in bringing in football centric schools like App State and Ga Southern to replace the programs that left for Conference USA.

We will revisit our own G5 Conference rankings and Steel's rankings at the end of the season and grade each one in accordance with how close or far away each of us has been. Stay tuned.