Who Are the Betting Favorites to Win the Sun Belt? App. State, JMU Will Keep it Fun

Another one of the toughest places to play. Another blue blood. Another little old Sun Belt team that doesn’t belong. Another physically dominant win for the Group of Five.

In the words of the guy that doesn’t think teams like @HerdFB belong, this was not a fluke. If the game… pic.twitter.com/wcPMW6t7WM

— Group Of Five Guys (@GroupOfFiveGuys) July 3, 2024

Perennial Group of Five darlings Appalachian State is the favorite to win the conference at +300. After App. State, there are a lot of teams bunched again who are viewed as contenders.

Portal kings Texas State is coming off a surprising run in 2023 and is next in line at +500. Louisiana is just behind the Bobcats at +550. Other conference contenders to keep an eye on are James Madison (+800), South Alabama (+800), Troy (+1000) and Coastal Carolina (+1200).

Let’s have a little fun and look at my betting favorites in the Sun Belt.

All this conference realignment has me really grateful that we play in the best conference in the land.. please never change, @SunBelt pic.twitter.com/VDxHaDqTro

— Barstool Texas State (@BarstoolTXST) July 1, 2024

Betting Favorites: Three Sun Belt Contenders You Need to Watch

1. Appalachian State: You Know Why We’re Here

One of the hard things about being a top team in the Sun Belt is that both your coaches and players are in serious danger of being poached. A good starting point for potential success is retaining your head coach and quarterback.

The Mountaineers do just that with head coach Shawn Clark and QB Joey Aguilar returning to Boone, North Carolina. Aguilar threw for 3,757 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while completing 63.7% of his passes in 2023.

All white for @AppState_FB #uniswag pic.twitter.com/1vQ2Hy9sOV

— UNISWAG (@UNISWAG) October 20, 2023

It won’t impact their conference title chances, but App. State gets a chance to make some noise with a trip to Clemson on September 7.

2. JMU Experienced the Hardships of Winning in the Sun Belt

To the victor belong the spoils, but not necessarily in the Group of Five. The Dukes won their first 10 games, sparking controversy based on weird NCAA rules that made them ineligible to make a New Year’s Six game.

“Biggest crowd in the history of College GameDay with 2ok (26k+) people at #JMU 🤯 Broke the 30 year record!! Let’s get it!! Thanks for having us James Madison University espn” #GoDukes https://t.co/K4IzOF70gu pic.twitter.com/EoasvNWnDv

— Wei (@JMU_GoDukes) June 29, 2024

Turns out it didn’t matter as James Madison dropped two of their final three games to finish an impressive 11-2 as App State played spoiler with an overtime upset victory.

App State ends JMU’s undefeated season in OT with College Gameday in town💔pic.twitter.com/kfqCr7VZMe

— On3 (@On3sports) November 18, 2023

James Madison lost their head coach, quarterback, and a lot else. Former head coach Curt Cignetti bolted for Indiana. New head coach Bob Chesney told Athlon Sports that he is replacing 96% of last season’s production.

Here’s to the 4% and new QB Dylan Morris who is a promising transfer from Washington making the Dukes an enticing bet in our college football betting lines.

3. Texas State Played Chicken With the Portal and Won

Revamping almost your entire roster via the transfer portal is risky business, just ask Coach Prime. Yet, it seemed to work for G.J. Kinne who led the Bobcats to a respectable 8-5 in his first season at Texas State.

𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐓𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘‼️

𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒, 𝐈𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐃𝐈 𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐁𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋-𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐘𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑‼️#TakeBackTexas #TouchdownTuesday pic.twitter.com/6IuhfVgD3F

— Texas State Football (@TXSTATEFOOTBALL) July 2, 2024

Kinne is one of the best offensive minds not just in the Sun Belt but all of college football. The coach poached JMU quarterback Jordan McCloud making this team one to watch for the title race.

Picking a Sun Belt winner is a bit like predicting a Kanye West social media post, you never know exactly what you are going to get. If pressed, I’ll ride with the explosive Wildcats who sit at +500 in our sportsbook odds.

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