(08-03-2017 07:26 AM)EigenEagle Wrote:  

(08-02-2017 09:57 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(08-02-2017 09:47 PM)EigenEagle Wrote:  Idaho has also had more years of bowl eligibility than GS, App, South, Texas State, and Ga State combined.

Also worth pointing out the SBC had pretty limited bowl tie-ins for a while.

Combine all those schools and you get to even with Idaho in bowl wins. And it goes both ways -- in today's bowl landscape we would have been bowling in a couple other years, too.

I'm not saying you guys aren't good programs. I really like the Sun Belt and I wish we could have stuck around. I just don't think most schools here have earned the right to feel like we're beneath them on the field.

Your first two wins were before any team on that list played a down of FBS football, and the first one was before Troy even became FBS.

I don't know how many bowl tie-ins the WAC had year by year but Idaho only 6 of your 21 seasons in FBS did you top 6 wins. The idea that only Ark STate has any real claim to be better than Idaho is stretch.

I count 18 FBS seasons combined between the schools you mentioned. That's nearly as many as Idaho. The "anybody with six wins makes a bowl" era didn't begin until the past few years, and those are basically the only years these schools were in FBS. You can't argue it both ways.

(08-03-2017 07:52 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  The only reason Idaho is being kicked out of the conference is because of geography. Idaho and NMSU were added as football only schools along with GS and App to get the conference to 12 members for a CCG. Then the NCAA said conferences can have a CCG with less than 12 members, and the Sun Belt wanted to focus on having a compact league in the East. Therefore, the SBC didn't need NMSU or Idaho for a CCG and dropped them. If Idaho was located in Tennessee or Missouri, they would still be in the conference.

Arguing about how good Idaho is or was is a moot point because that's not the reason Idaho was booted from the conference.

Oh, I get it, and it's a perfectly valid reason. I'm only reacting to the idea that somehow Idaho isn't a decent team but all these other schools are.

(08-03-2017 08:36 AM)Cajun_lannister Wrote:  

(08-02-2017 09:37 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(08-02-2017 08:17 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(08-02-2017 04:54 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  Not looking to start a fight, but since we're here -- Idaho has been here 3 years. If we're below the threshold of a decent team during that period then so is everyone in the conference other than App St., Arkansas State and Georgia Southern.

I'm not either. It should be pointed out though, that Idaho has been bad for a long time, even before they joined the SBC. The schedules may have been a little tougher, but not enough to go 1-11 and 2-10 most years. '09, '10, and '16 were the only years since 2001 that you guys have won decent number of games. The teams you mentioned have all had much better runs during that time. Idaho has to prove that '16 wasn't a year of overachieving - that Idaho is the real deal.

Not saying you do this, but there are people here who act like this conference is full of world-beater badass football programs and everything will be awesome when it gets rid of the schlubs at Idaho. Once again I post the comprehensive list of Sun Belt schools with more bowl wins in the past decade than Idaho:

1. Arkansas State

That's the list. And here's the list of Sun Belt schools with more bowl wins in the past 2 decades than Idaho:

1. Nobody.

Yep, we've had some very bad years in FBS. So has everybody else in the Sun Belt not named App St. (and I guess Georgia Southern although last year was nothing to write home about for them). And for the 3 year period Idaho has been in this conference, I could have taken your original post, substituted "Troy" for "Idaho" and it would have been factually just as true.

Do Vacated bowl wins count?

Not in Wikipedia, apparently. Count 'em if you want 'em.

(08-03-2017 11:00 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(08-03-2017 07:52 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  The only reason Idaho is being kicked out of the conference is because of geography. Idaho and NMSU were added as football only schools along with GS and App to get the conference to 12 members for a CCG. Then the NCAA said conferences can have a CCG with less than 12 members, and the Sun Belt wanted to focus on having a compact league in the East. Therefore, the SBC didn't need NMSU or Idaho for a CCG and dropped them. If Idaho was located in Tennessee or Missouri, they would still be in the conference.

Arguing about how good Idaho is or was is a moot point because that's not the reason Idaho was booted from the conference.

Oh, I get it, and it's a perfectly valid reason. I'm only reacting to the idea that somehow Idaho isn't a decent team but all these other schools are.

Idaho is a very good team and there's a ton of respect from conference mates about what Petrino has been able to do recently. As a team, Idaho is as good as any going into 2017 in my opinion. My issue was never about Idaho's current team. It's about the program's history, whether or not that success could be sustained, and how much of their current success can be attributed to the drop down itself and proving everyone wrong.

I won't say anything more about it, and I really didn't mean for it to be a multi-page issue. Those are just my thoughts. No disrespect. I hope Idaho has a great season except for one game.

(08-03-2017 11:21 AM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

(08-03-2017 11:00 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(08-03-2017 07:52 AM)TrueBlueDrew Wrote:  The only reason Idaho is being kicked out of the conference is because of geography. Idaho and NMSU were added as football only schools along with GS and App to get the conference to 12 members for a CCG. Then the NCAA said conferences can have a CCG with less than 12 members, and the Sun Belt wanted to focus on having a compact league in the East. Therefore, the SBC didn't need NMSU or Idaho for a CCG and dropped them. If Idaho was located in Tennessee or Missouri, they would still be in the conference.

Arguing about how good Idaho is or was is a moot point because that's not the reason Idaho was booted from the conference.

Oh, I get it, and it's a perfectly valid reason. I'm only reacting to the idea that somehow Idaho isn't a decent team but all these other schools are.

Idaho is a very good team and there's a ton of respect from conference mates about what Petrino has been able to do recently. As a team, Idaho is as good as any going into 2017 in my opinion. My issue was never about Idaho's current team. It's about the program's history, whether or not that success could be sustained, and how much of their current success can be attributed to the drop down itself and proving everyone wrong.

I won't say anything more about it, and I really didn't mean for it to be a multi-page issue. Those are just my thoughts. No disrespect. I hope Idaho has a great season except for one game.

Idaho people are a little touchy right now. I didn't really mean for this to happen either.

(08-02-2017 03:31 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  

Quote:10. Sun Belt

The Sun Belt is far from a laughingstock. Putting the SBC here at No. 10 isn’t a slight, but someone has to be last. The Sun Belt has a lot of parity through the middle of the conference, but it’s not a bunch that will all go 8-4 or 9-3. Appalachian State — and maybe Arkansas State — is the only team that stands out among the 12. Don’t be surprised if the Mountaineers give Georgia a scare in Week 1.

And a reminder, the Sun Belt is losing two pretty decent teams after 2017. Idaho is dropping down to the FCS level while New Mexico State is going independent. But they were more Sun Belt members out of convenience rather than geographical fit anyway.

NMSU is not a decent team, and Idaho has had one good year, which we are all very proud of. Other than that, we're much better off, on the field and off the field, without them. No offense to any Idaho or NMSU fans.

As for Troy, I have high hopes and hopefully last season won't be a fluke. I really don't think it was, but we'll know more when we hit the field on Sept 2.

With Silvers at QB and the style of offense you run, Troy is in no real danger of regressing.