2019 Sun Belt Football News and Notes:
Final Release (PDF) | Bowl Central | Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats 
Championship Game | Media Guide

AROUND #SUNBELTFB
 Sun Belt Conference football closed the 2019 season in historic fashion, achieving all-time bests in the national rankings and second-best bowl record among the 10 NCAA Football Subdivision conferences.

• The Sun Belt finished with a .600 bowl winning percentage, earning three wins in its five postseason matchups, to finish second to the Southeastern Conference (8-2, .800) and first among the Group of Five conferences.

1. Southeastern - 8-2 (.800)
2. Sun Belt - 3-2 (.600)
3. American Athletic - 4-3 (.571)
    Mountain West - 4-3 (.571)
    Pac-12 - 4-3 (.571)
6. Big Ten - 4-5 (.444)
7. Mid-American - 3-4 (.429)
8. Conference USA - 3-5 (.375)
9. Atlantic Coast - 4-7 (.364)
10. Big 12 - 1-5 (.167)

• The Sun Belt holds the best bowl winning percentage (.667, 14-7) among all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences over the last four seasons (2016-19).

1. Sun Belt - 14-7 (.667)
2. Southeastern - 25-19 (.568)
3. Mountain West - 14-11 (.560)
4. Big 12 - 15-15 (.500)
5. Big Ten - 19-17 (.527)
6. Atlantic Coast - 23-21 (.523)
7. Conference USA - 15-15 (.500)
8. American Athletic - 12-17 (.414)
9. Pac-12 - 11-18 (.379)
10. Mid-American - 5-18 (.217)

• With 25 non-conference wins (regular season and postseason) this season, the Sun Belt reset its all-time high of 24 set just a season ago. In 2018, the Sun Belt posted the best winning percentage (.545, 24-20) against non-conference opponents among the Group of Five conferences.

• The Sun Belt built on its non-conference success from a year ago with 22 regular-season wins and the third-best winning percentage this season among the Group of Five conferences.

1. American Athletic - 33-14 (.702)
2. Mountain West - 29-18 (.617)
3. Sun Belt - 22-18 (.550)
4. Conference USA - 24-32 (.429)
5. Mid-American - 18-30 (.375)

• Leading the league's historic season was Appalachian State. The Mountaineers capped off their season with several firsts in school and conference history, including finishing ranked 20th in the final College Football Playoff Rankings, the best record among Group of Five teams, and in the final Top 25 in both national polls – 19th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 18th in the  Amway Coaches powered by USA Today Sports Top 25.

• Appalachian State captured its fourth-straight conference crown and won its second-straight Sun Belt Football Championship Game en route to running their bowl record to 5-0.

• Louisiana was among the teams receiving votes in both final Top 25 polls, putting a stamp on its milestone season. The Ragin' Cajuns recorded a school-record 11 wins, a second-straight Sun Belt West Division title and their first bowl win outside of the state of Louisiana since 1944.

• The Sun Belt recorded four wins against Autonomy Five conference opponents in the same season for the first time in conference history, including firsts for Georgia State and Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State becoming the first conference history to achieve two wins against Autonomy Five schools in the same season. Ten of the league’s last 12 Autonomy Five wins and all four this season have been on the road.

• Appalachian State was the first Sun Belt program to earn a College Football Playoff Top 25 in-season ranking and also be ranked in both national polls (20th in both the Associated Press Top 25 and Amway Coaches powered by USA Today Sports Top 25 polls in the Dec. 8 release) at the same time. 

• Appalachian State was the first Sun Belt team and the first FBS team from the state of North Carolina to win 13 games. The Mountaineers are the first FBS program to win five bowl games in each of its first five bowl-eligible seasons. Appalachian State's 13 wins tie for the second-highest total by a Group of Five conference team since the Sun Belt was established as an FBS conference in 2001. Boise State had a Group of Five record 14 wins in 2009. The 13-win Group of Five teams before the Mountaineers – 2017 UCF, 2016 Western Michigan, 2015 Houston, 2014 Marshall, 2011 Houston, 2010 TCU, 2010 Nevada, 2008 Utah and 2006 Boise.

• Arkansas State reached eight wins for the second year in a row and earned its first bowl victory since the 2016 Cure Bowl. The Red Wolves were bowl eligible for the ninth-straight season (2011-19) and 12th time in the last 15 seasons. The Red Wolves reached bowl eligibility in 10 games or less in each of those seasons. With 34 points in its Camellia Bowl win over FIU, Arkansas State has scored 30 or more in 71 of its last 107 games dating back to 2014 and has won 55 of its last 64 games when scoring at least 30 points.

• Georgia Southern dropped its first bowl game in its third FBS bowl appearance. The Eagles scored touchdowns in all three phases of the game (offense, defense and special team in three games this season – Minnesota, New Mexico State and ULM). Georgia Southern scored touchdowns in various ways, including two interception returns, one blocked field goal return, one punt return, one kickoff return and one fumble return.

• Georgia State's five-game improvement over last season (2-10 to 7-6) ranked third in the FBS behind Navy and Central Michigan. The Panthers, in just its 10th season of football and sixth at the FBS level, played in a bowl game for the third time since 2015. Four seniors (cornerback Khai Anderson, offensive lineman Hunter Atkinson, linebacker Ed Curney and placekicker/punter Brandon Wright) played on all three bowl games in program history.

• Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson won the 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl-FWAA Courage Award. Anderson coached the Red Wolves to a 7-5 record this fall following the death of his wife, Wendy, who passed away after a two-year battle with breast cancer.

• Carolina senior defensive lineman Jonathan Clayton earned second-team honors on the 2019 Academic All-America® NCAA Division I Football Teams, as selected by CoSIDA. Clayton was just the fourth Chanticleer football student-athlete to receive Academic All-America recognition joining Josh Hoke (2005 and 2006), Marcus Lott (2011) and Alex Ross (2015). He was also the first Chant to earn the national academic honor since Ross in 2015.

• Several Sun Belt football standouts shined in four college all-star games – NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, East-West Shrine Bowl, Reese's Senior Bowl and Newsweek Hula Bowl – to close out the 2019 season.

• A total of 13 former Sun Belt football standouts, including six on active rosters, were with teams that advanced to the NFL postseason. Georgia Southern's Matt Breida played Super Bowl LIV and Georgia State's Wil Lutz appeared in his first Pro Bowl.

• Seven Sun Belt football standouts received invitations to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine set for Feb. 24-March 1 in Indianapolis. Appalachian State's Akeem Davis-Gaither and Darrynton Evans, Arkansas State's Omar Bayless, Georgia Southern's Tyler Bass and Kindle Vildor and Louisiana's Raymond Calais and Robert Hunt are among the 337 prospects invited to attend the annual event.

• Appalachian State led Division I football programs in community service for the 2019-20 academic year based on hours recorded by the Helper Helper platform. The Mountaineers had participation from 100 percent of their team members and totaled more than 8,000 hours of service. Used by colleges and universities in 46 states, Helper Helper tracks service hours for hundreds of NCAA schools and is the official partner for NCAA Teamworks.

• Former Coastal Carolina football student-athlete Nicholas Clark was appointed chair of the NCAA Board of Governors Student-Athlete Engagement Committee for the 2019-20 academic year. Clark has served on the NCAA Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, including a stint as chair. He was named one of eight winners of the 2019 John McLendon Minority Postgraduate Scholarship Awards. Clark served as chair of the Sun Belt SAAC during the 2016-17 academic year and received the Sun Belt Medal of Honor in 2019.