NEW ORLEANS — For the first time since it began sponsoring football in 2001, the Sun Belt Conference boasts a pair of ranked teams in the preseason editions of both the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 Poll. 
 
Coastal Carolina, which completed the first undefeated regular season in program history in 2020, earned a No. 24 ranking in the Coaches Poll and the No. 22 spot in the AP Poll. Louisiana was listed at No. 23 in both polls. 

     

Coming off a 2020 season in which it had two teams listed in the final College Football Playoff rankings for the first time in conference history, the Sun Belt is the lone Group of Five conference with multiple teams ranked in the preseason. These are the first-ever preseason rankings for reigning Sun Belt co-champions Coastal Carolina and Louisiana.
 
The Chanticleers compiled an 11-1 overall mark and finished the 2020 season ranked No. 14 in both polls—the highest final ranking of any Sun Belt program in the league’s 20-year football history. The Ragin’ Cajuns, who finished 10-1 on the year, closely followed Coastal Carolina at No. 15 in the final AP Poll and No. 16 in the final Coaches Poll. Louisiana (20) and Coastal Carolina (19) each return the majority of their starters on both sides of the ball. 
 
App State also received votes in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Preseason Coaches Poll. 
 
Coastal Carolina and Louisiana were Sun Belt co-champions in 2020, while App State won four-straight titles from 2016-19. Louisiana boasts three-straight Sun Belt West Division titles. 
 
The 2021 Sun Belt Conference season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 2, when No. 22/24 Coastal Carolina hosts The Citadel at 6 p.m. CT and App State takes on East Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte, N.C.. at 6:30 p.m. CT—live on ESPNU. 
 
No. 23/23 Louisiana will travel to Austin, Texas, to take on the No. 21/19-ranked Texas Longhorns in one of the most anticipated Week 1 matchups at 3:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 4, live on FOX.