WEEK 13 CONFERENCE NOTES
NEW ORLEANS – Three teams—Southern Miss, Arkansas State and Troy—remain in the Sun Belt West Division hunt heading into the penultimate weekend of the regular season.
No. 21/22 James Madison, which has already clinched the East Division’s berth to the Credit Union 1 Sun Belt Football Championship Game presented by Visit Pensacola, will step out of conference play to host Washington State in Week 13.
Three teams—Arkansas State, Georgia Southern and Marshall—can get bowl eligible with victories in Week 13, while App State, Louisiana and Texas State can remain in the postseason hunt with wins.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- THURSDAY NIGHT PLANS – Two of the three programs that have competed in all 25 seasons of Sun Belt football—and two of the three winningest programs in Sun Belt history—will meet on the gridiron on Thursday, Nov. 20, when Arkansas State hosts Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN. For the second-straight week, the Sun Belt matchup will have standalone billing as the lone FBS football game on Thursday night. Louisiana leads the all-time series 30-22-1, including a 15-8 mark as Sun Belt Conference foes and a 7-3 record over the last 10 matchups. The Ragin’ Cajuns have won two-straight to continue their quest for an eighth-straight Bowl Season berth, while the Red Wolves had a four-game winning streak snapped by Sun Belt West Division-leading Southern Miss in Week 11. Louisiana needs to close out the regular season with back-to-back wins to secure bowl eligibility, while Arkansas State can clinch bowl eligibility with a win Thursday night.
- THE POWER OF PAULSON – Old Dominion looks to even the all-time series when it travels to Georgia Southern at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, on ESPN+. After winning the first three meetings, Georgia Southern maintains a 3-2 edge in the all-time series—though Old Dominion has proven victorious in each of the past two seasons. Both teams are coming off statement Week 12 wins—Old Dominion defeated Troy, 33-0, and Georgia Southern defeated Coastal Carolina, 45-40—with Credit Union 1 Sun Belt Football Championship Game presented by Visit Pensacola implications. Old Dominion has already clinched bowl eligibility and its first winning season since 2016, while Georgia Southern can clinch bowl eligibility for the fourth-straight year with a victory on Saturday. The Eagles are 221-52 all-time inside Allen E. Paulson Stadium—the fourth-best winning percentage of all active FBS home fields.
- STEPPING OUT – Sun Belt East Division champion No. 21/22 James Madison and Coastal Carolina will step out of conference play in Week 13, before meeting head-to-head to close out the 2025 regular season. The Dukes will play host to Washington State at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, on ESPN+, ahead of the Chanticleers visit to South Carolina at 3:15 p.m. on SEC Network. The Dukes boast the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation at eight games, trailing only the nation’s three unbeaten teams Ohio State (14), Indiana (11) and Texas A&M (10) and are 1-of-2 remaining one-loss teams to hail from a non-autonomy conference. James Madison is 1-of-5 teams in the country to rank among the Top 15 nationally in scoring offense and scoring defense, alongside Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas Tech. With Saturday’s sellout, Bridgeforth Stadium will be sold out for all Dukes regular-season home games for the first time since the venue’s expansion in 2011. A Coastal Carolina victory over in-state foe South Carolina on Saturday would give the Sun Belt multiple wins over autonomy conference opposition for the fourth-straight season—every year since the conference expanded to 14 football-playing members.
- BOWL BOUND? – Bowl hopes for Marshall, App State and Texas State will be on the line in conference matchups on ESPN+ on Saturday, Nov. 22. Marshall will travel to App State for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff, while Texas State will host ULM at 4:00 p.m. App State leads Marshall, 16-11, in the all-time series, with the home team proving victorious in each of the past five seasons. The Mountaineers need to close out the regular season with back-to-back wins inside Kidd Brewer Stadium to claim bowl eligibility, while the Thundering Herd can clinch bowl eligibility with a rivalry win Saturday. After securing its first conference victory a week ago, Texas State also needs back-to-back home wins to secure bowl eligibility for the third-straight season. The Bobcats have won four of the last five head-to-head matchups with the Warhawks.
- UPPER WEST SIDE – Two teams that control their own destiny in pursuit of the West Division berth to the Credit Union 1 Sun Belt Football Championship Game presented by Visit Pensacola will look to get back to their winning ways before meeting head-to-head to close out the 2025 regular season. Southern Miss will visit regional rival South Alabama at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, on ESPN+, prior to Troy hosting cross-division foe Georgia State at 3:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The Golden Eagles had a five-game winning streak snapped in Week 12, while the Trojans have dropped back-to-back contests on the heels of a five-game winning streak of their own. Southern Miss will be looking for its first-ever win over South Alabama, which is 5-0 in the all-time series. Troy claims a 6-4 all-time edge over Georgia State, including winning five of the last six meetings.
WHERE TO WATCH
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