NEW ORLEANS – Five teams enter week three of Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer action tied for the top spot on the league table with four points each. Each has a chance to break out of the group as five conference matches take place over two days beginning Friday, Oct. 2, with all matches streamed live to ESPN+.
 
Week three marks the third consecutive week to feature Sun Belt teams with votes in the United Soccer Coaches Poll matching up. This week’s headliner sees No. 11 South Carolina (7-1-1, 1-0-1) travel to No. 16 West Virginia (5-1-2, 1-0-1) with both teams part of the five-way tie for the league lead.
 
LOG JAM
Through two weeks of conference action, six Sun Belt teams have yet to suffer a loss. Five teams (No. 11 South Carolina, Georgia Southern, No. 16 West Virginia, (RV) Marshall and James Madison) sit tied for first with four points and a 1-0-1 record while Coastal Carolina holds an 0-0-2 league ledger. Two members of the four-point group match up this week as No. 11 South Carolina visits No. 16 West Virginia while Georgia Southern hosts in-state rival Georgia State; (RV) Marshall visits UCF in a rematch of the 2025 Sun Belt Championship Game; and James Madison hosts Coastal Carolina.
 
BOUNCING BEORLEGUI
Georgia Southern first year forward Broden Beorlegui has taken the Sun Belt by storm just eight games into his college career. The Bradenton, Florida, native leads the Sun Belt with eight overall goals and three goals in conference play. His two goals against Old Dominion last week earned him Offensive Player of the Week honors and he has the Eagles tied for the conference points lead so far. His 1.00 goals per game are No. 2 in Division I and lead all freshmen by 0.20 goals per game.
 
PEACH STATE PARTY
Georgia State (5-3-2, 0-1-1) heads to Statesboro to take on Georgia Southern (5-1-2, 1-0-1) with the Eagles riding high after taking a 3-1 road win over ranked Old Dominion last week. Though, all bets are off in the battle of Georgia’s top programs. Southern beat State for the first time since Oct. 12, 2019, in last season’s regular season finale, snapping a span of nine matches that saw Georgia State go 8-0-1 over Georgia Southern. State will look to get back to business while Southern’s offensive attack may prove to be enough to overpower the Panthers.
 
STILL SEARCHING
No. 23 Old Dominion (8-2-0, 0-2-0) visits Kentucky (0-5-3, 0-1-1) with both teams looking for their first conference victories. Last season’s regular season champion hosts one of the top attacks in the country in what should be another tight Sun Belt bout. Old Dominion, after starting 8-0-0 on the year and holding the country’s longest unbeaten streak, has since dropped its first two Sun Belt matches to fall to 8-2-0. Kentucky is still in search of its first win on the year after a shocking 0-5-3, 0-1-1 record through eight contests this year.
 
GETTING BACK IN
(RV) Marshall (4-1-3, 1-0-1) hopes a trip to UCF (4-2-3, 0-1-1) can prove fruitful enough to get the Thundering Herd back in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25. The Herd spent over 2,400 days in the poll’s top 25 and opened the year ranked 17th and rose as high as 12th before falling out the top 25 on Sept. 15. A tie against No. 21 West Virginia at home did not move the needle for MU as they remained just outside the top 25 while WVU ticked up five spots (largely due to movement within the existing top 25). UCF, though, is no slouch. The 2025 Sun Belt Tournament Champions have one of the nation’s best netminders in Matisse Hebert. Hebert owns five shutouts on the year (third most in Division I) and holds a 0.78 goals against average.
 
TRENDING UPWARDS
Coastal Carolina (1-3-4, 0-0-2) travels to James Madison (3-4-2, 1-0-1) in a battle between trendy Sun Belt teams. James Madison already has more league wins that last season that saw the Dukes finish 0-6-3 while Coastal Carolina is two points out of first after finishing as the eight seed last year.
 
MARQUEE MEETING
No. 11 South Carolina (7-1-1, 1-0-1) visits No. 16 West Virginia (5-1-2, 1-0-1)  in a battle of Sun Belt heavyweights. West Virginia is unbeaten and untied at home this season with a 5-0-0 record, last tying in the regular season on Sept. 23, 2025, against No. 9 High Point and last losing in regulation on Sept. 3, 2025, against No. 3 Gardner-Webb, an active streak of 11-straight unbeaten games at home. South Carolina for their part is 3-0-0 on the road this year and looking to respond after a 0-1-1 week following the program’s first-ever No. 1 ranking.
 
POLLIN’ POLLIN’ POLLIN’
Four Sun Belt Conference programs were listed in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll, the second-most of any Division I conference in the most recent poll. South Carolina, West Virginia and Old Dominion check in inside the top 25 with No. 11, No. 16 and No. 23 rankings, respectively. Marshall sits just outside the top 25 as the first team outside of the poll with nine total votes. It is the third time this season the Sun Belt has three teams ranked in the top 25 and second week in a row.
 
THE BEST IS IN THE BELT
The Sun Belt is well-represented among the NCAA statistical top 10s this season across multiple categories. West Virginia’s offense is second in the country with 8.63 corner kicks per game.
Old Dominion ranks fifth with a +18 goal differential. The Monarchs also rank sixth in points per game (8.50), third in scoring offense (3.10), ninth in shot accuracy (.531), eighth in shots on goal per game (7.60), ninth in total assists (23), third in total goals (31), fourth in total points (85).
Georgia State ranks sixth in saves per game (5.80). UCF is eighth in shutout percentage (.556). South Carolina’s .833 winning percentage is ninth overall. Old Dominion, South Carolina and West Virginia are all batting 1.000 in penalty kicks to tie for the best mark in Division I.
 
RPI SUPERSTARS
Six Sun Belt teams ranked inside the top 100 of the most recent RPI report of the 2026 season. South Carolina led the country with a No. 1 rating while Old Dominion (15th), West Virginia (21st), Georgia Southern (39th), Marshall (62nd), and James Madison (84th) all rank inside the top 100. Coastal Carolina (115th), Georgia State (118th), UCF (134th) and Kentucky (177th) round out the group. As a conference, the Sun Belt is fourth overall in the RPI conference rankings.
 
NATIONAL NOTICE
West Virginia forward Pablo Pozos is in the national spotlight after earning a spot on the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List earlier this year. He also notched in on the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch listing and was ranked 53rd in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Preseason Top 100. UCF’s Takahiro Fujita also made the United Soccer Coaches listing and ranked 50th in TDS’s Top 100.
 
TITLE DEFENSES
Reigning Sun Belt regular season champion Kentucky is looking to turn things around after a 0-5-2 start to 2026. 2025 Sun Belt Tournament Champion UCF look to continue building on their 2025 momentum and 4-2-2 start to 2026. Historically, repeat conference champions are hard to come by as four different teams have hoisted the Sun Belt Championship Trophy since 2022
They are: Kentucky in 2022, Marshall in 2023, West Virginia in 2024, and UCF in 2025.
 

Date	Time	Matchup	Broadcast
Friday, Oct. 3	6 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at James Madison	ESPN+
Friday, Oct. 3	6 p.m.	No. 23 Old Dominion at Kentucky	ESPN+
Friday, Oct. 3	6 p.m.	Georgia State at Georgia Southern	ESPN+
Saturday, Oct. 4	6 p.m.	No. 11 South Carolina at No. 16 West Virginia	ESPN+
Saturday, Oct. 4	6 p.m.	(RV) Marshall at UCF	ESPN+