NEW ORLEANS – No. 21 West Virginia (5-1-1, 1-0-0) travels south to take on (RV) Marshall (4-1-2, 1-0-0) in the 32nd edition of the Mountain State Derby as all 10 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Programs take to the pitch this weekend for the second week of conference play.
 
The full Sun Belt membership kicks off within 15 minutes of each other with four matches slated for a 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) kick. No. 15 Old Dominion (8-1-0, 0-1-0) travels to Georgia Southern (4-1-2, 0-0-1); Georgia State (5-3-1, 0-1-0) hosts Coastal Carolina (1-3-3, 0-0-1); No. 1 South Carolina (7-1-0, 1-0-0) hosts James Madison (3-4-2, 1-0-0); and UCF (4-2-2, 0-1-0) hosts Kentucky (0-5-2, 0-1-0) with all kickoffs at 6 p.m. The Mountain State Derby gets underway shortly after with a scheduled kick of 6:15 p.m. CT (7:15 p.m. ET).
 
All matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
FEELING COCKY
South Carolina put the nation on notice earlier this season after knocking off No. 16 Clemson in the Palmetto Series in front of a record crowd at Stone Stadium. The Gamecocks did not stop there, picking up wins at No. 25 Charlotte and No. 14 High Point to move to 5-0-0 on the year. After adding a win over No. 13 Old Dominion to its resume, the Gamecocks were the unanimous No. 1 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll. It was the first time in program history to reach No. 1 and fourth current Sun Belt member to reach the top of the poll since 2022. South Carolina’s 7-0-0 start was the best in school history since 2003, though a setback against College of Charleston snapped the unbeaten streak. Five weeks in, the Gamecocks look to shatter preseason expectations after being picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll.
 
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, Old Dominion and West Virginia check in inside the top 25 with No. 1, No. 15 and No. 21 rankings, respectively. Marshall looks to break back into the top 25 and is receiving votes just outside of the top 25. It is the second time this season the Sun Belt has three teams ranked in the top 25.
 
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 third in the country with 8.86 corner kicks per game.
Old Dominion ranks third with a +20 goal differential. The Monarchs also rank third in points per game (9.22), second in scoring offense (3.33), eighth in shot accuracy (.532), sixth in shots on goal per game (8.22), ninth in total assists (23), third in total goals (30), third in total points (83) and fourth in W-L-T percentage (.889). Georgia State’s .844 save percentage is the 10th best nationally while they rank sixth in saves per game (6.00). UCF is fourth in shutout percentage (.625) while West Virginia is 10th (.571). 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 (14th, West Virginia (18th), Marshall (71st), Georgia Southern (94th) and Georgia State (99th) all ranked inside the top 100. UCF (112), James Madison (135), Coastal Carolina (141) and Kentucky (182) round out the overall group.
 
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