Appalachian State Mountaineers: Five Key Games in 2016
- Georgia State Panthers – October 1
I always did like the conference opener as a key to the season. This is slightly less true for a conference favorite like the Mountaineers, but the Panthers were a bowl team last season. As a result they will give a good indicator of what the rest of the conference will potentially look like.
A loss to the Panthers would of course ruin everything, but that is true of just about any loss in the Sun Belt Conference.
- At Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns – October 12
- At Georgia Southern Eagles – October 27
Both of these games are on the road and both are against Sun Belt foes. The Cajuns represent the good teams of the past in the conference and mark one of the better road games on the schedule. The Cajuns are on probation right now, but they received few penalties for an assistant coach tampering with an entrance exam.
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The Eagles were a surprising stumbling block the first year both teams entered the conference. The option led Eagles dominated the conference two years ago and basically have already lost two head coaches to better jobs already. No one exactly knows what they will look like under new coach Tyson Summers, but the Mountaineers should take no old rival for granted.
So that is the ball game. Win all five and the path to greatness is open for you. Even losses to Tennessee and Miami should not stop the Mountaineers from winning the conference and heading to the New Orleans Bowl as the Sun Belt Champion.