After a disappointing 2001 season when they went 2-9 overall, the ASU Indians have turned to a new coach. Steve Roberts will begin his first season as the replacement for Joe Hollis. The Indians return a total of seventeen starters, nine on offense and eight on defense. The non-conference schedule has three very tough games and three winnable games for ASU. With seven home games and a majority of their starters returning, it’s possible that ASU could contend for a winning season. I think, however, it will take at least a couple years for the coaching change to make a difference, and the Indians will struggle again in ’02.

After several very successful seasons in a row, the Vandals took a couple steps back in 2001, going 1-10 overall, their only win coming in the Sun Belt. Seven starters each from the offense and defense return from the seventh place team in the Sun Belt just one season ago. The OOC schedule will be challening, but it does have a couple winnable games for UI. Half of the Vandals’ games are in Idaho though only five of them are on the UI campus. I expect the Vandals to pick the pace up again, but it will take a couple years to recover from last season’s disappointment.

The Ragin Cajuns once again had a sub-.500 season in 2001 but will now try to get things turned around with a new head coach. Rickey Bustle will take over for Jerry Baldwin in 2002. ULL returns ten offensive and six defensive starters from last year’s team that went 3-8 overall and finished tied for fourth in the conference. Although there are only five games on the ULL campus, seven of the twelve games on the Ragin Cajuns’ slate are in the state of Louisiana. ULL has a chance to be much improved, but I don’t think this is their year to challenge for the Sun Belt title.

Like their in-state rival, ULM struggled in the 2001 season but have many starters returning for the ’02 campaign. Half of the Indians’ games are on campus, and the non-conference schedule provides a couple chances for wins. Nine offensive and ten defensive starters return from the 2001 team that tied for fourth in the Sun Belt. With so many starters returning, ULM has a chance to put things together and make a run at a .500 record. I don’t think, though, that the Indians will do much better, if any, than last season’s 2-9 record.

The Blue Raiders had a very successful 2001 campaign but fell just short of receiving a berth to the New Orleans Bowl. MTSU is set to change that in 2002 though with 14 starters from last year’s team returning along with both kickers. The Blue Raiders went 8-3 overall but lost the conference tiebreaker with North Texas last season. The non-conference slate has challenging but winnable games for MTSU, and the conference schedule is by no means overwhelming. The final three games are at home for the Blue Raiders which should give them some momentum heading into the postseason and a bowl berth.

New Mexico State was two games over .500 in the Sun Belt last season but finished sub-.500 overall at 5-7. Only nine starters, five on offense and four on defense, return from the 2001 squad that finished third in the Sun Belt. The OOC schedule provides the Aggies with a couple chances for wins, but only five of NMSU’s twelve games are at home. I expect the Aggies to have a very similar year to 2001 this season and be around the .500 mark in both the conference and overall records.

After a trip to the first ever New Orleans Bowl, the Mean Green are looking for a return trip in ’02. Ten starters on each side of the ball return after last season’s first place finish in the Sun Belt. This year, North Texas has only five games on campus, but seven of the team’s twelve games are in the state of Texas. With so many starters returning, I expect the Mean Green to have another successful season in 2002, but I don’t think it will be enough to catch Middle Tennessee. I look for about the same record in both the conference and overall as last season, but this time the Mean Green will come up a little short of MTSU.