The Sun Belt Conference plays regular season games on the first Saturday of December, when other conferences play championship games. With the Big 12 returning to the use of a conference championship game, the Sun Belt is the only one of the 10 college football conferences to not have a conference title clash. The league decides its champions the old-fashioned way, by playing a set of league games and allowing for split titles if the numbers line up that way. Appalachian State is part of a three-way tie for the Sun Belt lead entering the final weekend of the regular season. The Mountaineers are tied with Troy and Arkansas State. The Trojans and Red Wolves play each other, so if Appalachian State wins, ASU will know that it will share the Sun Belt title with the Troy-Arkansas State winner. This is a huge game for Appalachian State – will the visitors from Lafayette, Louisiana, be able to spoil the party?
Details
Odds: Mountaineers -15
Date & Time: Saturday, December 2, 2:30 PM ET
Location: Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone, NC
Broadcast: ESPN3
Reasons To Bet On The Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns
This is a team with nothing to lose. The Ragin’ Cajuns are trying to get to 6-6, a record which will make them eligible for a bowl, but it is far from certain that a 6-6 record will guarantee a bowl. There are more 6-6 teams than the current number of bowl slots will be able to hold. The Cajuns don’t know for sure that they will have another 2017 game to play after this one. They can just let it rip and play spoiler, with all the freedom that entails. The Cajuns have not been terrible in the Sun Belt. They are in fifth place with a 4-3 league record. They did not handle Arkansas State well at all, but sliced through New Mexico State and generally took care of the lower half of the league with the sole exception of Georgia Southern, the one upset loss this team endured in the Sun Belt. This team is inconsistent, but it has scored 50 points in a game this season and has held multiple opponents under 17 points. It is capable of putting the pieces together, but two sides of the ball rarely play well at the same time. If that happens in this game, though, it can become a memorable day for a team trying to close the season on a strong note.
Reasons To Bet On The Appalachian State Mountaineers
This team has finished at or near the top of the Sun Belt over the past few seasons, establishing the level of consistency ULL used to have, but has not been able to maintain. Louisiana Lafayette used to be in Appalachian State’s position, but the torch has clearly been passed to the Mountaineers.
Appy State has not lost a home game in Sun Belt play this season. The rest of the league regularly finds it tough to win in Kidd Brewer Stadium, part of the winning culture this program has developed. Being able to earn a piece of the league title without having to face Troy or Arkansas State should be seen as a great relief to the Mountaineers, who will take the field with total confidence that they will win the Sun Belt once again.
Outlook
Appalachian State opened up as a 15-point favorite and that’s where the betting line sits as of now. There hasn’t been any movement. As for the total. we saw it open up at 57.5 but the line has gone higher since. It peaked as high as 60 but has come back down to 58.
ULL has a puncher’s chance, but this is entirely ASU’s game to lose. A program which has been there before and knows how to finish off seasons should have every expectation that it will play a solid game, and if that happens, Louisiana Lafayette will have to play a perfect game just to stay close. Appalachian State should win big.
Prediction: Mountaineers -15
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