clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2022 Advanced Stats for Sun Belt Football

The 2022 college football season is fast approaching. We’ll take a look at advanced stats that you’ll need to know for the Sun Belt heading into the new campaign.

Georgia State v Auburn Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images

The Sun Belt will enter the 2022 season as an immediate beneficiary of the latest round of conference realignment. Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss have been added to the ranks and that makes for an interesting year of #FunBelt football.

Below, we’ll look at a handful of advanced stats for the Sun Belt ahead of the 2022 season.

SP+ rankings

Entering the season, there’s a cluster of five teams at the top of the league with Appalachian State, Marshall, Coastal Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia State all within 16 spots of each other in preseason SP+ rankings. App and Marshall are well balanced while Coastal and Louisiana have one unit a step ahead of the other.

The only other teams checking in within the top 100 of SP+ are Troy at 87, Southern Miss at 93, and Old Dominion at 98.

2022 Sun Belt SP+

Ranking Team Offense SP+ Defense SP+
Ranking Team Offense SP+ Defense SP+
58 App St. 30.4 (51) 26.1 (66)
122 Arkansas St 20.4 (110) 37.3 (121)
65 Coastal Caro 35.5 (23) 33.5 (109)
114 Georgia Southern 20.2 (111) 33.2 (105)
73 Georgia St 26.0 (78) 26.5 (68)
107 JMU 22.5 (95) 33.0 (104)
70 Louisiana 25.4 (83) 24.7 (55)
63 Marshall 28.9 (62) 25.9 (64)
97 ODU 23.2 (93) 30.8 (93)
108 South Alabama 18.6 (120) 29.2 (81)
93 Southern Miss 17.9 (123) 24.7 (54)
123 Texas St 20.8 (106) 39.3 (128)
86 Troy 19.3 (116) 24.0 (48)
128 UL-Monroe 16.2 (128) 38.9 (127)

Returning production

Southern Miss enters the league with the top returning production percentage at 84% and it’s much needed for a program that’s experienced a tremendous amount of upheaval that past two years. The Golden Eagles returning a good chunk of the roster in year two of the Will Hall era will be of great benefit to them.

Georgia State stands a chance at breaking into the upper echelon of the conference with a 78% returning production percentage. The Panthers return four of their starters on the offensive line as well as the running back duo of Tucker Gregg and Jamyest Williams.

2022 Sun Belt Returning Talent

Team Overall Returning Production National Rank Offense National Rank Defense National Rank Offense Overall Returning QB % Returning OL % Defense Overall Kicker Starts Punter Starts
Team Overall Returning Production National Rank Offense National Rank Defense National Rank Offense Overall Returning QB % Returning OL % Defense Overall Kicker Starts Punter Starts
Appalachian State 60% 84 63% 68 58% 86 7 94.43% 80.79% 5 0 0
Arkansas State 56% 97 46% 115 51% 108 4 47.46% 28.57% 3 0 12
Coastal Carolina 45% 125 54% 95 41% 126 4 100.00% 42.32% 2 3 0
Georgia Southern 71% 33 77% 23 67% 48 7 57.91% 80.75% 4 9 12
Georgia State 78% 15 84% 10 87% 4 8 84.66% 83.16% 7 0 13
James Madison 63% 112 60% 76 52% 105 5 50.00% 75.97% 3 0 0
Louisiana 46% 123 55% 91 60% 77 6 3.47% 83.55% 5 4 14
ULM 54% 104 68% 54 43% 124 5 57.63% 44.12% 4 12 12
Marshall 54% 105 52% 102 67% 49 4 30.36% 50.15% 5 0 0
Old Dominion 74% 21 89% 2 64% 62 10 100.00% 75.04% 6 0 13
South Alabama 59% 86 54% 94 66% 54 6 43.58% 74.33% 7 12 12
Southern Miss 84% 4 85% 7 87% 3 4 99.65% 69.11% 7 12 12
Texas State 62% 76 74% 31 59% 81 6 47.04% 79.03% 4 12 12
Troy 80% 11 71% 43 86% 5 8 54.65% 80.49% 8 12 0

Positional talent data

Arkansas State bottomed out with a 2-10 record in Butch Jones’ first year last season. Fortunately for him, he can make a quick turnaround with the top roster in the league projected roster in the league. The Red Wolves’s strength will come from their front seven and will have Florida State transfer James Blackman back at quarterback for a second season.

App. State is right behind them with the second-best roster in the league while Southern Miss and Georgia State stack up pretty well themselves.

2022 Sun Belt Overall Talent

Team Team Talent National Rank Team Talent Player Average Team Composite National Rank Team Composite Player Average 6 Year Average Recrutiing Class Rank
Team Team Talent National Rank Team Talent Player Average Team Composite National Rank Team Composite Player Average 6 Year Average Recrutiing Class Rank
Appalachian State 84 82.28 92 83.55 94.83
Arkansas State 82 82.48 82 84.07 95.33
Coastal Carolina 102 81.14 87 83.39 107.00
Georgia Southern 95 80.96 115 83.21 103.83
Georgia State 89 81.27 118 81.4 105.17
James Madison 130 76.71 170 81 159.00
Louisiana 93 81.41 121 84.12 95.50
ULM 124 78.81 133 79.97 115.67
Marshall 92 81.73 75 83.77 87.17
Old Dominion 104 81.15 120 82.52 114.50
South Alabama 105 80.93 97 82.13 113.83
Southern Miss 87 82.72 84 83.41 86.50
Texas State 122 80.25 129 81 117.00
Troy 100 81.74 131 81.75 99.33

Latest win totals from DraftKings Sportsbook

2022 Sun Belt Win Totals

Team Over Under
Team Over Under
Appalachian State Over 8.5 -110 Under 8.5 -110
Arkansas State Over 5 -120 Under 5 +100
Coastal Carolina Over 8 +120 Under 8 -140
Georgia Southern Over 4.5 -110 Under 4.5 -110
Georgia State Over 7.5 +130 Under 7.5 -150
James Madison Over 6.5 +120 Under 6.5 -150
Louisiana-Lafayette Over 8.5 -120 Under 8.5 +100
Marshall Over 7 -120 Under 7 +100
Old Dominion Over 4.5 +100 Under 4.5 -120
South Alabama Over 5.5 -110 Under 5.5 -110
Southern Mississippi Over 4.5 -130 Under 4.5 +110
Texas State Over 5 +130 Under 5 -150
Troy Over 6.5 -110 Under 6.5 -110
ULM Over 2.5 -125 Under 2.5 +105

Returning production and positional talent data compiled by Seth Varnadore. You can find him on Twitter and YouTube at Varnadore Films where he does game film breakdowns of teams all over college football.

SP+ data compiled by ESPN’s Bill Connelly.