In case you haven't noticed, Alabama and their head coach are pretty good these days. But did you know a Sun Belt Conference team beat Saint Nick on his home turf in 2007?
Over the following decade, Sun Belt squads consistently shocked the college football world, including multiple upsets over ranked SEC foes.
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Let's jump into each Sun Belt squad's most significant upset over the past ten years. Southeastern Conference aficionados might want to look away.
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Appalachian State — 2014, 34-0 vs. Toledo
Hey, ever heard of the time App State beat Michigan?
While that 2007 upset is one of the sport's all-time greats, the Mountaineers have only played at the FBS level for four years. Although its 2014 win at Arkansas State as a 15-point underdog was impressive, last season's shutout bowl victory over Logan Woodside and a potent Toledo offense was equally surprising.
The Rockets entered the Dollar General Bowl as a touchdown favorite in part because of an offense ranked no. 14 in the country at 483.9-yards per game. It squeezed out just 146 as App State picked off Woodside three times in a 34-0 route.
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Arkansas State — 2008, 18-14 at Texas A&M
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The Red Wolves welcomed Mike Sherman to college football by upsetting his Aggies at Kyle Field.
The 20-point dogs held the edge in nearly every critical category including total offense (415 to 303), first downs (23 to 18) and four forced turnovers compared to its two.
The hero of the game? Kicker Josh Arauco who accounted for all of the team's scoring, including the game-winning kick from 37 yards away with about a minute remaining.
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Coastal Carolina — 2017, 13-7 at Idaho
It's slim pickings for a Chanticleers team that played its first year at the FBS level in 2017, but its late-season win in Moscow as a seven-point underdog was impressive if for no other reason than it killed the Vandals hopes of bowl eligibility before dropping down to the FCS this year.
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Georgia Southern — 2015, 58-27 vs. Bowling Green
Sadly, the Eagles epic 26-20 upset at Florida happened the year before it joined the FBS.
Its most crucial upset — and the one that catapulted then-head coach Willie Fritz to Tulane — was a 58-27 GoDaddy Bowl shellacking of Bowling Green. The Falcons finished 2015 no. 4 in total offense at a whopping 546.8-yards per game but could muster only 362 against GSU.
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Georgia State — 2015, 34-7 at Georgia Southern
Speaking of 2015, the aforementioned Eagles were cruising to a potential 9-3 regular season mark when it hosted in-state rival Georgia State during the final Saturday of the regular season. Playing on the road as 20-point underdogs, the 5-6 Panthers needed a miracle to earn its first bowl birth in school history.
QB Nate Arbuckle had the game of his life in throwing for 346 yards and three scores. After Georgia Southern tied things up at halftime, the Panthers scored the game's next 27 points and earned a Cure Bowl birth for its efforts.
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Louisiana-Lafayette — 2009, 17-15 vs. Kansas State
A 6.5-point dog at home, the Ragin' Cajuns knocked off a Big 12 opponent when junior Tyler Albrecht connected from 48 yards with just 32 seconds remaining.
Turns out it was the first field goal of his college career.
"I was just trying to treat it like any other," Albrecht said at the time. "For my first field goal, of course, I was nervous, but I hit it real solid. I knew it had the distance but was leaning to the left a little."
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Louisiana-Monroe — 2012, 34-31 (OT) at Arkansas
The team that knocked off Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa in 2007 opened the 2012 campaign as a 30-point underdog at no. 8 Arkansas. ULM QB Kolton Browning finished the day 42 of 67 for 412 yards and three TD passes to go along with 69 more yards on the ground and the game-winning overtime rush on fourth down.
Amazingly, the Razorback led the contest 28-7 midway through the third quarter.
The Warhawks would finish the season 8-4 and nearly defeated Auburn in week 2 (28-31) and Baylor in week 3 (42-47).
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South Alabama — 2016, 21-20 at Mississippi State
Sometimes, the Gods of the Uprights are on your side.
After hanging tough all afternoon, the 28-point underdogs seemed destined to lose as Bulldog's kicker Westin Graves lined up from 28 yards out. The kick doinked off the left upright, and the Jags stormed onto the field with its biggest win in program history.
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Texas State — 2016, 56-54 (3OT) at Ohio
In a season in which it went 2-10, Texas State opened 2016 with a shootout for the ages.
Against an Ohio team that would eventually play in the MAC title game, the Sun Belt squad tallied 546 yards of offense and overcame three turnovers and 630 yards relented by the defense. Ohio closed the gap to two points in the third overtime but failed to convert its two-point attempt.
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Troy — 2017, 24-21 at LSU
If there's ever been a more shocking result in Sun Belt Conference history, please @ me.
It was stunning enough to watch the 20.5-point underdog Trojans win in Death Valley at night but even more so considering the victory was no fluke.
Troy led 24-7 midway through the fourth quarter, and it took a pair of late Danny Etling TD passes for LSU to make the final margin respectable. The Tigers coughed it up four times and watched Troy hold onto the football for ten more minutes.
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