2012 Sun Belt Conference Preview

The Sun Belt Division is made up of 10 teams in the FBS level of college football, outside of the Bowl Championship Series automatic qualifying conferences. To date, there has never been a member from the Sun Belt conference to play in a BCS bowl game. But, going into the 2012 college football schedule, there are certainly some story lines to pay attention to.

Former Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was one of the coordinators in college football who was thought to be one of the best around. That's why it was so surprising that he accepted the head coaching position at Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Division. He was thought to be in line for a BCS head coaching job. But the jump to Arkansas State puts him in the role of the head coach right away. And it certainly helps that former Auburn running back Michael Dyer decided to transfer with him. That's probably one of the reasons that the Red Wolves are one the favorites to win the Sun Belt conference in the 2012 college football season.

As a freshman, Dyer made arguably the biggest play of the season for Auburn in the BCS Championship game against Oregon on a long run when many thought he was down.

Arkansas State is the second-overall favorite in the Sun Belt this season. The team that is pegged as the favorite? That would be Florida Atlantic. Florida Atlantic is going off at +275 on the betting odds to win the Sun Belt conference available at BetOnline Sportsbook. But Arkansas State is not far behind at +350.

Louisiana-Lafayette, and Troy are also up on the list of the top favorites in the conference for 2012.

But the story of the year will probably be Arkansas State, with Malzahn taking over from Auburn. There will be plenty of eyes on him, Dyer and that program.