2017 Sun Belt Conference football season

The 2017 Sun Belt conference football season began on August 31, 2017 and ended on December 2, 2017. It was part of the 2017 season of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the top level of NCAA Division I football.

2017 Sun Belt Conference football season
League	NCAA Division I FBS
Sport	Football
Duration	August 31, 2017 through January 2018
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	ESPN, ESPN3, Cox Sports Television
2018 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	S Tracy Walker, Louisiana
Picked by	Detroit Lions, 82nd overall
Regular Season
Season champions	Troy Appalachian State
Runners-up	Arkansas State
Season MVP	Ja'Von Rolland-Jones

2017 Sun Belt Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Troy +		7	–	1					11	–	2
Appalachian State +		7	–	1					9	–	4
Arkansas State		6	–	2					7	–	5
Georgia State		5	–	3					7	–	5
New Mexico State		4	–	4					7	–	6
Louisiana		4	–	4					5	–	7
Louisiana–Monroe		4	–	4					4	–	8
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	8
South Alabama		3	–	5					4	–	8
Coastal Carolina *		2	–	6					3	–	9
Georgia Southern		2	–	6					2	–	10
Texas State		1	–	7					2	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions * – Ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules

This was the first season for Coastal Carolina, which was in its second and final transitional season from the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to FBS. This was also the final season for both Idaho and New Mexico State as associate members of the conference; New Mexico State will remain in the FBS as an independent program, while Idaho will move down to the FCS level in its main conference, the Big Sky Conference.

Records against FBS conferences

Conference	Record
The American	0–3
ACC	0–2
Big Ten	0–3
Big 12	0–1
C-USA	1–4
Independents	1–2
MAC	1–1
Mountain West	1–3
Pac-12	0–2
SEC	1–7
Total	5–28

Power Five conferences and independents

Conference	Record
ACC	0–2
Big Ten	0–3
Big 12	0–1
Pac-12	0–2
SEC	1–7
Notre Dame	0–0
Total	1–15

Group of Five conferences

Conference	Record
The American	0–3
C-USA	1–4
Independents (excluding Notre Dame)	1–2
MAC	1–1
Mountain West	1–3
Total	4–13

FCS Subdivision

FCS Opponents	Record
Football Championship Subdivision	7–2
Total FCS Record	0–0

Postseason

Power 5 Conferences	Record
ACC	0–0
Big Ten	0–0
Big 12	0–0
Pac-12	0–0
SEC	0–0
Power 5 Total	0–0
Other FBS Conferences	Record
American	0–0
C–USA	2–1
Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)	0–0
MAC	1–0
Mountain West	1–0
Other FBS Total	4–1
Total Bowl Record	4–1

Awards and honors

Individual awards

Main article: Sun Belt Conference football individual awards

• Player of the Year: Ja'Von Rolland-Jones, Sr., DL, Arkansas State
• Offensive Player of the Year: Justice Hansen, Jr., QB, Arkansas State
• Defensive Player of the Year: Jeremy Reaves, Sr., DB, South Alabama
• Freshman of the Year: Marcus Jones, DB/KR, Troy
• Newcomer of the Year: Ron LaForce, Jr., DB, New Mexico State
• Coach of the Year: Neal Brown, Troy

All-Conference teams

Offense:

Pos.	Name	Yr.	School	Pos.	Name	Yr.	School	Pos.	Name	Yr.	School
First Team				Second Team				Third Team
QB	Justice Hansen	Jr.	Arkansas State	QB	Taylor Lamb	Sr.	Appalachian State	QB	Tyler Rogers	R-Sr.	New Mexico State
RB	Jalin Moore	Jr.	Appalachian State	RB	Larry Rose III	Sr.	New Mexico State	RB	Osharmar Abercrombie	Sr.	Coastal Carolina
RB	Aaron Duckworth	Jr.	Idaho	RB	Jordan Chunn	Sr.	Troy	RB	Trey Ragas	R-Fr.	Louisiana
WR	Ike Lewis	Sr.	Appalachian State	WR	Chris Murray	Sr.	Arkansas State	WR	Justin McInnis	Jr.	Arkansas State
WR	Penny Hart	R-So.	Georgia State	WR	Jamarius Way	Jr.	South Alabama	WR	Malcolm Williams	Jr.	Coastal Carolina
WR	Jaleel Scott	R-Sr.	New Mexico State	WR	Deondre Douglas	Jr.	Troy	WR	RJ Turner	So.	Louisiana–Monroe
TE	Blake Mack	Sr.	Appalachian State	TE	Gabe Schrade	Sr.	Texas State	TE	Chase Rogers	Fr.	Louisiana
OL	Colby Gossett	Sr.	Arkansas State	OL	Noah Johnson	So.	Idaho	OL	Jaypee Philbert	Sr.	Arkansas State
OL	Beau Nunn	Sr.	Appalachian State	OL	Kevin Dotson	So.	Louisiana	OL	Grant Horst	Sr.	Louisiana
OL	Victor Johnson	So.	Appalachian State	OL	Noah Fisher	Jr.	South Alabama	OL	Frank Sutton	Sr.	Louisiana–Monroe
OL	Lanard Bonner	R-Jr.	Arkansas State	OL	Deontae Crumitie	Jr.	Troy	OL	Aaron Brewer	So.	Texas State
OL	Steven Rowzee	Sr.	Troy	OL	Tristan Crowder	So.	Troy	OL	Kirk Kelley	So.	Troy

Defense:

Pos.	Name	Yr.	School	Pos.	Name	Yr.	School	Pos.	Name	Yr.	School
First Team				Second Team				Third Team
DL	Tee Sims	Sr.	Appalachian State	DL	Ronheen Bingham	Jr.	Arkansas State	DL	Caleb Fuller	Sr.	Appalachian State
DL	Ja'Von Rolland-Jones	R-Sr.	Arkansas State	DL	Logan Hunt	Jr.	Georgia Southern	DL	Caleb Caston	Sr.	Arkansas State
DL	Aikeem Coleman	Sr.	Idaho	DL	Jamal Stadom	Sr.	Troy	DL	Marterious Allen	Jr.	Georgia State
DL	Cedric Wilcots II	R-So.	New Mexico State	DL	Trevon Sanders	Jr.	Troy	DL	Joe Dillon	So.	Louisiana
DL	Hunter Reese	Jr.	Troy	LB	Kyle Wilson	Sr.	Arkansas State	LB	Devan Stringer	Sr.	Appalachian State
LB	Eric Boggs	Sr.	Appalachian State	LB	Shane Johnson	Sr.	Coastal Carolina	LB	Michael Shaw	R-Jr.	Georgia State
LB	Tony Lashley	Jr.	Idaho	LB	Kaden Elliss	Jr.	Idaho	LB	Frankie Griffin	Jr.	Texas State
LB	Dalton Herrington	Sr.	New Mexico State	LB	Tron Folsom	So.	Troy	DB	A.J. Howard	Sr.	Appalachian State
DB	Clifton Duck	So.	Appalachian State	DB	Tae Hayes	Jr.	Appalachian State	DB	Chandon Sullivan	Sr.	Georgia State
DB	Blaise Taylor	Sr.	Arkansas State	DB	Justin Clifton	Jr.	Arkansas State	DB	Tracy Walker	Sr.	Louisiana
DB	Jeremy Reaves	Sr.	South Alabama	DB	Monquavion Brinson	So.	Georgia Southern	DB	Shamad Lomax	So.	New Mexico State
DB	Blace Brown	Jr.	Troy	DB	Ron LaForce	Jr.	New Mexico State	DB	Cedarius Rookard	Jr.	Troy

Special Teams:

Pos.	Name	Yr.	School	Pos.	Name	Yr.	School	Pos.	Name	Yr.	School
First Team				Second Team				Third Team
PK	Gavin Patterson	Jr.	South Alabama	PK	Tyler Bass	R-So.	Georgia Southern	PK	Sawyer Williams	R-So.	Arkansas State
P	Corliss Waitman	Jr.	South Alabama	P	Cade Coffey	R-Fr.	Idaho	P	Cody Grace	R-So.	Arkansas State
RS	Marcus Green	Jr.	Louisiana–Monroe	RS	Marcus Jones	Fr.	Troy	RS	Blaise Taylor	Sr.	Arkansas State
AP	Marcus Green	Jr.	Louisiana–Monroe	AP	Marcus Jones	Fr.	Troy	AP	Glenn Smith	Sr.	Georgia State

Ref:^[1]

Home attendance

Team	Stadium	Capacity	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Total	Average	% of Capacity
Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium	30,000	20,109	35,126†	22,787	30,179	23,110	23,411	154,722	25,787	85.96%
Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium	30,382	24,371	25,916†	21,943	19,846	27,462		119,538	23,908	78.69%
Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium	15,000	13,274	14,996	15,991†	13,997	15,545	15,951	89,754	14,959	99.73%
Georgia State	Georgia State Stadium	24,333	24,333†	15,388	12,125	13,154	14,163		79,163	15,833	65.07%
Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium	25,000	13,781	16,278	18,722†	12,250			61,031	15,258	61.03%
Idaho	Kibbie Dome	16,000	10,526	10,156	14,198†	10,168	10,705	7,444	63,197	10,533	65.83%
Louisiana	Cajun Field	36,900	18,289	18,318†	13,106	16,058	12,993		78,764	15,753	42.69%
Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium	30,427	11,061	10,359	12,578†	7,397	8,245		49,640	9,928	32.63%
New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium	30,343	15,446	17,546	10,041	21,894	26,286†		91,213	18,243	60.12%
South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium	33,471	26,487†	18,103	12,603	16,495	12,742	17,640	104,070	17,345	51.82%
Texas State	Bobcat Stadium	30,000	15,560	19,520	31,333†	12,238	12,012	14,017	104,680	17,447	58.16%
Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium	30,402	29,278†	27,324	25,211	23,846	20,341	20,737	146,737	24,456	80.44%

Bold: Exceeded capacity
†Season High