posted July 8, 2008 at 14:37 in NCAA F Betting Trends

Florida Atlantic was the surprise winner of the Sun Belt conference for online NCAA football wagering faithful last year and that may have just been the appetizer. With 18 starters returning, the Owls are now the odds-on sports betting favorite to win the conference.

Last year, they weren’t expected to contend when they did, so now they’ll have walk around with a big bulls-eye on their back. Given the amount of talent and now depth, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Offense

This offense is as polished and complete as it gets in the Sun Belt conference.

Quarterback Rusty Smith threw 32 touchdowns last year and the Sun Belt Player of the Year is the perfect quarterback for this offense. He’s got plenty of targets to work with starting with Cortez Gent, who might be the best receiver in the conference. He’s a real deep threat but don’t sleep on James Harmon, who is up there with him among the best receivers in the Sun Belt.

There’s plenty of depth as well.

The running back position is stocked with Charles Pierre running the show and four of the five starting offensive linemen return.

What does that add up to? Probably, a whole lot of consistency. The Owls’ offense averaged 31 points per game last year and returns virtually the whole unit intact. Expect them to be even better this year.

Defense

While the Owls hung – and will hang – their hat on their offense, the defense leaves some to be desired.

The secondary was a team weakness last year and now the Owls have to replace both starting safeties. Tavious Polo and Corey Small are an excellent tandem and will help with the losses. Erick McIntosh and Tavoris Hill had good spring showings and should add some quality depth.

The good news is that this defense has a lot of speed overall.

The front seven is deep and the defensive line will be very strong. Jervonte Jackson is a disruptive tackle and arguably the best player among a talented group including Robert St. Clair.

At linebacker, Frantz Joseph is a stud in every sense. The Owl’s senior linebacker racked up 131 tackles last year, which is the fourth-highest tackle total in the conference ever. The whole linebacking trio is solid.

Outlook

The Owls are the most complete team in the Sun Belt conference and given that they won the conference last year, someone is going to really have to step up to knock them off the top spot.

The Owls start with four of their first five games on the road including tough test at Texas and Michigan State. But since they get Troy at home, virtually all of their conference contests are winnable. As long as FAU can handle walking around as the top dog in their conference, they should win it again.

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