LITTLE ROCK — Standing at the lectern in a packed banquet hall, Arkansas State Coach Gus Malzahn cracked a joked about the Red Wolves’ evolution during his first season .

After absorbing 57-34 shellacking to then-No. 2 Oregon, Malzahn was asked often about the lessons drawn from facing one of the nation’s top offenses. At the time, Malzahn’s stock reply was that his staff learned about the depth and mettle they inherited .

Malzahn was more frank Monday speaking to the Little Rock Touchdown Club.

“Absolutely nothing,” Malzahn said . “We got our teeth kicked in.”

The room burst into laughter, and a smile creased Malzahn’s face. It’s a little easier to do that with the Red Wolves (8-3, 6-1) riding a sixgame winning streak that has left them atop the Sun Belt Conference and enjoying a bye week .

“Even when we were going through a rocky start, they’ll still bought into what we’re doing here,” Malzahn said of the Red Wolves rebounding from a 2-3 start . “They never wavered. Most teams would have. They stuck with it ”

ASU can take stock of the dividends it’s in position to earn: A second consecutive Sun Belt Conference title, suitors from six bowl games expressing interest and a peaking squad that picked up two votes in the coaches’ poll this week.

But a closer look at the Sun Belt standings shows four teams within a game of each other, and the potential for a chaotic final two weeks that could end with a four-way split of the conference crown and a convoluted bowl pecking order.

Arkansas State can secure the outright title with a victory next week against Middle Tennessee (7-3, 5-1), which faces Troy on Saturday, but a loss would jeopardize that.

“We can’t pat ourselves on the back yet,” Malzahn said. “We’ve got to find a way to raise our level and be more prepared as coaches, as players, and find a way to get it done. This is a championship time of year. We’ve got to find a way to get it done.”

There are any number of scenarios for how a split title could unfold, but the easiest scenario starts with Middle Tennessee losing to Troy but beating Arkansas State next week.

“Troy is very capable of winning that game,” Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth said. “Middle Tennessee has to play Arkansas State, and both are having phenomenal years. That game is a toss-up.”

At the same time Louisiana-Lafayette (6-4, 4-2) and Louisiana-Monroe (7-4, 5-2) would have to win their remaining games. The result would be four teams with identical 8-4 overall records and two conference losses.

Louisiana-Monroe, which is missing six starters, is more optimistic after a bye week allowed quarterback Kolton Browning, who went down with a left foot injury in a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette and sat out a Nov. 8 loss to Arkansas State, to return against North Texas. Browning is the Sun Belt’s leader in total offense at 305.1 yards per game and its second-leading passer with 261.2 yards per game and 26 touchdowns .

“That brings an energy back and that little time off helped re-energize because we’d be on an emotional high for so long,” Louisiana-Monroe Coach Todd Berry said, alluding to the team’s upset of then-No. 8 Arkansas and close losses to BCS opponents Auburn and Baylor.

The Warhawks travel Saturday to Florida International (2-5, 3-8), which was the preseason favorite but has struggled offensively, ranking eighth in the Sun Belt at 385.7 yards per game and putting up 25.7 points per game.

Finally, there is Middle Tennessee, which has exceeded expectations after coaches picked the Blue Raiders eighth.

That seemed fair after Coach Rick Stockstill’s team dropped its season opener to Football Championship Subdivision member McNeese State, but Middle Tennessee rebounded quickly and ran off three consecutive victories, including a 49-28 upset of ACC member Georgia Tech on the road. The Blue Raiders lost 31-17 to Louisiana-Monroe and 45-3 to Mississippi State but enter this weekend on another three-game winning streak.

“There’s just a hair difference between all of us,” Stockstill said. “There are still four teams that are playing for the conference, and Troy is looking to get bowl eligible. There’s so much left on the table for half this conference.”

Sports, Pages 23 on 11/21/2012