Preseason polls matter when they need to.
It's a convenient thing.
When a team gets ranked low, it "provides adversity."
When a team gets ranked high, a team "can't get complacent."
The Sun Belt Conference favorite has only held up in three of the past seven seasons, and by Week 5, you forget about the whole poll anyway.
One of the things it does accomplish in the dog days of summer is doling out a little prestige -- something Arkansas State University has never received from the preseason poll despite winning conference championships in five of the past seven seasons.
Until now.
Yes, the Red Wolves are finally the favorite, and they have the talent to win the Sun Belt's inaugural conference championship game, with senior quarterback Justice Hansen -- the reigning Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year -- and senior safety Justin Clifton, who was twice named to second-team All-Sun Belt.
But as Athletic Director Terry Mohajir, fifth-year Coach Blake Anderson and just about any player on the roster will tell you, a Sun Belt title's been done before.
A conference champion should elevate its program and its conference, and there hasn't been much of the latter.
No Sun Belt champion has faced a team from the Power 5 conferences in any bowl game, which only happens if it earns the New Year's Six bid awarded to the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion.
Sure, Troy had that chance back in 2016, when it became the first Sun Belt member to crack the top 25, but the Trojans got that kingdom sacked when Arkansas State and Georgia Southern beat them in the final three weeks of the regular season.
This time last year, Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson announced that the conference had refocused on earning a Group of 5 bowl spot by asking its members to reduce their money games with Power 5 programs to one per season.
Mohajir has been quoted as being focused on that New Year's Six game since it began in 2014, and the Red Wolves' nonconference schedules for the next three seasons lines up with the Sun Belt's goals.
But take a look at those Power 5 opponents: Alabama in 2018, Georgia in 2019, Michigan in 2020.
It's almost as if David's giving Goliath a step ladder.
Boise State was the only Group of 5 representative to play a ranked nonconference opponent, when they lost 35-13 to No. 18 Ole Miss in the 2014 season-opener before eventually beating Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl.
So why schedule such difficulty?
Money.
Alabama will pay ASU $1.7 million for its game this season, and Georgia and Michigan will each pay $1.8 million.
To compare, Central Florida didn't make any money off its home-and-home series with Maryland that concluded in 2017, and Western Michigan reportedly earned a total of $1.6 million by playing Northwestern and Illinois in 2016.
The $1.55 million ASU received in game guarantees in fiscal 2017 was its highest source of football revenue.
"If we didn't have to play a guarantee game per year, then the [scheduling] model would be adjusted," Mohajir said. "But since that's just where we are, we believe that our model is fine. Our schedule is good. From a competitive standpoint this year, I like who we're playing."
ASU's other FBS opponents -- Tulsa and UNLV -- had a combined record of 7-17 in 2017, which provides a favorable opportunity to enter the conference season with a single loss.
Unless there's a Crimson Slide on Sept. 8, the Red Wolves will need to morph more toward the 2014 Boise State kind of season.
As for 2021 and beyond, there's a chance ASU will have more favorable nonconference schedules.
Mohajir said the Big Ten typically "hasn't paid quite as much, but now they're starting to."
"We'll see what happens in the future, depending on what the Power 5 guys do," he said. "There could be a market correction, and we'll continue to monitor it. We're scheduling three to five years out, and we'll always try to find the best possible way to maximize our schedule."
Central Arkansas
On the sidelines
Nathan Brown is returning to the sideline for the first time since he was a quarterback at the University of Central Arkansas.
Since Brown became a full-time coach at UCA in 2009, he assisted from the press box on game day as both a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
Now, entering his first season as the Bears head coach, Brown will be coaching his first game from the sideline when UCA opens the season at Tulsa on Sept. 1.
"It's going to be a fun change," said Brown, 31, a three-time All-American at UCA in 2006-2009. "You see the game. All those things are definitely going to be an advantage. I consider myself someone who's able to read players and their emotions. Look in their eyes and react to different parts of the games. I look forward to the interactions."
UAPB
Remember when?
This is the last of our reflective series on Golden Lion Stadium as it undergoes renovations before the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff's Sept. 1 opener against Morehouse College.
The game that helped UAPB seal its first Southwestern Atheltic Conference championship in 2012 was about as strange as it could be.
On Oct. 6, 2012, the Golden Lions gave up 319 yards rrushing; their leading rusher, Justin Billings, left the game with 1 carry for 7 yards because of an uncontrollable nosebleed; sophomore quarterback Ben Anderson was 5-of-17 passing for 30 yards; and there was a 40-minute lightning delay in the third quarter.
All of that, and UAPB still beat Jackson State at home 34-24.
Anderson went 0 for 8 before throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass, which gave UAPB a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, and backup running back Dennis Jenkins rushed for touchdowns of 23 and 50 yards.
Jenkins finished the game with 154 yards on 24 carries.
The Golden Lions went on to beat Jackson State again, 24-21 in overtime, in the SWAC Championship Game.
Anderson had a much better game then, throwing a 95-yard touchdown pass to Willie Young to tie the game 21-21 with 2 minutes left.
The play, 571 Z Post, was the longest play in a SWAC title game.
UALR
Memphis battle
What happens when a Junkyard Dog comes across a Penny?
We'll find out on either Dec. 18 or Dec. 19, when the University of Arkansas at Little Rock men's basketball team plays Memphis at the FedEx Forum, which will be finalized once the 2018-2019 NBA schedule is released.
That game will feature two former NBA players, Darrell Walker and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, in their first seasons as head coaches at the NCAA Division I level.
The two never played against each other on the court.
Hardaway started his NBA career the season after UALR's Walker retired from the Chicago Bulls in 1993.
But while Walker, whose nickname among his NBA teammates was Junkyard Dog, was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards in 1996-2000, his teams were 0-4 against Hardaway, who averaged 13 points per game in those games with the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns.
History also favors Memphis, which has beaten UALR in all seven of their previous meetings.
Sports on 07/22/2018