By Jackson Schroeder
SouthernPigskin.com

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Arkansas State, Louisiana and South Alabama all have received early berths to bowl games.

Georgia Southern and Appalachian State seemed to be the teams playing the best football coming down the stretch in the Sun Belt, but being in a transition year between FCS to FBS, the teams are ineligible for bowl games.

In light of the Eagles and Mountaineers being ineligible for postseason play, the three teams making bowl games in the Sun Belt Conference are Arkansas State, Louisiana, and South Alabama.

Arkansas State finished the season 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Quarterback Fredi Knighten finished the regular season with 2,874 yards and 19 touchdowns throwing the ball. He also rushed for 775 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Red Wolves are scheduled to play in the GoDaddy Bowl for the fourth straight year. Arkansas State lost to Northern Illinois in 2011, before topping Kent State and Ball State in 2012 and 2013, respectively. They are projected to play MAC powerhouse Northern Illinois in Mobile.

Louisiana finished the regular season with an 8-4 overall record and a conference record of 7-1. The Ragin Cajuns had great success rushing the ball this season, and are currently ranked 26th in the country in rushing yards, averaging 228.4 yards a game on the ground. Louisiana has earned a spot in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The other team projected to be in this bowl is not yet decided, but it will most likely be a member of the Mountain West Conference, such as Fresno State or Colorado State.

The third team from the Sun Belt that was selected to a bowl berth was South Alabama. The Jaguars finished the regular season with an overall record of 6-6 and a conference record of 5-3. Their regular season finale was a heartbreaker, as they lost 42-40 to Navy. They had a relatively back-and-forth season, winning and losing games here and there. The regular season ended with South Alabama being in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference with Arkansas State and Texas State. The Jaguars were selected to play in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, and their opponent has not yet been selected. However, it is likely that it will be a team from the MAC, such as Bowling Green, Ohio, or Toledo. South Alabama took care of its only regular season MAC opponent, Kent State, the first week of the season by a score of 23-13. Hopefully they can keep the trend going in the upcoming bowl game.