6 Group of Five contenders for New Year’s Six Bowls

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

Last year’s Sun Belt champion and undefeated team, was Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers went out of their way to schedule tougher teams and found a December 5 slot to beat BYU. It was still not enough, even for a New Year Six bid.

However, it still brought a lot of excitement and recognition to a program that is in it’s fifth year at the FBS level. Quarterback Grayson McCall was the best freshman at the position, not named Spencer Rattler. He lead the team in passing and rushing, while accumulating 33 touchdowns.

McCall’s go-to target returns for his senior season, after two yards shy of 1,000 yards and ten touchdowns. Scoring and running the football was not an issue, as they ranked inside the top 20 nationally in both.

The defense was .2 shy of first in the Sun Belt, behind Appalachian State in points allowed per game. Even with Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year defensive end Tarron Jackson declaring for the NFL, the rest of the unit returns.

Tre’ Douglas III from Vanderbilt is expected to bring some depth to the secondary, with all five of the starters returning, led by D’Jordan Strong at cornerback.

Just as impressive was Louisiana’s turnover differential, Coastal Carolina topped it, with +13, which ranked ninth nationally. With 10 seniors in one unit, it’s hard to argue a better unit in the conference this upcoming year.

Coastal Carolina’s schedule is very beneficial as well, with non-conference games against Kansas and on the road against Buffalo. Although Buffalo was solid last year, losing head coach Lance Leipold and a handful of players to Kansas was a tough blow for the program.

The Chanticleers avoid Louisiana in the regular season and get Appalachian State on October 7, a team they defeated 34-23 last year. After being snubbed last year, I expect Coastal Carolina to run the slate and make it into January’s elite lineup of bowl games.