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Sun Belt Heat Week 12: It Rises

Just when you thought the approaching winter had extinguished Sun Belt Heat, up comes along Georgia versus Georgia Southern, an in-state battle that could potentially redeem the SBC. (Oh yeah, and Idaho plays Auburn.)

The Heat is warming up
The Heat is warming up
Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

Come, ye Underdogs! Sit with me at my well appointed hearth, and let us sip from golden goblets the finest ale and speak frankly: The Sun Belt sucked this year. We fell tragically short on nearly every opportunity to distinguish ourselves against college football's elite. The SBC hasn't come close to scratching into any Top 25 poll this year. We get a vote in the AP Top 25, and we're downright giddy.

But as Harvey Dent once said, it's darkest before the light. And from the darkness, riding upon glittering white unicorns, appears Georgia Southern and Idaho. They alone are this week's bearers of #SUNBELTHEAT! Rage against the dying of the heat, ye Eagles and Vandals. Help us. You're our only hope.

Remember, Sun Belt Heat is calculated using the following sorcery and science:

P5 Condescension x ESPN3 + Righteous Fury / "Any given Saturday" = SUN BELT HEAT


Idaho (3-7) vs. Auburn (5-5), November 21, 3:00 PM CST, SECN

Chance For Winning (ESPN FPI): 1.6%

All hopes of a six-win season for the Vandals were torpedoed the moment serial knucklehead Dezmon Epps was bounced off the team. Now a weakened Paul Petrino gets to visit Gus Malzahn's War Eagles, who need this win to guarantee bowl eligibility. Doesn't that make you angry, Paul, knowing that you and your team are being used as a turnstile to somebody else's bowl game? I mean, that really makes you furious, right? Like maybe you want to start yelling and cussing and drawing up some cool-ass plays. HOW DARE YOU, GUS MALZAHN! NOBODY USES PAUL PETRINO AS A SPRINGBOARD TO IMMORTALITY. VANDALS, WE RIDE TO AUBURN AND WAR!

Sun Belt Heat Index: 900% pure Petrino rage

Adjusted Chance for Winning: 901.6%

Georgia Southern (7-2) vs. Georgia (7-3), November 21, 6:00 PM CST, ESPNU

Chance For Winning (ESPN FPI): 14.6%

Just ask any Eagles fan: Georgia Southern is the best. (Although the word "best" might be too limiting for some GS fans.) Now they have a chance to prove who's best in the state of Georgia when the Eagles take on a Chubb-less Bulldogs. The match-up raises a couple of questions: Do the Eagles stand a chance at winning in Athens? and 2) Would a win over Georgia put a Sun Belt Team in the Top 25 (Coaches, AP, or Committee)? The Heat does not concern itself with such trivialities! The Heat has no questions, only answers! And the answer is Heat!

Also, Georgia done made a critical mistake, yo:

P5 Condescension is the key catalyst to Sun Belt Heat! Georgia Southern will use its 1st-ranked rushing offense to keep Georgia's 37th-ranked rushing defense on the field all day long, delivering the much-needed victory the Sun Belt most desperately needs.

Sun Belt Heat Index: 50% for the usual overconfidence, plus 5000% for P5 arrogance

Adjusted Chance for Winning: 5,066.6%

#SunBeltHeat vs. Sun Belt Heat

ULM vs. Texas State, November 19th, 8:30 PM on ESPNU

South Bama vs. Georgia State, November 21st, 1:00 PM on ESPN3

New Mexico St. vs. Louisiana, November 21st at 4:00 PM on ESPN3