After a long and eventful season, the college football regular season is over and conference championship weekend is here. Most of the conference title matchups this weekend have College Football Playoff implications – including the Sun Belt Conference Championship between the Troy Trojans and James Madison Dukes. Troy needed a couple of upset victories to get to this point — including a massive win at Southern Miss a week ago — while James Madison enters this game in the midst of an 11-win season and looked like the class of the Sun Belt throughout the campaign.
James Madison still has a shot at qualifying for the 12-team College Football Playoff, particularly if Duke is able to upset Virginia. With a lot potentially riding on this game across the college football landscape, a Sun Belt Championship Same Game Parlay is in order with odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Let’s get into the picks, but don’t forget our NCAAF predictions for every Championship Week matchup.
James Madison -23.5 (-110)
RaRa Thomas (Troy) 3+ receptions (-114)
Wayne Knight (JMU) anytime TD (-290)
Sun Belt Championship Same Game Parlay odds: +333
Now you can bet our Sun Belt Championship SGP at FanDuel Sportsbook, which has a great new-customer offer to take advantage of. If you sign up for FanDuel right now, you earn a welcome bonus worth up to $300 if your first $5 bet wins! Use this link 🔗 to join FanDuel right now and learn more.
James Madison Dukes -23.5 over Troy Trojans (-110)
James Madison finished its season with 10 straight victories and is clearly the best team in this conference. After rolling to a 49-point victory over Coastal Carolina a week ago, the Dukes are massive favorites at home against a Troy team that is probably punching above its weight at this point in the season. James Madison should have clear advantages on both sides of the ball in this game, and Troy’s already middling offense can’t be expected to score against an excellent Dukes defense that leads the nation in success rate allowed, to go along with top-10 marks in EPA per play and points per drive allowed. On the other side, James Madison’s offense has been rolling since turning to Alonza Barnett III at quarterback from a full-time perspective, so let’s roll with the Dukes to win by a huge margin at home.
Check out our full Sun Belt Championship predictions
RaRa Thomas (Troy) 3+ receptions (-114)
While I don’t foresee Troy scoring all that much in this game — especially with the weather forecast projecting very cold and potentially windy temperatures — but there should be opportunities for the Trojans to make some hay in the passing game, potentially in garbage time if things get out of hand. That’s where RaRa Thomas comes in, as the veteran wide receiver should be able to get some separation against this James Madison secondary. Thomas has racked up at least 3 receptions in 4 of his last 5 games played, and if Troy is in a game script where it needs to throw the ball consistently, there should be plenty of targets to spare for the Trojans wideout.
Wayne Knight (JMU) anytime TD (-290)
To close out our Sun Belt title game SGP, let’s back James Madison running back Wayne Knight to find the end zone for yet another game. Knight has proven himself to be the most dynamic athlete on this team, and he’s been able to be the bellcow for a Dukes offense that is absolutely rolling of late. The veteran running back has picked up touchdowns in 3 of his last 4 games while also racking up 9 total touchdowns on the season. Knight should be in line for the most carries on the team, which makes him an easy candidate to get the ball around the goal line on Friday.
Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources and never miss a story
