Red Towel Roundtable: Sun Belt Foe’s

Nov 12, 2013; Austin, TX, USA; South Alabama Jaguars guard Antoine Allen (left) and forward Mychal Ammons (13) react against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. Texas beat South Alabama 84-77. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

Fletcher: In WKU’s final year of Sun Belt play, especially with the absence of Middle Tennessee, it seemed like there were more great rivalries that the Hilltoppers had against schools like Arkansas State, Lafayette and even ULM. But, beyond all else, I think the best WKU rivalry (outside of MTSU, of course) is with South Alabama. My earliest non-football WKU memory is watching the Tops play basketball against the Jaguars in Mobile my freshman year. It was a game that came down to the final moments, and fittingly, free throws. The Tops had a lead in the late stages, but Augustine Rubit kept finding himself at the free throw line, and inevitably, it’d be his free throws that put the game out of reach. Since that game, there seemed to be a common theme of keeping WKU away from nice things. A poor decision by Brandon Doughty lead to the Jaguars winning their first ever Sun Belt football game against us, the Jaguars beat WKU 1-0 to win the Sun Belt soccer tournament this past year, and (sticking with basketball), the Jaguars were one of only two schools (aside from Georgia State) that WKU will exit the conference with a losing record against. That is unacceptable, and will forever pain stain me. Having said all of this – South Alabama is also the loveable loser so to speak of the Sun Belt. They don’t strike the fear in you that a team like Lafayette, Arkansas St. or even WKU will, but they are a sneaky bunch and can (and will) catch you sleeping if you let them. They are a pesky pesky bunch, and I can’t wait to get them out of our hair.