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Season 1

The first season was one of MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s best in the standings as the SBC East was a dogfight. Marshall went 5-7 and finished second in the East behind Georgia State at 6-7. Texas State won the Sun Belt Conference championship 34-31 over the Panthers, ending with a 10-3 record.

YouÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll see quickly that this game values the West Division much more than the SBC East.

Texas State quarterback Holden Geriner led the conference in passing with 4,263 yards and 31 touchdowns.

MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s starting quarterback in the game is Zion Turner. In an effort to keep the simulations fair, I chose a random school and just let the simulator take control. Therefore, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, Koi Fagan and JacQai Long didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t get any reps. Turner led Marshall in passing each season.

Similarly, Michael Allen is the top back on MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s roster and led it in rushing each year of the simulation. He had 632 yards with 13 touchdowns in the first year, ending up as his best season among the five.

Southern MissÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ Josh Moten was the best defender in the nation.

He led the league with 10 interceptions and led Southern Miss in tackles, pass breakups and tackles for loss. Moten led the Golden Eagles to a bowl game and won three national awards ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Bednarik, Nagurski and Thorpe. The first two are given to the best defensive player, while the Thorpe award goes to the best defensive back.

He was a first-team All-American along with Louisiana wide receiver Shelton Sampson Jr. Sampson had more than 1,500 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.

MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s receiving group was led by Adrian Norton, its highest-rated receiver, with 773 yards and three touchdowns. Norton ledd Marshall in receiving in each simulated season.

Nothing too crazy happened in the first season. Penn State defeated Georgia 38-28 to win the national championship. Five Sun Belt teams made bowl games.

Somehow, South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown won the Heisman. He wound up being the only player not from Georgia, Alabama or Clemson to get it in five simulations.

There is also a wicked amount of coach movement in this game. At least half of the SBC hired a new coach every season.

The funniest among them ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Hugh Freeze left Auburn to coach at Troy after making the playoffs.

Seasons 2-4

I reset the entire dynasty mode after each season.

The next three seasons were not too interesting. Marshall went 5-7 each season and missed out on bowl games each year.

The best performance by a Marshall player in that stretch was a 1,031-yard receiving season for Norton in Season Two. He had eight touchdowns. He averaged more than 85 yards per game. Turner led Marshall in rushing and passing in Season 2.

In Season 4, Javae Gilmore led the Sun Belt in tackles with 100. He had 81 solo tackles. For the most part, though, EA was not kind to MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s defense.

Of interest, Southern Miss went 11-3 twice and 10-4 once as it made the SBC championship game three times. It won two. James Madison was the SBC East favorite. It made its way to four SBC championship games and ended up with two titles as well.

Among all of the seasons, SBC titles went to James Madison (two), Southern Miss (two) and Texas State.

The Golden EaglesÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ Braylon Braxton led the league in passing once in five sims. He had a 4,214-yard season in the second year with 30 touchdowns and three interceptions.

The SBC averaged six bowl appearances per season, but it never reached the College Football Playoff.

Liberty represented the Group of Five twice in the CFP and was once the nine-seed. The game never allowed in more than one mid-major school ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” typically Tulane, Liberty or Boise State.

Duke, Clemson and Miami won national championships. Just as everyone expected, Duke won two.

Specialists were good for the SBC. Arkansas StateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Alex Colbert won a Ray Guy Award for best punter and Texas StateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Mavin Anderson won returner of the year after he somehow averaged 30 yards per punt return.

Coaching shenanigans continued. NavyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s coach left the academy and moved up to be a coach in the NFL. The Midshipmen hired a new coach that ran a spread offense.

Mike Gundy left Oklahoma State to coach Troy as it continued to pull in all-star hires. At one point, Coastal Carolina hired North CarolinaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s coach. Bill Belichick is not in the game, but his replacement, Hector Luna, ended up at Coastal.

The best season for the Herd

Marshall ended up second in the SBC East in the fifth and final simulation with an 8-3 record. James Madison and Louisiana made the title game, won by the Dukes.

Marshall opened the season with a 28-16 win over Georgia. Duke won its second national title in a bizarre season in which it played Iowa State in the national championship game.

Marshall reached the Salute to Veterans Bowl and won it over Toledo. The offense wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t particularly strong all season. Zion Turner had fewer than 3,000 passing yards but threw for 30 touchdowns. Allen had 12 rushing touchdowns. Norton had his 1,000-yard season.

The defense was incredible. MarshallÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Paul Hutson led the SBC in sacks with eight. Daytione Smith led the SBC in interceptions with 11 and had six tackles for loss. Smith repeated what Moten did in the first season, winning both major defensive player of the year awards, winning the Thorpe Award and being named an All-American.

The defense was phenomenal across the board. Javae Gilmore led the SBC in tackles with 110. Hutson had 10 tackles for loss.

Marvae Myers had a game where he had four fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, a pass breakup, an interception and 10 tackles to be a national player of the week against Coastal Carolina.

Smith, Myers, Jalen Slappy, Jalil Rivera-Harvey and Gilmore were All-SBC selections for Marshall.

It ended with Mike Gundy going to Troy for a second time and the Chanticleers hiring former Texans coach Bill OÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™Brien.

What did we learn?

Nothing. This game is ridiculous.