Tuesday, January 19, 2010

MACON, Ga. - Jacksonville opened the season favored to win the Atlantic Sun regular season crown featuring preseason player of the Ben Smith but things did not start as planed.

The 2009-10 season looked like a chance for Jacksonville to step up to the next level after consecutive seasons of 18 or more wins. Instead the Dolphins continue to learn that nothing worth having comes easy as they gone from favorites, to last place, to the hottest team in the league. Jacksonville currently holds a six-game winning-streak defeating its last six adversaries by an average of 17 points - a welcomed turnaround after a 1-7 start.

The Dolphins welcomed the challenge of a tough non-conference schedule with road matchups against Florida State, Cal and South Carolina, not to mention a home game against Florida. If not for an eight-point victory against Bethune-Cookman the team picked to win the A-Sun would have entered league play winless.