Sun Belt Conference

The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The 11 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed primarily across the southern United States.

History


The Sun Belt Conference was founded on August 4, 1976 with New Orleans, South Alabama, Georgia State, Jacksonville, Charlotte and South Florida. Over the next ten years the conference would add WKU, Old Dominion, UAB, and Virginia Commonwealth. Also, New Orleans was forced out of the league in 1980 due to its small on-campus gymnasium that the Conference did not deem suitable for Conference competition. UNO competed as an independent before joining the newly-formed American South Conference in 1987.

After the 1990–91 basketball season, all members of the Sun Belt except WKU, South Alabama, Jacksonville, and incoming member Arkansas–Little Rock departed for other conferences. The Sun Belt then merged with the American South Conference, made up of Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana–Lafayette), Texas–Pan American, New Orleans, Lamar, and UCF. Although the American South was the larger conference, the merged league retained the Sun Belt name. UCF left the league following the 1991-92 academic year. Lamar, Texas–Pan American and Jacksonville departed at the end of the 1997-98 academic year. FIU joined in 1998, and Denver was added in 1999. Louisiana Tech departed after the 2000-01 academic year.

The conference did not sponsor football until 2001, when the league added former Big West Conference members New Mexico State and North Texas and then-independent Middle Tennessee State as full members and added independent Louisiana–Monroe and Big West member Idaho as "football only" members. Another Big West school, Utah State, was added as a "football only" member in 2003, then departed in 2005 with Idaho and New Mexico State for the WAC.

In 2004, Troy became a "football only" member until 2005 when they joined the conference in all sports. In 2006, Louisiana–Monroe joined the conference as a member in all sports when it left the Southland Conference, and Florida Atlantic joined the conference in all sports.

On November 11, 2009, New Orleans announced they were investigating a move from Division I to the NCAA's Division III. In order to maintain athletic scholarships, UNO instead opted for entry into Division II. On April 20, 2011, UNO officially received transition approval from NCAA Division II Membership Committee. (Since then, UNO has decided to remain in Division I and has since agreed to join the Southland Conference.)

Florida Atlantic joined the league as a member in all sports on July 1, 2006. WKU joined the Sun Belt Conference for football in 2009 after its Board of Regents voted to upgrade the school's football program to Division I FBS.

On April 9, 2012, Georgia State, one of the founding members of the Sun Belt Conference, announced that it would be returning to the conference as a full member in 2013. As part of the move, the football program will begin a transition from FCS to FBS in the 2012 season; it will play a full Sun Belt schedule as a "transitional" FBS member in 2013, and become a full FBS member, with bowl eligibility, in 2014. On May 2, 2012, Texas State announced it would leave the WAC after just one year and join the Sun Belt in July 2013 to begin play for the 2013-14 academic year. At the press conference to announce Texas State's addition, Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson also hinted that more changes could be on the way for the conference. On May 25, 2012, the conference announced that the Texas–Arlington had accepted an invitation to join the conference and would become a full member by 2013.

Current members
The Sun Belt has 11 members for the 2012–2013 academic year. All of the full members compete in football except for Arkansas–Little Rock, the Sun Belt's lone non-football member.

Departing members in pink.


 * North Texas, FIU, Florida Atlantic, and Middle Tennessee will join Conference USA on July 1, 2013.
 * Arkansas–Little Rock is the only non-football member in the conference.

Future members

 * Georgia State will become an all-sports member, including football, in 2013. However, as a transitional FBS school, it will not be eligible for the conference title, or for postseason play, until 2014.
 * Texas–Arlington will be a non-football member.

Membership timeline
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Commissioners

 * Vic Bubas (1976–1990)
 * Jim Lessig (1990–1991)
 * Craig Thompson (1991–1998)
 * Wright Waters (1999–2012)
 * Karl Benson (2012–present)

In addition to the five Sun Belt commissioners, three future league leaders served on the Sun Belt staff prior to becoming conference commissioners, including Doug Elgin (Missouri Valley), John Iamarino (Northeast, Southern) and Tom Burnett (Southland).

On October 12, 2011, ESPN reported that Wright Waters would retire, effective July 1, 2012. On February 15, 2012, Karl Benson was hired as the new commissioner of the Sun Belt, after having been the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference for 17 years. Waters would later move his departure date to March 15, allowing Benson to take over at that time.

Sports
The Sun Belt Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Future member Georgia State is an Associate member for men's and women's cross country and track and field.

Football
For the current season, see 2012 Sun Belt Conference football season

Sun Belt champions

Bowl games

The Sun Belt has secondary tie-ins to serve as an alternate in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl or Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl if the primary contracted participants cannot participate.

Rivalries

Football rivalries involving Sun Belt teams include:

Baseball
The Sun Belt Conference has sponsored an annual baseball tournament to determine the conference winner since 1978. South Alabama has won the most championships, at 11.


 * Teams in bold represent current conference members.

NCAA champions
The following current Sun Belt teams have won NCAA Division I team championships:

Facilities
Notes:
 * Arkansas–Little Rock normally plays its home basketball games on campus but occasionally plays at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
 * Although the Georgia Dome has a football capacity of 71,228, Georgia State normally uses a configuration with a capacity of only 28,155.
 * Louisiana–Lafayette women's basketball team primarily plays at Earl K. Long Gymnasium. Doubleheaders with the men's basketball team are played at the Cajundome.