Getting to Know the Sun Belt Conference
7/7/2014 9:10:00 AM | General
Sun Belt Quick Facts
Location – New Orleans, La.
Founded – 1976
Division – I (FBS)
Phone - 504-299-9066
Website – sunbeltsports.org
Commissioner – Karl Benson
Senior Associate Commissioner/Chief Operating Officer – Kathy Keene, Ph.D.
Sun Belt Conference Bio
The Sun Belt Conference mantra "Together We Rise" exemplifies what has quickly become America's most up-and-coming collegiate athletics conference.
Founded in 1976, the Sun Belt has adapted and evolved in its nearly 40 year existence. The league was originally formed as a home for some of the nation's premier mid-major basketball teams and it wasn't until a number of changes and the demand for a higher national profile that the league began sponsoring football in 2001. Because of this decision to move the league in to the group of football playing conferences, the Sun Belt Conference has a permanent seat on the NCAA's 18-member Board of Directors. As a result, the conference has a crucial voice on some of the most pressing issues in college athletics.
With the 2014-15 year marking the debut of the College Football Playoff (CFP) the Sun Belt continues to find itself among the 10 premier college football conferences and the new system is guaranteed universal access based on performance – there are no automatic qualifiers for the playoff system. Additionally, the CFP will mean that a spot among the premier bowl games of college football will be guaranteed to the highest-ranked champion from the other "Group of Five" conferences: the Sun Belt Conference, American Athletic Conference, Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA.
With the College Football Playoff included with the league's other bowl arrangements, the Sun Belt Conference is tied to seven total bowl games. The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, the Cure Bowl (debuting in 2015) all guarantee a home for a bowl eligible Sun Belt Conference team each year. And beginning with the2016 season, the Sun Belt is also part of a rotation of conferences that will send a team to the Bahamas Bowl and the Miami Beach Bowl.
The influx of bowl game opportunities comes at a time when the Sun Belt Conference is breaking win records year after year and the league is continually exceeding expectations.
The Sun Belt's 21 non-conference football wins in the 2013 season was a new record for the league - eclipsing the mark of 19 set the year prior. Additionally of note for the league's non-conference win total was that the Sun Belt fared well against its peer opponents in the non-AQ BCS ranks. The Sun Belt finished a combined 8-1 against members of Conference-USA (4-1), the Mid-American Conference (3-0) and the Mountain West Conference (1-0). The Sun Belt also had the best overall non-conference win percentage when comparing the four non-AQ conferences.
The 2013 football season also saw two teams take home bowl championship trophies, as UL Lafayette won its third consecutive R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and Arkansas State won its second consecutive GoDaddy Bowl.
Baseball and softball continue to be among the league's standard-bearers for success as each continues to send teams on deep postseason runs and teams are easy to find in the national polls.
In baseball, UL Lafayette held a unanimous No. 1 national ranking during the 2014 season and hosted a NCAA Tournament Regional and Super Regional. Not to be outdone, the UL Lafayette softball team also hosted the NCAA Tournament rounds and qualified for the 2014 edition of the Women's College World Series.
In recent years as many as four Sun Belt teams have advanced to the baseball postseason in a single year, while as many as three Sun Belt softball teams have accomplished that feat.
While the accomplishments of the Sun Belt's student-athletes and coaches deserve great praise, so to do the league's administrators who have helped set the tone for the future of the conference.
"We have never been as strong as we are now academically and financially and I believe we are getting stronger all the time athletically," former Sun Belt Conference President and Troy University Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr. said recently. "I truly believe that the best is yet to come."
The Sun Belt Conference's membership consists of 11 football members for 2014 – Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy. UALR and UT Arlington compete in all-sports as non-football members while Idaho and New Mexico State are football only members.
Prominent Sun Belt alumni include Lyndon B. Johnson, former President of the United States (Texas State), former All-Star baseball player Luis Gonzalez (South Alabama), former member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives John Breaux (UL Lafayette), country music superstar Tim McGraw (UL Monroe), CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander Willie Robertson (UL Monroe) and DeMarcus Ware, an All-Pro NFL linebacker (Troy).
Georgia Southern officially began its membership in the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2014.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS.
Location – New Orleans, La.
Founded – 1976
Division – I (FBS)
Phone - 504-299-9066
Website – sunbeltsports.org
Commissioner – Karl Benson
Senior Associate Commissioner/Chief Operating Officer – Kathy Keene, Ph.D.
Sun Belt Conference Bio
The Sun Belt Conference mantra "Together We Rise" exemplifies what has quickly become America's most up-and-coming collegiate athletics conference.
Founded in 1976, the Sun Belt has adapted and evolved in its nearly 40 year existence. The league was originally formed as a home for some of the nation's premier mid-major basketball teams and it wasn't until a number of changes and the demand for a higher national profile that the league began sponsoring football in 2001. Because of this decision to move the league in to the group of football playing conferences, the Sun Belt Conference has a permanent seat on the NCAA's 18-member Board of Directors. As a result, the conference has a crucial voice on some of the most pressing issues in college athletics.
With the 2014-15 year marking the debut of the College Football Playoff (CFP) the Sun Belt continues to find itself among the 10 premier college football conferences and the new system is guaranteed universal access based on performance – there are no automatic qualifiers for the playoff system. Additionally, the CFP will mean that a spot among the premier bowl games of college football will be guaranteed to the highest-ranked champion from the other "Group of Five" conferences: the Sun Belt Conference, American Athletic Conference, Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA.
With the College Football Playoff included with the league's other bowl arrangements, the Sun Belt Conference is tied to seven total bowl games. The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, the Cure Bowl (debuting in 2015) all guarantee a home for a bowl eligible Sun Belt Conference team each year. And beginning with the2016 season, the Sun Belt is also part of a rotation of conferences that will send a team to the Bahamas Bowl and the Miami Beach Bowl.
The influx of bowl game opportunities comes at a time when the Sun Belt Conference is breaking win records year after year and the league is continually exceeding expectations.
The Sun Belt's 21 non-conference football wins in the 2013 season was a new record for the league - eclipsing the mark of 19 set the year prior. Additionally of note for the league's non-conference win total was that the Sun Belt fared well against its peer opponents in the non-AQ BCS ranks. The Sun Belt finished a combined 8-1 against members of Conference-USA (4-1), the Mid-American Conference (3-0) and the Mountain West Conference (1-0). The Sun Belt also had the best overall non-conference win percentage when comparing the four non-AQ conferences.
The 2013 football season also saw two teams take home bowl championship trophies, as UL Lafayette won its third consecutive R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and Arkansas State won its second consecutive GoDaddy Bowl.
Baseball and softball continue to be among the league's standard-bearers for success as each continues to send teams on deep postseason runs and teams are easy to find in the national polls.
In baseball, UL Lafayette held a unanimous No. 1 national ranking during the 2014 season and hosted a NCAA Tournament Regional and Super Regional. Not to be outdone, the UL Lafayette softball team also hosted the NCAA Tournament rounds and qualified for the 2014 edition of the Women's College World Series.
In recent years as many as four Sun Belt teams have advanced to the baseball postseason in a single year, while as many as three Sun Belt softball teams have accomplished that feat.
While the accomplishments of the Sun Belt's student-athletes and coaches deserve great praise, so to do the league's administrators who have helped set the tone for the future of the conference.
"We have never been as strong as we are now academically and financially and I believe we are getting stronger all the time athletically," former Sun Belt Conference President and Troy University Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr. said recently. "I truly believe that the best is yet to come."
The Sun Belt Conference's membership consists of 11 football members for 2014 – Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy. UALR and UT Arlington compete in all-sports as non-football members while Idaho and New Mexico State are football only members.
Prominent Sun Belt alumni include Lyndon B. Johnson, former President of the United States (Texas State), former All-Star baseball player Luis Gonzalez (South Alabama), former member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives John Breaux (UL Lafayette), country music superstar Tim McGraw (UL Monroe), CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander Willie Robertson (UL Monroe) and DeMarcus Ware, an All-Pro NFL linebacker (Troy).
Georgia Southern officially began its membership in the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2014.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, call 1-800-GSU-WINS.
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