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The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the higher of two levels of Division I football competition (formerly known as Division I-A). The Sun Belt has member institutions distributed primarily across the southern United States.
[edit] History
After the 1990-91 basketball season, all members of the Sun Belt except Western Kentucky, 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 University of Louisiana at Lafayette), Texas-Pan American, New Orleans, Lamar, and Central Florida.
The conference did not sponsor football until 2001, when the league added New Mexico State, North Texas and Middle Tennessee as full members and added Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) and Idaho as "football only" members. Utah State was added as a "football only" member in 2003, then departed in 2005 with Idaho and New Mexico State for the WAC.
[edit] Future
ULM joined the league as a member in all sports on July 1, 2006. Western Kentucky will join 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.[1]
[edit] Organization
It has one bowl tie-in, the New Orleans Bowl, which currently pits the Sun Belt champion against an agreed-upon school from Conference USA.
The conference office has been headquartered in downtown New Orleans since 2000, after moving from suburban Metairie, Louisiana where it had been based since 1991. Prior to moving to the “Big Easy” the league was based in Tampa, Florida from 1977-1991. The original conference office was located in Charlotte, North Carolina from 1976-77.
[edit] Commissioners
- Vic Bubas (1976-1990)
- Jim Lessig (1990-1991)
- Craig Thompson (1991-1998)
- Wright Waters (1999-present)
[edit] Current members
| Institution |
Nickname |
Location |
Founded |
Affiliation |
Enrollment |
Football Member |
| University of Arkansas at Little Rock |
Trojans |
Little Rock, Arkansas |
1927 |
Public |
12,000 |
No |
| Arkansas State University |
Red Wolves |
Jonesboro, Arkansas |
1909 |
Public |
16,494 |
Yes |
| University of Denver |
Pioneers |
Denver, Colorado |
1864 |
Private/Non-sectarian |
9,846 |
No |
| Florida Atlantic University |
Owls |
Boca Raton, Florida |
1964 |
Public |
26,000 |
Yes |
| Florida International University |
Golden Panthers |
Miami, Florida |
1965 |
Public |
39,500 |
Yes |
| University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
Ragin' Cajuns |
Lafayette, Louisiana |
1900 |
Public |
18,079 |
Yes |
| University of Louisiana at Monroe |
Warhawks |
Monroe, Louisiana |
1931 |
Public |
8,140 |
Yes |
| Middle Tennessee State University |
Blue Raiders |
Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
1911 |
Public |
22,554 |
Yes |
| University of New Orleans |
Privateers |
New Orleans, Louisiana |
1958 |
Public |
17,350 |
No |
| University of North Texas |
Mean Green |
Denton, Texas |
1890 |
Public |
32,181 |
Yes |
| University of South Alabama |
Jaguars |
Mobile, Alabama |
1963 |
Public |
14,003 |
Yes (2013) |
| Troy University |
Trojans |
Troy, Alabama |
1887 |
Public |
27,148 |
Yes |
| Western Kentucky University |
Hilltoppers |
Bowling Green, Kentucky |
1906 |
Public |
18,391 |
Yes (2009) |
[edit] Conference facilities
| School |
Football stadium |
Capacity |
Basketball arena |
Capacity |
| Arkansas Little-Rock |
Non-football school |
N/A |
Jack Stephens Center |
5,600 |
| Arkansas State |
Indian Stadium |
33,410 |
Convocation Center |
10,563 |
| Denver |
Non-football school |
N/A |
Magness Arena |
7,200 |
| Florida Atlantic |
Lockhart Stadium* |
20,450 |
FAU Arena |
5,000 |
| Florida International |
FIU Stadium** |
23,500 |
Pharmed Arena |
6,000 |
| Louisiana-Lafayette |
Cajun Field |
31,000 |
Cajundome |
11,550 |
| Louisiana-Monroe |
Malone Stadium |
30,427 |
Fant-Ewing Coliseum |
7,085 |
| Middle Tennessee |
Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium |
31,000 |
Murphy Center |
11,520 |
| New Orleans |
Non-football school |
N/A |
UNO Lakefront Arena |
10,000 |
| North Texas |
Fouts Field |
30,500 |
UNT Coliseum |
10,040 |
| South Alabama |
Ladd-Peebles Stadium*** |
40,646 |
Mitchell Center |
10,000 |
| Troy |
Movie Gallery Stadium |
30,000 |
Trojan Arena |
4,000 |
| Western Kentucky |
Houchens Industries - L. T. Smith Stadium**** |
17,500 |
E. A. Diddle Arena |
8,300 |
Notes:
- Arkansas-Little Rock normally plays its home games on campus, but occasionally plays at Alltel Arena.
- New Orleans' normal home, Lakefront Arena, is unavailable due to damage from Hurricane Katrina.
- *At least one home game a year is played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens (home of the NFL Miami Dolphins and NCAA Miami Hurricanes). FAU is constructing an on campus 30,000 seat stadium to open for their 2010 season.
- **Florida International University's FIU Stadium is currently undergoing expansions for an increased seating capacity to 45,000. The expansion is to be done in two separate phases, phase one to be finished for the Fall 2008 season and phase two by Fall 2010. The school also used the Miami Orange Bowl as its home stadium for the 2007 season.
- ***South Alabama will begin a football team in 2009, with its first year of Sun Belt play in 2013.
- ****Through the 2006 season, Western Kentucky was not a football member of the Sun Belt Conference, as it competed at the Division I FCS (formerly Division I-AA) level in the Gateway Football Conference. The football team is moving up to Division I FBS in 2007 and will join the conference in 2009; by that time, Smith Stadium's capacity will be expanded to around 22,000 seats.
[edit] Football champions by year
| Season |
Champion |
Conference Record |
| 2001 |
Middle Tennessee |
5-1 |
| North Texas* |
5-1 |
| 2002 |
North Texas |
6-0 |
| 2003 |
North Texas |
7-0 |
| 2004 |
North Texas |
7-0 |
| 2005 |
Arkansas State** |
5-2 |
| Louisiana-Lafayette |
5-2 |
| Louisiana-Monroe |
5-2 |
| 2006 |
Middle Tennessee |
6-1 |
| Troy*** |
6-1 |
| 2007 |
Troy |
6-1 |
| Florida Atlantic**** |
6-1 |
* North Texas won the conference's automatic bowl bid because it won the head-to-head game against Middle Tennessee. Also, North Texas had a losing overall record in 2001 and was not technically bowl-eligible, but the NCAA granted the team an exemption because it had won the conference. This is similar to what is granted to a basketball or baseball team which has a losing overall record but wins its conference tournament.
** Arkansas State won the conference's automatic bowl bid through a three-way tiebreaker.
*** Troy won the conference's automatic bowl bid through a tiebreaker by virtue of its head-to-head victory against Middle Tennessee, and Middle Tennessee earned a bid to the Motor City Bowl in Detroit.
**** Florida Atlantic won the conference's automatic bowl bid through a tiebreaker by virtue of its head-to-head victory against Troy.
[edit] Basketball champions by year
See also:
[edit] Rivalries
[edit] Intraconference rivalries
[edit] Interconference rivalries
[edit] Sports
The Sun Belt Conference sponsors intercollegiate competition in men’s baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s football, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s softball, women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, and women’s volleyball. While the conference does not sponsor men's soccer, four schools do have teams, with Denver competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Florida Atlantic in the Atlantic Soccer Conference, Florida International in Conference USA, and Western Kentucky in the Missouri Valley Conference.
[edit] Former Members
[edit] Affiliate Members
Missouri State, Southern Illinois, University of Evansville, Eastern Michigan University, Ball State University, University of Buffalo and Miami University began competing with the Sun Belt in men's swimming and diving, in 2004. Missouri State, SIU and Evansville also compete in women's swimming and diving.
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes and references
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Sun Belt Conference |
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Football stadiums of the Sun Belt Conference |
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Current Basketball Arenas in the Sun Belt Conference |
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Current head men's basketball coaches of the Sun Belt Conference |
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