The Sun Belt Conference After the Dominoes Fall

The Sun Belt Conference after the Dominoes Fall

     With all of the talk about the possibility of Big 10 and PAC 10 expansions, what would be the affect on the Sun Belt Conference (SBC)?   After reading several articles discussing various scenarios, it appears the consensus is the Big East Conference will start the dominoes falling for Conference USA (C-USA) and then the SBC.   The Big East would probably invite East Carolina and Central Florida from C-USA and then Florida Atlantic and Florida International from the SBC.   As a result C-USA would entice North Texas from the SBC by adding new comer Texas-San Antonio.

What then does the Sun Belt look like?  Well not too bad.

      On the horizon in 2013, UNC Charlotte, Kennesaw State and Nova Southeastern will have added football programs.  All three have enrollments over 22,000.  The Sun Belt should also begin building relationships with Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.  Both schools should be announcing moves to Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in the near future.  This will probably coincide when the schools in the Colonial Athletic Association decide to move up to (FBS) in mass. This is a discussion for a later date.

     The addition of these five schools (UNC, KSU, NSU, ASU, GSU) to the Sun Belt will allow the conference to form two division with the subsequent alignment making it economically favorable due to the reduced travel cost for all sports.  Nova Southeastern will have the same travel cost no matter who they play.  However, at this point, the weak link would be Louisiana-Monroe because of enrollment concerns.  The SBC could then look at replacing UL-Monroe with Lamar University.  Imagine the Sun Belt Conference consisting of:

SBC – North

Appalachian State

Arkansas State

Kennesaw State

Middle Tennessee

UNC Charlotte

Western Kentucky

SBC South

Nova Southeastern

Georgia Southern

Lamar

Louisiana – Lafayette

South Alabama

Troy

      When all of the dominoes fall, the Sun Belt schools would blanket the SEC with each of its schools having a minimum enrollment of 16,000 (2013 estimate).  There would be marquee matchups that will excite the alumni plus the SBC would also be in position to help the University of North Florida (Jacksonville) and Florida Gulf Coast University (Ft. Myers) when they decide to add football programs.  Both schools would become instant intra-conference rivals with Nova Southeastern and each other.  Another option could be Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond.

SBCmarquee matchups:

Arkansas State vs. Middle Tennessee State

South Alabama vs. Troy

Middle Tennessee vs. UNC Charlotte

Kennesaw State vs. Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern vs. Appalachian State

Appalachian State vs.  UNC Charlotte

Lamar vs. Louisiana Lafayette

Louisiana Lafayette vs. South Alabama

Kennesaw State vs. Middle Tennessee

Lamar vs. Arkansas State

Appalachian State vs. Middle Tennessee State

Plus the possibility of other big regional money games:

Appalachian State vs. East Carolina

South Alabama vs. Southern Mississippi

Alabama Birmingham vs. South Alabama

UNC Charlotte vs. North Carolina

UNC Charlotte vs. North Carolina State

UNC Charlotte vs. Tennessee

Middle Tennessee vs. Tennessee

Middle Tennessee vs. Memphis

Middle Tennessee vs. Kentucky

Western Kentucky vs. Kentucky

Georgia Southern vs. Georgia

Kennesaw State vs. Georgia

Kennesaw State vs. Georgia Tech

UNC Charlotte vs. Clemson

South Alabama vs. Auburn

South Alabama vs. Alabama

Troy vs. Auburn

Nova Southeastern vs. Miami

Louisiana Lafayette vs. Louisiana State

South Alabama vs. Louisiana State

Lamar vs. Louisiana State