Sun Belt Conference: Report Says League Eyes Expansion

The Sun Belt Conference is contemplating the addition of another FBS-level football program, according to The Miami Herald's Adam Beasley.

"Sources close to the situation would not specify which school is atop the list of contenders, but the pool of potential programs is relatively shallow when the conference’s top two criteria are factored in," Beasley reports.

The Sun Belt is home to football programs in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Alabama; any prospective member to be added would likely reside in those states.

Judging by the report in The Miami Herald then you can scratch off any FCS power, such as Appalachian State, from making the jump to the conference.

Don't count on any member of an automatic-BCS bid conference from making the jump to the Sun Belt either, which leaves options from Conference USA and the WAC as the only other options for the Sun Belt.

Conference USA is in a better situation in college football than the Sun Belt is perceived to be, so do not expect any Conference USA members to make a switch, which leads back to the WAC.

At first glance, it would appear that Louisiana Tech would be the top candidate to switch conferences. The move would make geographical sense for the conference and the university, who would be able to drastically reduce travel expenses playing in their own time zone more than they are doing in the WAC.

One drawback is having three potential conference members within the state of Louisiana; Louisiana at Monroe and Louisiana at Lafayette are also Sun Belt Conference members. Would a third program in the state already dominated by LSU of the SEC be an advantage for the Sun Belt Conference?

The Sun Belt Conference currently has nine football members lined up, but will be adding a tenth football member starting in 2012 when South Alabama will debut their football program. South Alabama is a conference member in other sports.

It would make sense that the Sun Belt hope to welcome their potential 11th member at the start of the 2012 season, which means the deadline to fine a program to welcome is starting to wind down.

Any university hoping to switch conferences has until July 1 to declare their intentions.

The Sun Belt's football and athletic meetings will be held from May 22-26, which is when a vote should be expected to be held to determine if expansion will occur and which university will be invited.

It does not appear the conference will make a move to add a 12th program in order to satisfy the NCAA minimum to conduct a conference championship game.

“We’re not afraid to expand if there’s someone out there who will add value to the league, but we’re not going to expand just to reach some arbitrary number,” Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters said in the Miami Herald report. “I think we’ve got to find people who bring value to the conference.”

The WAC is losing Boise State to the Mountain West Conference starting this season and Fresno State and Nevada will follow the Broncos in 2012.

The WAC is working to preserve the future of the conference by expanding in their own respect, with Texas-San Antonio and Texas Southern slated to join the conference in the next couple of years, but it is clear the WAC is left gasping for air in collegiate athletics, at least in football.

The possibility of losing Louisiana Tech may actually benefit the WAC as it takes one school that is far out of the core of the conference footprint, reducing travel expenses for all parties involved.

Kevin McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com. Follow his college football discussion on Twitter @CFBExaminer.