Sun Belt Conference

The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate 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 12 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed primarily across the southern United States.

Sun Belt Conference
Established	1976
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FBS
Members	12
Sports fielded	18 men's: 9 women's: 9
Region	Southern United States
Headquarters	New Orleans, Louisiana
Commissioner	Keith Gill (since 2019)
Website	www.sunbeltsports.org
Locations

History

Map of full member institutions of the Sun Belt Conference in 2016

The Sun Belt Conference was founded on August 4, 1976 with the University of New Orleans, the University of South Alabama, Georgia State University, Jacksonville University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the University of South Florida. Over the next ten years the conference would add Western Kentucky University, Old Dominion University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Virginia Commonwealth University. 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 Western Kentucky, South Alabama, and Jacksonville, departed for other conferences. The Sun Belt, including incoming member in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, then merged with the American South Conference, made up of Arkansas State University, Louisiana Tech University, the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), the University of Texas–Pan American (now merged into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), New Orleans (re-joined), Lamar University, and the University of Central Florida. Although the American South was the larger conference, the merged league retained the Sun Belt name. In 1991, the league first began to explore the idea of sponsoring football.[1]

Central Florida left the league following the 1991–92 academic year due to a dispute over television rights, among other reasons.[2][3] Lamar, Texas–Pan American, and Jacksonville departed at the end of the 1997–98 academic year. Florida International University joined the Sun Belt in 1998, and the University of Denver was added in 1999. Louisiana Tech departed after the 2000–01 academic year.

The Sun Belt Conference headquarters are currently housed at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

The conference did not sponsor football until 2001, when the league added former Big West Conference members New Mexico State University and the University of North Texas and former Ohio Valley Conference member (an FBS Independent on football) Middle Tennessee State University as full members (all three of them joined a year earlier for all sports in the 2000-01 school year) and added FBS Independent University of Louisiana at Monroe and Big West member University of Idaho as "football-only" members. These new members gave the Sun Belt seven football playing members in their first season, as Arkansas State and Louisiana–Lafayette were already full members which sponsored football. Another Big West school, Utah State University, was added as a "football-only" member in 2003, then departed in 2005 with Idaho and New Mexico State for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

In 2004, Troy University became a "football-only" member until the Trojans joined the conference in all sports, effectively in the 2005-06 academic year. In 2005, Florida Atlantic became a "football-only" member until the Owls joined the conference in all sports, effectively in the 2006-07 academic year. In 2006, Louisiana–Monroe joined the conference as an all-sports full member when the Warhawks left their former home, the Southland Conference.

Longtime Sun Belt member Western Kentucky joined the Sun Belt's football conference in 2009 after its Board of Regents voted to upgrade the school's football program to Division I FBS.[4]

On November 11, 2009, New Orleans announced it was 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 the NCAA Division II Membership Committee.[5] (UNO later decided to remain in Division I, and joined the Southland Conference in 2013.)

Early 2010s realignment

Main article: 2010–13 Sun Belt Conference realignment

See also: 2010–13 Conference USA realignment and 2010–13 Western Athletic Conference realignment

The former Sun Belt Conference logo used until its rebranding in 2013

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 began a transition from FCS to FBS in the 2012 season; it played a full Sun Belt schedule as a "transitional" FBS member in 2013, and became a full FBS member, with bowl eligibility, in 2014.[6] On May 2, 2012, Texas State University 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.[7] On May 25, 2012, the conference announced that the University of Texas at Arlington had accepted an invitation to join the conference and would become a full member by 2013.[8] UT Arlington does not field a football team.

On May 4, 2012, FIU and North Texas announced that they would be leaving the Sun Belt for Conference USA on July 1, 2013 as part of a Conference USA expansion effort involving four other schools.[9] On November 29, 2012, Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee State announced that they would also leave the Sun Belt for Conference USA.[10] The move for Florida Atlantic and MTSU was originally scheduled to take place in 2014, however, the two schools announced on January 28, 2013 that they would leave for Conference USA a year early, departing on July 1, 2013 with FIU and North Texas. Western Kentucky also accepted an invitation to join Conference USA on April 1, 2013, and departed from the Sun Belt on July 1, 2014.[11]

These moves depleted the Sun Belt and made the need to expand their membership more urgent than ever, as the Sun Belt was left with ten full members and only eight members that sponsor football (the minimum number required for a conference to sponsor football at the FBS level) for the 2013 season. Appalachian State University accepted an invitation on March 27, 2013 to join the Sun Belt effective July 1, 2014.[12] Georgia Southern University accepted a similar Sun Belt invitation at the same time as Appalachian State.[13] Appalachian State and Georgia Southern both joined for all sports from the Southern Conference on July 1, 2014. Both schools had been very successful within the Football Championship Subdivision, combining to win nine national championships since 1985. They upgraded to the Football Bowl Subdivision, and were eligible for Sun Belt conference championships in 2014, but were not postseason-eligible in football until 2015.

The Sun Belt also granted football-only invites to Idaho and New Mexico State on March 28, 2013.[14] Idaho and New Mexico State were both former Sun Belt members (Idaho for football only, New Mexico State for all sports) from 2001 to 2005. The large number of defections from the WAC forced that conference to drop football after the 2012 season. Idaho and New Mexico State were the only remaining WAC members that sponsored football, and competed as FBS independents for the 2013 season before competing in the Sun Belt in 2014. Idaho is located by far the farthest away from the other Sun Belt conference members, but it was rejected by the Mountain West Conference,[15] leaving it with no other choice.[16][17]

On September 1, 2015, Coastal Carolina University accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference. The university joined in all sports except for football starting July 1, 2016, with football joining in 2017.[18]

The conference announced on March 1, 2016, that the affiliation agreement with Idaho and New Mexico State would not be extended past the 2017 season.[19]

The conference announced that beginning in 2018, the conference (10 teams) will be divided into two divisions for football: East: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and Troy; West: Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana–Monroe, South Alabama, and Texas State. The winner of each division will meet in the Sun Belt Championship game.[20]

Current members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors
Appalachian State University	Boone, North Carolina	1899	2014	19,280[21]	Mountaineers
Arkansas State University	Jonesboro, Arkansas	1909	1991	13,891[22]	Red Wolves
Coastal Carolina University	Conway, South Carolina	1954	2016	10,894[23]	Chanticleers
Georgia Southern University	Statesboro, Georgia	1906	2014	26,054[24][25]	Eagles
Georgia State University	Atlanta, Georgia	1913	1976; 2013	53,619[25]	Panthers
University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Little Rock, Arkansas	1927	1991	9,579[26]	Trojans
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	Lafayette, Louisiana	1898	1991	19,403[27]	Ragin' Cajuns
University of Louisiana at Monroe	Monroe, Louisiana	1931	2006	8,489[28]	Warhawks
University of South Alabama	Mobile, Alabama	1963	1976	14,667[29]	Jaguars
Texas State University	San Marcos, Texas	1899	2013	38,231[30]	Bobcats
University of Texas at Arlington	Arlington, Texas	1895	2013	42,863[31]	Mavericks
Troy University	Troy, Alabama	1887	2005	17,494[32]	Trojans

• Louisiana–Monroe — football was an affiliate member from 2001 to 2006
• Troy — football was an affiliate member in 2004–05.

Associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Sport	Primary Conference
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1907	2019	10,870[33]	Bears[lower-alpha 1]		soccer (M)	Southland
Howard University	Washington, D.C.	1867	2014	9,399[34]	Bison		soccer (M)	MEAC

1. Central Arkansas uses "Bears" for only men's teams, with women's teams known as "Sugar Bears". Men's soccer is the school's only Sun Belt sport.

Former members

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Subsequent Conference	Current Conference
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Alabama	1969	Blazers	1979	1991	Great Midwest	C-USA
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	1963	Knights	1991	1992	Atlantic Sun	The American
University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	1864	Pioneers	1999	2012	WAC	The Summit
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961	Owls	2005	2013	C-USA
Florida International University	Miami, Florida	1965	Panthers	1998	2013	C-USA
Jacksonville University	Jacksonville, Florida	1934	Dolphins	1976	1998	Atlantic Sun
Lamar University	Beaumont, Texas	1923	Cardinals	1991	1998	Southland
Louisiana Tech University	Ruston, Louisiana	1894	Bulldogs & Lady Techsters	1991	2001	WAC	C-USA
Middle Tennessee State University	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	1911	Blue Raiders	2000	2013	C-USA
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	Aggies	2000	2005	WAC
University of New Orleans	New Orleans, Louisiana	1958	Privateers	1976; 1991	1980; 2010	Independent (1980) Independent (2010)	Southland
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946	49ers	1976	1991	Metro	C-USA
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890	Mean Green	2000	2013	C-USA
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	Monarchs	1982	1991	Colonial	C-USA
University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	1956	Bulls	1976	1991	Metro	The American
University of Texas–Pan American	Edinburg, Texas	1927	Broncs	1991	1998	Independent	WAC
Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, Virginia	1838	Rams	1979	1991	Metro	Atlantic 10
Western Kentucky University	Bowling Green, Kentucky	1906	Hilltoppers & Lady Toppers	1982	2014	C-USA

• Florida Atlantic — football was an affiliate member in 2005–06.
• Texas–Pan American — Merged into UTRGV in 2015; the merged school inherited UTPA's athletic program, with the new nickname of Vaqueros, and membership in the Western Athletic Conference.
• New Mexico State — was a full member from 2000 to 2005.

Former affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Nickname	Joined	Left	Sport	Conference in Former Sun Belt Sport[lower-alpha 1]
Hartwick College	Oneonta, New York	1797	Hawks	2014	2018	soccer (M)	Empire 8 (NCAA D-III)
University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	1889	Vandals	2001; 2014	2005; 2018	football	Big Sky
New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark, New Jersey	1881	Highlanders	2014	2016	soccer (M)	America East
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	Aggies	2014	2018	football	FBS independent
Utah State University	Logan, Utah	1888	Aggies	2003	2005	football	Mountain West

1. In all cases except that of New Mexico State, this matches the school's primary conference affiliation. New Mexico State is a full member of the non-football Western Athletic Conference.

Membership timeline

 Full members (all sports)   Full members (non-football)   Associate members (football-only)   Associate members (other) 

Commissioners

• Vic Bubas (1976–1990)
• Jim Lessig (1990–1991)
• Craig Thompson (1991–1998)
• Wright Waters (1999–2012)
• Karl Benson (2012–2019)
• Keith Gill (2019–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.[35] 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.[6]

Keith Gill was named the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference on March 18, 2019.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Sports

The Sun Belt Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[36]

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	Y
Basketball	Y	Y
Cross Country	Y	Y
Football	Y
Golf	Y	Y
Soccer	Y	Y
Softball		Y
Tennis	Y	Y
Track & Field Indoor	Y	Y
Track & Field Outdoor	Y	Y
Volleyball		Y

Men's sponsored sports by school

Member-by-member sponsorship of the nine men's SBC sports for the 2019–20 academic year.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Total Sun Belt Sports
Appalachian State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Arkansas State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
Coastal Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	8
Georgia Southern	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	6
Georgia State	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	6
Little Rock	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	6
Louisiana	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Louisiana–Monroe	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
South Alabama	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Texas State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
UT Arlington	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Troy	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	7
Totals	12	12	10	10	12	4	8	8	10	86
Affiliate Members
Central Arkansas						Y				1
Howard						Y				1

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Sun Belt Conference which are played by Sun Belt schools:

School	Wrestling
Appalachian State	SoCon
Little Rock	Pac-12

Women's sponsored sports by school

Member-by-member sponsorship of the nine women's SBC sports for the 2019–20 academic year.

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Tennis	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Volleyball	Total Sun Belt Sports
Appalachian State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Arkansas State	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Coastal Carolina	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Georgia Southern	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Georgia State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Little Rock	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	7
Louisiana	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Louisiana–Monroe	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
South Alabama	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Texas State	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
UT Arlington	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Troy	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Totals	12	12	11	11	10	11	12	12	12	103

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Sun Belt Conference which are played by Sun Belt schools:

School	Beach Volleyball	Bowling	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Rifle	Swimming & Diving
Appalachian State			MAC
Arkansas State		SBL
Coastal Carolina	ASUN			ASUN
Georgia Southern					SoCon	CCSA
Georgia State	CCSA
Little Rock						MVC
Louisiana–Monroe	CCSA

Championships

"RS" is regular season, "T" is tournament. Championships from the previous academic year are flagged with the calendar year in which the most recent season or tournament ended.

Current Sun Belt champions

Fall 2019 Sport School Cross Country Appalachian State (Men) Arkansas State (Women) Football Appalachian State Soccer (M) Central Arkansas (RS) Coastal Carolina (T) Soccer (W) South Alabama (RS & T) Volleyball (W) Coastal Carolina (East, RS) Texas State (West, RS) Texas State (T)

Winter 2019–20 Sport School Basketball (M) Little Rock (RS) Georgia State (2019 T) Basketball (W) Little Rock, UT Arlington (2019 RS) Little Rock (2019 T) Track & Field Indoor Arkansas State (Men) Arkansas State (Women)

Spring 2020 Sport School Baseball Georgia Southern (East, 2019 RS) Texas State (West, 2019 RS) Coastal Carolina (2019 T) Golf Arkansas State (Men, 2019) South Alabama (Women, 2019) Softball Louisiana (2019 RS & T) Tennis South Alabama (Men, 2019) South Alabama (Women, 2019) Track & Field Outdoor Texas State (Men, 2019) Arkansas State (Women, 2019)

NCAA champions

No current Sun Belt member has won an NCAA Division I team championship while a member of the conference. Four current members have won NCAA Division I team championships prior to joining the conference; Coastal Carolina won its only D-I national title on the day before it officially joined the Sun Belt.

School	NCAA titles	Sport	Years
Georgia Southern	6	Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	1985 • 1986 • 1989 • 1990 • 1999 • 2000
Appalachian State	3	Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	2005 • 2006 • 2007
Louisiana–Monroe	1	Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	1987
Coastal Carolina	1	Baseball	2016

See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships, List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships, and NCAA Division I FBS Conferences

Football

For more information see Sun Belt Conference football. For the current season, see 2019 Sun Belt Conference football season.

West Division	East Division
Arkansas State	Appalachian State
Louisiana	Coastal Carolina
Louisiana-Monroe	Georgia Southern
South Alabama	Georgia State
Texas State	Troy

The Sun Belt first began sponsoring football in 2001. It originally consisted of seven football playing schools, three of which are still members of the conference. Up until 2009, the conference only had a contract with one bowl, the New Orleans Bowl. Following the Sun Belt's improved football success and geographical membership changes, other bowls began to sign contracts with the Sun Belt Conference. As of November 2019, the conference has six bowl game tie-ins.

Throughout the years, the conference has experienced flux in membership changes, similar to many other FBS conferences. The conference announced that beginning in 2018, the conference (10 teams after the departure of Idaho and New Mexico State)[37] will be divided into two divisions for football: East: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and Troy; West: Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana–Monroe, South Alabama, and Texas State. The winner of each division will meet in the Sun Belt Championship game.[38]

[39]

Team	First Season	All-Time Record	All-Time Win %	Bowl Appearances	Bowl Record	All-Time Conference Titles	Current Head Coach
Appalachian State	1928	628–338–28	.646	4	4–0	21	Shawn Clark
Arkansas State	1911	480–492–37	.494	8	3–5	14	Blake Anderson
Coastal Carolina	2003	127–77	.623	0	0–0	8	Jamey Chadwell
Georgia Southern	1924	333–147–1	.693	2	2–0	11	Chad Lunsford
Georgia State	2010	36–81	.308	2	1–1	0	Shawn Elliott
Louisiana	1901	527–561–34	.485	8	5–3	13	Billy Napier
Louisiana–Monroe	1951	315–426–8	.426	1	0–1	5	Matt Viator
South Alabama	2009	57–69	.452	2	0–2	0	Steve Campbell
Texas State	1904	511–458–26	.527	0	0–0	12	Jake Spavital
Troy	1909	544–411–28	.568	8	5–3	21	Chip Lindsey

Sun Belt champions

Starting in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS Season, the Sun Belt Conference will host a football championship game.[40]

Season	Champion	Conference Record
2001	Middle Tennessee State North Texas	5–1
2002	North Texas	6–0
2003	North Texas	7–0
2004	North Texas	7–0
2005	Arkansas State Louisiana–Lafayette Louisiana–Monroe	5–2
2006	Middle Tennessee State Troy	6–1
2007	Florida Atlantic Troy	6–1
2008	Troy	6–1
2009	Troy	8–0
2010	Florida International Troy	6–2
2011	Arkansas State	8–0
2012	Arkansas State	7–1
2013*	Arkansas State	5–2
2014	Georgia Southern	8–0
2015	Arkansas State	8–0
2016	Appalachian State Arkansas State	7–1
2017	Appalachian State Troy	7–1
2018	Appalachian State	7–1

• Note: Louisiana–Lafayette vacated 2013 shared Sun Belt Conference co-championship due to major NCAA violations.[41]

Bowl games

As of the 2019–20 NCAA football bowl games, the Sun Belt Conference has tie-ins with the following bowl games:

Name	Location	Opposing conference
Arizona Bowl	Tucson, Arizona	MWC
Camellia Bowl	Montgomery, Alabama	MAC
Cure Bowl	Orlando, Florida	The American
Frisco Bowl	Frisco, Texas	The American
LendingTree Bowl	Mobile, Alabama	MAC
New Orleans Bowl	New Orleans, Louisiana	C–USA

Football rivalries

Conference play

Teams		Rivalry Name	Trophy	Meetings (last)	Record	Series Leader
Appalachian State	Georgia Southern	Deeper Than Hate	—	35 (2019)	19–15–1	Appalachian State
Louisiana	Louisiana–Monroe	Battle on the Bayou	Wooden Boot	54 (2019)	28–25	Louisiana
Georgia State	Georgia Southern	Modern Day Hate	—	6 (2019)	3–3	Series Tied
South Alabama	Troy	Battle for the Belt	Belt	8 (2019)	5–3	Troy

Non-conference play

Teams		Rivalry Name	Trophy	Meetings (last)	Record	Series Leader
Arkansas State	Memphis	Paint Bucket Bowl	—	59 (2013)	30–24–5	Memphis
Louisiana	Lamar	—	Sabine Shoe	34 (2012)	22–12	Louisiana
Louisiana	McNeese State	—	Cajun Crown	37 (2007)	20–15–2	McNeese State
Louisiana	Southeastern Louisiana	—	Cypress Mug	38 (1981)	18–17–3	Louisiana
Texas State	Nicholls State	Battle for the Paddle	Paddle	31 (2019)	16–15	Nicholls State
Troy	Middle Tennessee	Battle for the Palladium	Palladium	20 (2012)	12–8	Middle Tennessee
Troy	UAB	—	—	12 (2014)	7–5	Troy
Appalachian State	Western Carolina	Battle for the Old Mountain Jug	Old Mountain Jug	78 (2013)	59–18–1	Appalachian State

Basketball

Main articles: Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Tournament

See also: Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Since the 2018–19 season, the Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments, held in early March, have involved only 10 of the conference's 12 teams, and have been bracketed in a semi-stepladder format. The bottom four seeds play in the first round; the 5 and 6 seeds receive byes to the second round, the 3 and 4 seeds to the quarterfinals, and the top two seeds to the semifinals. The semifinals and finals are held in New Orleans; the 2019 men's and women's events were at Lakefront Arena, and from 2020 will be at Smoothie King Center.[42] Winners of the tournaments earn automatic bids to their respective NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.

Season	Men's Regular Season Champion	Men's Tournament Champion	Women's Regular Season Champion	Women's Tournament Champion
1977	North Carolina–Charlotte	North Carolina–Charlotte	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1978	North Carolina–Charlotte	New Orleans	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1979	South Alabama	Jacksonville	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1980	South Alabama	Virginia Commonwealth	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1981	Virginia Commonwealth	Virginia Commonwealth	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1982	Alabama–Birmingham	Alabama–Birmingham	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1983	Virginia Commonwealth	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion	Old Dominion
1984	Virginia Commonwealth	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion	Old Dominion
1985	Virginia Commonwealth	Virginia Commonwealth	Old Dominion	Old Dominion
1986	Old Dominion	Jacksonville	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
1987	Western Kentucky	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion	Old Dominion
1988	North Carolina–Charlotte	North Carolina–Charlotte	Old Dominion	Western Kentucky
1989	South Alabama	South Alabama	Old Dominion	Western Kentucky
1990	Alabama–Birmingham	South Florida	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion
1991	South Alabama	South Alabama	Alabama–Birmingham	Western Kentucky
1992	Southwestern Louisiana	Southwestern Louisiana	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
1993	New Orleans	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
1994	Western Kentucky	Southwestern Louisiana	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
1995	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Louisiana Tech	Western Kentucky
1996	Arkansas–Little Rock	New Orleans	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
1997	South Alabama	South Alabama	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
1998	South Alabama	South Alabama	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
1999	Louisiana Tech	Arkansas State	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
2000	Louisiana–Lafayette	Louisiana–Lafayette	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
2001	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Louisiana Tech	Louisiana Tech
2002	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Florida International	Florida International
2003	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
2004	Vacated	Vacated	South Alabama	Middle Tennessee State
2005	Denver	Vacated	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee State
2006	Western Kentucky	South Alabama	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee State
2007	South Alabama	North Texas	Middle Tennessee State	Middle Tennessee State
2008	South Alabama	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
2009	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee State	Middle Tennessee State
2010	Troy	North Texas	Arkansas–Little Rock	Middle Tennessee State
2011	Florida Atlantic	Arkansas–Little Rock	Middle Tennessee State Arkansas–Little Rock	Arkansas–Little Rock
2012	Middle Tennessee State	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee State	Arkansas–Little Rock
2013	Middle Tennessee State	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee State	Arkansas–Little Rock
2014	Georgia State	Louisiana–Lafayette	Arkansas State	Western Kentucky
2015	Georgia State	Georgia State	Arkansas–Little Rock	Arkansas–Little Rock
2016	Little Rock	Little Rock	Arkansas State	Troy
2017	UT Arlington	Troy	Little Rock	Troy
2018	Louisiana	Georgia State	Little Rock	Little Rock
2019	Georgia State	Georgia State	Little Rock UT Arlington	Little Rock
2020	Little Rock	Tournament Cancelled	Troy	Tournament Cancelled

Baseball

Main article: Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament 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 12. Teams in bold represent current conference members. School Tourney Titles Title Years South Alabama 12 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 1984 • 1987 • 1992 • 1996 • 1997 • 2000 • 2001 • 2005 • 2017 Louisiana 4 1998 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 New Orleans 3 1978 • 1979 • 2007 South Florida 3 1982 • 1986 • 1990 Coastal Carolina 2 2018 • 2019 Florida International 2 1999 • 2010 Middle Tennessee State 2 2003 • 2009 Western Kentucky 2 2004 • 2008 Lamar 2 1993 • 1995 Florida Atlantic 1 2013 ULM 1 2012 Little Rock 1 2011 Troy 1 2006 New Mexico State 1 2002 Arkansas State 1 1994 UAB 1 1991 Jacksonville 1 1989 VCU 1 1988 Old Dominion 1 1985

Season Tournament Champion 1978 New Orleans 1979 New Orleans 1980 South Alabama 1981 South Alabama 1982 South Florida 1983 South Alabama 1984 South Alabama 1985 Old Dominion 1986 South Florida 1987 South Alabama 1988 Virginia Commonwealth 1989 Jacksonville 1990 South Florida 1991 Alabama–Birmingham 1992 South Alabama 1993 Lamar 1994 Arkansas State 1995 Lamar 1996 South Alabama 1997 South Alabama Season Tournament Champion 1998 Southwestern Louisiana 1999 Florida International 2000 South Alabama 2001 South Alabama 2002 New Mexico State 2003 Middle Tennessee State 2004 Western Kentucky 2005 South Alabama 2006 Troy 2007 New Orleans 2008 Western Kentucky 2009 Middle Tennessee State 2010 Florida International 2011 Arkansas–Little Rock 2012 Louisiana–Monroe 2013 Florida Atlantic 2014 Louisiana–Lafayette 2015 Louisiana–Lafayette 2016 Louisiana–Lafayette 2017 South Alabama 2018 Coastal Carolina 2019 Coastal Carolina

Facilities

School	Football Stadium	Capacity	Basketball Arena	Capacity	Baseball Stadium	Capacity
Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium	30,000	Holmes Center	8,325	Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium	1,000[43]
Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium	33,410	First National Bank Arena	10,563	Tomlinson Stadium–Kell Field	1,200[44]
Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium	20,000	HTC Center	3,370	Springs Brooks Stadium - Vrooman Field	5,400[45]
Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium	25,000	Hanner Fieldhouse	4,325[46]	J. I. Clements Stadium	3,000
Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium	24,333	GSU Sports Arena	3,854[47]	GSU Baseball Complex	1,092
Little Rock	Non-football school		Jack Stephens Center[lower-alpha 1]	5,600[48]	Gary Hogan Field	2,550
Louisiana	Cajun Field	41,426	Cajundome[lower-alpha 2]	12,068	M.L. Tigue Moore Field	6,000
Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium	30,427	Fant–Ewing Coliseum	7,085	Warhawk Field	1,800
South Alabama	Hancock Whitney Stadium[lower-alpha 3]	25,000	Mitchell Center	10,041	Eddie Stanky Field	4,500
Texas State	Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium	30,000	Strahan Coliseum	10,000	Bobcat Ballpark	2,000
UT Arlington	Non-football school		College Park Center	7,000	Clay Gould Ballpark	1,600
Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium	30,420	Trojan Arena	6,000[49]	Riddle–Pace Field	2,000

Notes

1. Little Rock normally plays home basketball games on campus but occasionally plays at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock.
2. Louisiana's women's basketball team primarily plays at the Cajundome but occasionally plays at Earl K. Long Gymnasium on the main campus.
3. Opening for the 2020 season.

Academics

Two of the Sun Belt's member schools, Georgia State and UT Arlington are doctorate-granting universities with "very high research activity," the highest classification given by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.[50]

Appalachian State is also currently ranked as one of the Top 10 regional schools in the South by the U.S. News & World Report.

University	Affiliation	Carnegie[50]	Endowment[51]	US News[52]	Forbes[53]
Appalachian State University	Public (UNC)	Master's (Larger)	$99,593,000[54]	9 (Regional: South)	315
Arkansas State University	Public (ASU System)	R2 Doctoral/Research (Higher)	$66,217,000[54]	68 (Regional: South)	N/A[d 1]
Coastal Carolina University	Public	Master's (Larger)	$39,432,000[54]	52 (Regional: South)	N/A[d 2]
Georgia Southern University	Public (USG System)	R2 Doctoral/Research (Higher)	$50,999,000[54]	RNP (National)	560
Georgia State University	Public (USG System)	R1 Doctoral/Research (Highest)	$155,303,000[54]	187 (National)	530
University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Public (UA System)	R3 Doctoral/Research (Moderate)	$70,080,000[54]	RNP (National)	608
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	Public (UL System)	R2 Doctoral/Research (Higher)	$178,300,000[55]	RNP (National)	529
University of Louisiana at Monroe	Public (UL System)	R3 Doctoral/Research (Moderate)	$23,158,000[56]	RNP (National)	N/A[d 3]
University of South Alabama	Public	R2 Doctoral/Research (Higher)	$555,735,000[54]	RNP (National)	616
Texas State University	Public (TSU System)	R2 Doctoral/Research (Higher)	$186,676,000[54]	RNP (National)	506
University of Texas at Arlington	Public (UT System)	R1 Doctoral/Research (Highest)	$155,277,000[57]	221 (National)	558
Troy University	Public (TU System)	Master's (Larger)	$104,409,000[54]	69 (Regional: South)	640

Notes

1. Arkansas State is not ranked in the 2017 Forbes America's Best 650 Colleges rankings.
2. Coastal Carolina is not ranked in the 2017 Forbes America's Best 650 Colleges rankings.
3. Louisiana-Monroe is not ranked in the 2017 Forbes America's Best 650 Colleges rankings.

References

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External links

• Official website