Sun Belt Conference From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Sun Belt Conference Established: 1976 NCAA Division I FBS Members 13 Sports fielded 19 (men's: 9; women's: 10) Region Southern United States Headquarters New Orleans, LA Commissioner Wright Waters (since 1999) Website http://www.sunbeltsports.org/ Locations 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. Contents [hide] 1 History 1.1 Membership history timeline 2 Future 3 Organization 4 Commissioners 5 Current members 6 Conference facilities 7 Sports 7.1 Football 7.1.1 Bowl affiliates 7.2 Basketball 7.3 Baseball 7.4 Other Sports 8 Rivalries 8.1 Intraconference rivalries 8.2 Interconference rivalries 9 Former Members 10 Affiliate Members 11 See also 12 External links 13 Notes and references [edit] History The Sun Belt Conference was founded on August 4, 1976 with New Orleans, South Alabama, Georgia State, Jacksonville, North Carolina-Charlotte and South Florida. Over the next ten years the conference would add Western Kentucky, Old Dominion, UAB, and Virginia Commonwealth. 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 Louisiana-Lafayette), Texas-Pan American, New Orleans, Lamar, and Central Florida. The conference did not sponsor football until 2001, when the league added former Big West Conference members New Mexico State and North Texas and then-independent Middle Tennessee State as full members and added independent Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) and Big West member Idaho as "football only" members. Another Big West school, Utah State, was added as a "football only" member in 2003, then departed in 2005 with Idaho and New Mexico State for the WAC. In 2005, Troy joined the conference. In 2006, Louisiana-Monroe joined the conference as a member in all sports, and Florida Atlantic joined the conference. [edit] Membership history timeline [edit] Future ULM and FAU joined the league as a member in all sports on July 1, 2005. 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] South Alabama will begin fielding a football team in 2009, with the intention of moving up to full FBS status by 2013. [edit] Organization The Sun Belt 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 Endowment University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans Little Rock, Arkansas (187,452) 1927 Public 12,000 No $7.6 million Arkansas State University Red Wolves Jonesboro, Arkansas (64,849) 1909 Public 16,494 Yes $33.1 million University of Denver Pioneers Denver, Colorado (588,349) 1864 Private/Non-sectarian 9,846 No $291 million Florida Atlantic University Owls Boca Raton, Florida (86,396) 1964 Public 26,000 Yes $190 million Florida International University Golden Panthers Miami, Florida (409,719) 1965 Public 39,500 Yes $110 million University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns Lafayette, Louisiana (110,275) 1900 Public 18,079 Yes $93 million University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks Monroe, Louisiana (53,107) 1931 Public 8,140 Yes $20.6 million Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders Murfreesboro, Tennessee (100,575) 1911 Public 22,554 Yes $23.8 million University of New Orleans Privateers New Orleans, Louisiana (223,388) 1958 Public 17,350 No $15.5 million University of North Texas Mean Green Denton, Texas (115,506) 1890 Public 34,795 Yes $62.4 million University of South Alabama Jaguars Mobile, Alabama (198,915) 1963 Public 14,003 Yes (2013) $270 million Troy University Trojans Troy, Alabama (13,935) 1887 Public 27,148 Yes $27 million Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers Bowling Green, Kentucky (63,745) 1906 Public 18,391 Yes (2009) $102 million Locations of current Sun Belt Conference full member institutions. [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 ASU 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** 20,000 U.S. Century Bank Arena 6,000 Louisiana-Lafayette Cajun Field 31,000 Cajundome 11,550 ULM Malone Stadium 30,427 Fant-Ewing Coliseum 7,085 Middle Tennessee State 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] Sports [edit] Football Champions by year: Season Champion Conference Record 2001 Middle Tennessee State 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 ULM 5-2 2006 Middle Tennessee State 6-1 Troy*** 6-1 2007 Troy 6-1 Florida Atlantic**** 6-1 2008 Troy 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] Bowl affiliates New Orleans Bowl St. Petersburg Bowl Independence Bowl PapaJohns.com Bowl Motor City Bowl Sun Belt vs. C-USA Sun Belt serves as an alternate for Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, C-USA, MAC and SEC. [edit] Basketball Main articles: Sun Belt Men's Basketball Tournament and Sun Belt Women's Basketball Tournament Season Men's Regular Season Champion Men's Tournament Champion Women's Regular Season Champion Women's Tournament Champion 1977 UNC Charlotte UNC Charlotte No Regular Season No Tournament 1978 UNC Charlotte New Orleans No Regular Season No Tournament 1979 South Alabama Jacksonville No Regular Season No Tournament 1980 South Alabama VCU No Regular Season No Tournament 1981 VCU VCU No Regular Season No Tournament 1982 UAB UAB No Regular Season No Tournament 1983 VCU UAB Old Dominion Old Dominion 1984 VCU UAB Old Dominion Old Dominion 1985 VCU VCU Old Dominion Old Dominion 1986 Old Dominion Jacksonville Western Kentucky Western Kentucky 1987 Western Kentucky UAB Old Dominion Old Dominion 1988 UNC Charlotte UNC Charlotte Old Dominion Western Kentucky 1989 South Alabama South Alabama Old Dominion Western Kentucky 1990 UAB South Florida UAB Old Dominion 1991 South Alabama South Alabama UAB 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 UALR 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 Louisiana-Lafayette Louisiana-Lafayette South Alabama Middle Tennessee 2005 Denver Louisiana-Lafayette Western Kentucky Middle Tennessee 2006 Western Kentucky South Alabama Western Kentucky Middle Tennessee 2007 South Alabama North Texas Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee 2008 South Alabama Western Kentucky Western Kentucky Western Kentucky 2009 Western Kentucky Western Kentucky Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee See also: List of Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Locations [edit] Baseball Main article: Sun Belt Baseball Tournament The Sun Belt Conference has sponsored an annual baseball tournament to determine the conference winner since 1978. South Alabama has (by far) won the most championships, at 11. [edit] Other Sports Besides football, basketball, and baseball, the Sun Belt Conference sponsors intercollegiate competition in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s softball, men's and 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. Denver, the only Sun Belt member school with a varsity ice hockey program, is also a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. [edit] Rivalries [edit] Intraconference rivalries Rivalry Sport Significant Game Trophy Florida Atlantic - FIU All Shula Bowl (football) The Shula Award UALR - Arkansas State All Louisiana-Lafayette - ULM All Battle on the Bayou (football) Middle Tennessee - Troy Football Battle for the Palladium The Palladium Middle Tennessee - Western Kentucky All [edit] Interconference rivalries Rivalry Sport Significant Game Trophy Eastern Kentucky - Western Kentucky Football Battle of the Bluegrass FIU - University of Miami All Arkansas State - University of Memphis All Paint Bucket Bowl (football) New Orleans - Tulane Basketball, Baseball North Texas - SMU Football Safeway Bowl [edit] Former Members Georgia State - 1976-1981 (now in the CAA) Jacksonville - 1976-1998 (now in the Atlantic Sun Conference) Charlotte - 1976-1991 (now in the A-10) South Florida - 1976-1991 (now in the Big East) UAB - 1979-1991 (now in Conference USA) Virginia Commonwealth - 1979-1991 (now in the CAA) Old Dominion - 1982-1991 (now in the CAA) UCF - 1991-1992 (now in Conference USA) Lamar - 1991-1998 (now in the Southland Conference) Texas-Pan American - 1991-1998 Louisiana Tech - 1991-2001 (now in the WAC) New Mexico State - 2001-2005 (now in the WAC) Idaho (football only) - 2001-2005 (now in the WAC) Utah State (football only) - 2003-2005 (Now in the WAC) [edit] Affiliate Members Missouri State, Southern Illinois, University of Evansville, Eastern Michigan University, Ball State University, the University at Buffalo and Miami University began competing with the Sun Belt in men's swimming and diving, in 2008. [edit] See also Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament [edit] External links Sun Belt Conference [edit] Notes and references ^ "WKU Regents Approve Move To Division 1-A Football". Western Kentucky University. 2006-11-02. http://wku.edu/news/releases06/november/football.html. Retrieved on 2006-11-03. [show]v • d • eNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Conferences Atlantic Coast Conference * • Big 12 Conference * • Big East Conference * • Big Ten Conference * • Conference USA • Mid-American Conference • Mountain West Conference • Pacific-10 Conference * • Southeastern Conference * • Sun Belt Conference • Western Athletic Conference • Independents * Conference champion receives an automatic BCS bid [show]v • d • eSun Belt Conference Football Arkansas State Red Wolves • Florida Atlantic Owls • FIU Golden Panthers • Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns • Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks • Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders • North Texas Mean Green • Troy Trojans • Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Non-football Arkansas–Little Rock Trojans • Denver Pioneers • New Orleans Privateers • South Alabama Jaguars† † - Will join the conference for football in 2011 [show]v • d • eFootball stadiums of the Sun Belt Conference Cajun Field (Louisiana-Lafayette) • FIU Stadium (Florida International) • Fouts Field (North Texas) • Indian Stadium (Arkansas State) • Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium (Middle Tennessee) • Lockhart Stadium (Florida Atlantic) • Malone Stadium (Louisiana-Monroe) • Movie Gallery Stadium (Troy) [show]v • d • eCurrent Basketball Arenas in the Sun Belt Conference Cajundome (Louisiana-Lafayette) • Convocation Center (Arkansas State) • E.A. Diddle Arena (Western Kentucky) • Fant-Ewing Coliseum (Louisiana-Monroe) • FAU Arena (Florida Atlantic) • FIU Arena (Florida International) • Jack Stephens Center (Arkansas-Little Rock) • Lakefront Arena (New Orleans) • Magness Arena (Denver) • Mitchell Center (South Alabama) • Murphy Center (Middle Tennessee) • Trojan Arena (Troy) • UNT Coliseum (North Texas) [show]v • d • eCurrent head men's basketball coaches of the Sun Belt Conference John Brady (Arkansas State) · Steve Shields (Arkansas-Little Rock) · Joe Scott (Denver) · Mike Jarvis (Florida Atlantic) · Sergio Rouco (Florida International) · Robert Lee (Louisiana-Lafayette) · Orlando Early (Louisiana-Monroe) · Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee) · Joe Pasternack (New Orleans) · Johnny Jones (North Texas) · Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama) · Don Maestri (Troy) · Ken McDonald (Western Kentucky) [show]v • d • eMarching bands of the Sun Belt Conference A-State Marching Band (Arkansas State) • FAU Marching Owls (Florida Atlantic) • 'Golden Panther' Marching Band (Florida International) • Pride of Acadiana (Louisiana-Lafayette) • Sound of Today (Louisiana-Monroe) • Band of Blue (MTSU) • Green Brigade (North Texas) • South Alabama Marching Band (South Alabama) • Sound of the South (Troy) • Western Kentucky Big Red Marching Band (Western Kentucky) • Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt_Conference" Categories: Sun Belt Conference | American basketball coaches | Living people | Sports in New Orleans, Louisiana