Sun Belt Conference

The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a group of college sports teams that play each other on the NCAA Division I level. The conference was formed in 1976, and started playing football in 2001. All 14 full members (those playing most of their sports in the league) play football in the top-level Division I FBS. The conference's full members are scattered through the southern United States.

Members

School	Location	Founded	Type (affiliation)	Nickname	Joined SBC
Appalachian State University	Boone, North Carolina	1899	Public	Mountaineers	2014
Arkansas State University	Jonesboro, Arkansas	1909	Public	Red Wolves	1991
Coastal Carolina University	Conway, South Carolina	1954	Public	Chanticleers	2016 (2017 in football)
Georgia Southern University	Statesboro, Georgia	1906	Public	Eagles	2014
Georgia State University	Atlanta, Georgia	1913	Public	Panthers	1976, 2013[a]
James Madison University	Harrisonburg, Virginia	1908	Public	Dukes	2022
LouisianaUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette (Louisiana)	Lafayette, Louisiana	1898	Public	Ragin' Cajuns	1991
Louisiana MonroeUniversity of Louisiana at Monroe	Monroe, Louisiana	1931	Public	Warhawks	2001 (football only) 2006 (all sports)
Marshall University	Huntington, West Virginia	1837	Public	Thundering Herd	2022
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	Public	Monarchs	1982, 2022[b]
South AlabamaUniversity of South Alabama	Mobile, Alabama	1963	Public	Jaguars	1976
University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss)	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	1910	Public	Golden Eagles	2022
Texas State University	San Marcos, Texas	1899	Public	Bobcats	2013
Troy University	Troy, Alabama	1887	Public	Trojans	2004 (football only) 2005 (all sports)

1. Georgia State left the SBC in 1981 and returned in 2013.
2. Old Dominion left the SBC in 1991 and returned in 2022.

Associate members

At different times, the SBC has had "associate members" that play only a few sports, usually one, in the league. As of the 2023–24 school year, it has eight associate members. Four are in men's soccer, a sport that the SBC resumed playing after a one-year absence, and the others are in beach volleyball, a women's sport added for 2022–23.

Most associate members in league history no longer compete in the SBC. The first school to abandon single-sport membership was Utah State, which played Sun Belt football in 2003 and 2004 before joining the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 2005. The Aggies have been members of the Mountain West Conference since 2013.

Idaho and New Mexico State were involved in the league at two different times. New Mexico State first joined the Sun Belt as a full member in 2000, and brought its football team into the Sun Belt the next year. Also in 2001, Idaho joined only for football. Both left in 2005 to join the WAC. During the early 2010s, NCAA Division I went through a major phase of conference changes, with most leagues gaining or losing multiple members. The WAC was one of the most affected conferences, going through a nearly complete membership turnover that left Idaho and New Mexico State as the league's only football schools. In 2014, both placed their football programs in the Sun Belt. The conference announced in 2016 that its agreements for Idaho and New Mexico State to play football in the league would not be renewed when they ended after the 2017 season.^[1]

NJIT (the New Jersey Institute of Technology) was another victim of this realignment; it was forced to become an independent (not in a conference) when its former league, the Great West Conference, collapsed. Its men's soccer team joined the Sun Belt in 2014, a year before the school found a home in the ASUN Conference. Although the ASUN sponsors men's soccer, NJIT kept that team in the Sun Belt until 2016, honoring its two-year contract to play in that league.

Another recent change involved Hartwick, which had long competed in Division I men's soccer despite otherwise being in NCAA Division III. In 2018, Hartwick aligned completely with Division III, moving its men's soccer team to its full-time home of the Empire 8.

A more recent change came in 2021, when the Sun Belt shut down its men's soccer league after it dropped below the number of members needed to keep the automatic berth its champion received in the NCAA tournament. However, conference realignment would lead to the return of men's soccer after a single season.

Of the four schools that were announced as new members in 2021, three sponsor men's soccer—James Madison, Marshall, and Old Dominion. All were originally intended to join the SBC in 2023. With current members Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, and Georgia State also fielding men's soccer teams, the SBC announced it would reinstate men's soccer in 2023. However, the return of men's soccer would be moved forward to 2022 after the expansion plan changed. The revived SBC men's soccer league started with Kentucky, South Carolina, and West Virginia as single-sport members. SBC men's soccer added another member in 2023 with the arrival of UCF, which left the American Athletic Conference (which runs a men's soccer league) for the Big 12 Conference (which does not). UCF's move united its men's soccer team with that of West Virginia, the only other current Big 12 member with a men's soccer team.

The SBC added beach volleyball for the 2022–23 school year with eight members, with full members Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Southern Miss, and ULM joined by four affiliates.

Current

School	Location	Founded	Type (affiliation)	Nickname	Joining	SBC sport	Primary conference
College of Charleston (Charleston)	Charleston, South Carolina	1770	Public	Cougars	2022	Beach volleyball	CAA
University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	1865	Public	Wildcats	2022	Men's soccer	SEC
Mercer University	Macon, Georgia	1833	Private	Bears	2022	Beach volleyball	SoCon
University of South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	1801	Public	Gamecocks	2022	Men's soccer	SEC
Stephen F. Austin State University (Stephen F. Austin or SFA)	Nacogdoches, Texas	1923	Public	Ladyjacks[a]	2022	Beach volleyball	Southland
University of Central Florida (UCF)	Orlando, Florida	1963	Public	Knights	2023	Men's soccer	Big 12
University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW)	Wilmington, North Carolina	1947	Public	Seahawks	2022	Beach volleyball	CAA
West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	1867	Public	Mountaineers	2022	Men's soccer	Big 12

1. SFA uses two nicknames—Lumberjacks for men's teams and Ladyjacks for women's teams.

Former

School	Location	Founded	Type (affiliation)	Nickname	Joined	Left	SBC sport	Current conference in former SBC sport[a]
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1907	Public	Bears[b]	2019	2021	Men's soccer	ASUN
Hartwick College	Oneonta, New York	1797	Private	Hawks	2014	2018	Men's soccer	Empire 8 (Division III)
Howard University	Washington, D.C.	1867	Private	Bison	2014	2018	Men's soccer	Northeast
IdahoUniversity of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	1889	Public	Vandals	2001 2014	2005 2018	Football	Big Sky
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888	Public	Aggies	2014[c]	2018	Football	Conference USA
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)	Newark, New Jersey	1881	Public	Highlanders	2014	2016	Men's soccer	America East[d]
Utah State University	Logan, Utah	1888	Public	Aggies	2003	2005	Football	Mountain West

1. In all cases except Howard, this matches the school's main affiliation. Howard is a full member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, including FCS football.
2. Central Arkansas uses "Sugar Bears" as the nickname for its women's sports teams, but no UCA women's team was ever a Sun Belt member.
3. New Mexico State joined the Sun Belt as a full member in 2000, and brought its football team into the league the next year. NMSU left the conference in 2005.
4. NJIT initially left for its then-current all-sports home of the ASUN Conference. It joined the America East Conference in 2020.

References

• "Sun Belt Conference". sunbeltsports.org. Retrieved 2022-08-27.

1. "Sun Belt Football to Be 10 Teams in 2018" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.