Offensive Player of the Year: Grayson McCall (Redshirt Junior, Coastal Carolina quarterback).Appalachian State was named the favorite to win the East Division, while Louisiana was named the favorite to win the West Division. The Sun Belt released its preseason poll on July 25. Due to JMU meeting FBS scheduling requirements for the 2022 season, specifically five home games against FBS opponents, it was able to skip one year of the normal two-year transition process, making it eligible for both the SBC title and bowl games beginning with the 2023 season. įor the 2022 season, James Madison is ineligible for both the conference championship and for bowl games due to its transition from the FCS level to FBS level. However, all four teams elected to join for the 2022 season, with the move officially announced with the release of the conference's 2022 schedule. The initial intent was for the schools to begin playing in the conference starting no later that July 1, 2023. Prior to the 2022 season, the SBC added four new schools as full members: Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, previously from Conference USA, and James Madison, previously from the Colonial Athletic Association at the Division I FCS level. Ĭoastal Carolina and Georgia State also reached bowl games, with both winning their games. Appalachian State advanced to the Boca Raton Bowl, where they lost to Western Kentucky. Louisiana advanced to the New Orleans Bowl, where they defeated Marshall. In the Conference Championship game, Louisiana took victory by a score of 24–16. The 2021 season saw Appalachian State win the East Division, while Louisiana won the West Division. Throw in perennial contender Appalachian State and there’s no question that the Sun Belt has become a better football conference.Main article: 2021 Sun Belt Conference football season Coastal Carolina went undefeated in 2020 and Louisiana has become a very good non-Power Five team. The Sun Belt has also surpassed Conference USA in football quality in recent years. The Sun Belt, meanwhile, has a deal with ESPN that puts most of the conference’s games on ESPN Plus. Unlike most conferences in college football that have major deals with ESPN and Fox, ESPN carries a select few Conference USA football games. And you can see why it sought greener pastures.Ĭonference USA has a hodgepodge television contract. The AAC took Tulane, Houston, East Carolina, UCF, SMU and Tulsa over those two seasons, leaving just two teams original to the conference and just three others who had been around since 2005.Īfter UAB’s move to the AAC earlier in the week, Southern Miss was the lone remaining original member of the conference. The conference was raided by the American in 20 too. Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, Marquette, Houston, TCU and others were once members of a league that has seen 14 teams join and leave in its 36 years of existence. It has long been a steppingstone conference. Conference USA's turnoverĬonference USA was first formed in 1995 via a merger of the Metro Conference and Great Midwest Conference. Yes, we could be approaching the point where a move by UT and OU led to the downfall of Conference USA. The Big 12 added those three schools (and BYU) after Oklahoma and Texas left for the SEC. The AAC moved to add the six teams from Conference USA after it lost UCF, Cincinnati and Houston to the Big 12. If the latter two leave, Conference USA will be one team short of the six-team minimum needed to survive as a football conference at the top level of college football. ![]() At the moment, the conference has: UTEP, Western Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee and Florida International as members going forward in addition to Marshall and Old Dominion.
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