The Sun Belt Conference is sitting on an 11-school membership entering the 2015 season. It is too late to add any new members to the fold now, but the conference is not going to close the book on the topic of expansion just yet. Right now though, the conference appears to have mixed emotions on expansion, and that could cause a stalemate.
Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson said the conference is no longer using the possibility of holding a conference championship game as a means for expansion, but the topic will be revisited in the offseason. By rule, the NCAA requires a conference to have 12 members in order to hold a conference championship game. The American Athletic Conference will join the ACC, Big Ten, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West Conference, Pac-12 and SEC on the conference championship game schedule now that Navy has become the 12th member. The only conferences without a conference championship game are the Big 12 and Sun Belt Conference, although possible amendments to the NCAA rules could eliminate the need for 12 members in order to hold a championship game. Either way, the Sun Belt sees little advantage in fielding a championship game in its conference as things stand right now.
Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Mark Hudspeth touched on the topic Monday, saying a conference championship game in the Sun Belt only makes sense if it comes with a national television deal in prime time. Without a national television audience tuning in, the Sun Belt sees no benefit from playing an extra game. The Sun Belt is also not on the same level as some of the other Group of Five conferences where a conference championship game might push the Sun Belt champion into the New Years Six conversation at the end of the season. Maybe someday it will, but that will take time.
Benson also noted the conference is more interested in staying within its geographical footprint. His comment about geography came up when asked about the possibility of New Mexico State joining as a full-conference member. New Mexico State and Idaho are each football-only associate members, rescued from the implosion of the WAC during conference realignmageddon. The geography statements would also suggest a school like UMass is without question out of the picture. The Minutemen will be going independent in 2016 as the final year of their relationship of the MAC is set for this fall.
It would seem the most likely way for Sun Belt expansion to move would be to welcome up another FCS program that fits the chemistry of the conference. Appalachian State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern, South Alabama and Texas State all did that in recent seasons on their way to the Sun Belt. Conference USA has gone the same way as well with UTEP, Old Dominion and now Charlotte.
