NEW ORLEANS — If a commissioner from one of college football’s Power Five conferences calls a Sun Belt Conference school, commissioner Karl Benson expects it to listen.
However, Benson has confidence that if a commissioner from another Group of Five conference calls, the Sun Belt has enough positives that the school would say no to a potential offer, he said Monday morning.
Benson opened Sun Belt media day Monday at the Superdome with his annual address, touching on details regarding a future championship game for football and whether the Big 12’s desire to expand its conference alignment would affect the Sun Belt.
The Big 12 said last week that it was exploring the addition of two or four members, which could affect the Sun Belt with regard to other conferences filling holes. American Athletic Conference members Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Central Florida and Connecticut have all been mentioned as potential Big 12 targets.
Benson said a Sun Belt school would be “foolish” not to listen to a Power Five conference — the Atlantic Coast, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the Pac-12 or the SEC — but thinks his schools would rebuff offers from the AAC, the Mountain West, Conference-USA or the Mid-American Conference.
If so, it would be different than from four years ago, when the Sun Belt lost members North Texas, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Florida International and Florida Atlantic to Conference USA.
"I said more than once that I will know when the Sun Belt has reached a level of sustainability and stability — is when a phone call comes from the president or chancellor of one of the Sun Belt's peer conferences to a Sun Belt president or chancellor, the answer will be: Thank you very much, but my university is very happy right where we are in the Sun Belt Conference," Benson said. "That is exactly where I feel like the Sun Belt is today."
Benson cited president and chancellor continuity, and an increase in bowl partners and in conference payouts as reasons the Sun Belt is more attractive to present schools. He said Monday that payouts to schools are “over $1 million.”
Also Monday, Benson said the league is leaning toward splitting into east-west divisions starting in 2018 when it will begin playing a football championship game.
Benson provided no firm details regarding date, time, or a television network but said that the adoption of a divisional alignment is "safe to say."
The divisions would likely be Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe and Texas State on one side and Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern and Georgia State on the other side. A decision on where to put South Alabama, located in Mobile, and Troy has yet to be made.
Benson said the date of the game would determine a 2018 schedule, too. If it’s played on the Thursday after Thanksgiving, the league would not schedule games on Thanksgiving weekend.
“It’s going to be the [championship] that has the most visibility and the most national interest,” Benson said. “We want to get it right.”
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.