NEW ORLEANS -- The Sun Belt Conference was raided four years ago when major-conference realignment trickled down to the bottom rungs of Division I.
In a span of just over a year, North Texas, Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Western Kentucky bolted to Conference-USA.
Now, the Big 12 Conference has announced plans to expand by two or four teams.
Commissioner Karl Benson said he thinks the Sun Belt can fend off the vultures this time.
Benson opened Monday's Sun Belt media day at the Superdome saying that a Sun Belt school would be "foolish" not to listen to a team from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 or the SEC, known as the Power Five. But, he sees no reason a school would listen to an overture from the American Athletic, Conference USA, the Mountain West or the Mid-American, which like the Sun Belt, are known as the Group of Five.
"I will know when the Sun Belt has reached a level of sustainability and stability -- 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," Benson said. "That is exactly where I feel like the Sun Belt is today."
The AAC could be looking for new members shortly, considering current members Connecticut, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, South Florida and Central Florida have all been mentioned as potential Big 12 targets.
But Benson cited higher conference payouts stemming from the College Football Playoff, more bowl partners and presidential continuity as reasons the Sun Belt is attractive to its current members. The Sun Belt's latest payouts will be more than $1 million, Benson said.
"We are trending upwards," he said.
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Divisions in 2018
Karl Benson didn't break any news regarding the mechanics of the Sun Belt Conference championship game that will debut in 2018, as some had expected.
Firm details regarding specific date, site and television network still need to be decided. However, Benson said Monday that qualifiers of the game will likely be the winners of an East and West division. That, he said, will allow the Sun Belt to keep an eight-game league schedule and not disrupt some of its school's nonconference game contracts.
The league has never been split into divisions for football, and Benson said it's not yet known which teams will be in which division. Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe and Texas State are the western-most teams, while Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern and Georgia State are the eastern-most teams. Where to put South Alabama, located in Mobile, and Troy (Ala.) is the remaining decision.
"It's going to be the game that has the most visibility, and the most attention and the most national interest," Benson said. "We want to get it right."
Everyone included
Arkansas State's quarterback competition doesn't include the same faces as it did in the spring. But it's just about as crowded.
Pittsburgh transfer Chad Voytik is in; James Tabary, who transferred to McNeese State, and Cameron Birse, who transferred to Western Illinois, are out.Voytik will join Justice Hansen, D.J. Pearson and Logan Bonner when practice begins Aug. 4.
Anderson said Monday that all four will get a crack at it, too.
"I've been surprised before," he said. "I played four years [at Southern Miss] with a walk-on as my starter and he definitely wasn't the guy that everybody talked about when I got there. I want to be open-minded. But, I think it benefits everybody the sooner we can turn this into a two-man race and then a one-man race."
Motivated by demotion
Idaho is headed out of the Sun Belt and into the Big Sky Conference and the Football Championship Subdivision in 2018.
Coach Paul Petrino, in his third season leading the Vandals, wouldn't talk much Monday on his feelings regarding the move. But, he did say it's a source of motivation for his team to reach a bowl game in the next two seasons.
Idaho, 4-12 in two Sun Belt seasons, has been to one bowl game since 1999.
"We have the next two years," Petrino said. "The senior and junior class will finish out at the same level they came in. And I think they want to go out proving it's a division they should have been at and they can go win at."
Champs at Coastal
Coastal Carolina football Coach Joe Moglia watched from Omaha, Neb., last month as his school's baseball team won the College World Series.
Moglia, the former investment-banker-turned-football coach, didn't make any grand statements regarding the Chanticleers' ability to do so in football when it joins the Sun Belt next season.
The Chanticleers are 41-13 and have reached the FCS playoffs in all four seasons under Moglia. They will play as an FCS independent this season before joining the Sun Belt next season and they will be postseason eligible in 2018.
"Is it realistic to assume that Coastal Carolina is going to beat Alabama, Notre Dame, LSU, Nebraska for the national championship? That's probably not realistic," he said. "We want to become really competitive in the Sun Belt and, as the Sun Belt grows and as we grow, I think the national ranking will start to take care of itself.
"I can't control that, and I don't worry about it too much."
Sports on 07/26/2016