MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Sun Belt Conference members will face former co-members in three college football bowl games Saturday, which Commissioner Karl Benson called the “Sun Belt-Conference USA Saturday showdown.”
Arkansas State University will play Middle Tennessee State in the Camellia Bowl; Georgia State will play Western Kentucky in the Cure Bowl; Troy will play North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl; and none of the teams have played the other since Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky and North Texas left the Sun Belt after the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Conference USA leads the all-time record 57-36 over the Sun Belt and also has a 7-6 lead in bowl games, which could flip when the weekend is over.
“We’ve never had a day like Saturday,” Benson said. “At the end of the day, some will have won and lost, and I certainly hope the Sun Belt can have a little bragging rights established by the end of the day on Saturday.”
Bragging rights could also serve as payback. During the summer’s Sun Belt Media Day, Benson referenced the 2012 offseason in which four conference members left for “greener pastures” in Conference USA. Benson declared the Sun Belt was “no longer a younger brother” among NCAA football conferences, and he outlined a path to higher prestige and revenue.
Part of that path includes aiming for a higher bowl game winning percentage, since the College Football Playoff revenue is split among the Group of 5 conferences by how well the conferences fared during the season.
The Sun Belt went 4-2 in its bowl games last season, which boosted it to fourth among Group of 5 conferences with a share of $17,115,246.
“The CFP money is really our greatest revenue potential,” Benson said. “And there’s also a bonus payment that goes to the conference team that plays [in a New Year’s Six Bowl] as the highest-ranked [Group of 5 conference] champion. That’s the real financial reward for the conference.”
Since Western Michigan represented the Group of 5 last season, the Mid-American Conference received a first-place $21,522,280 share.
Benson said Troy (10-2) was “only a smidgen away” this year after close losses to Boise State and South Alabama in a season in which it beat then-No. 25 LSU.
If Troy earns the first 11-victory season in Sun Belt history, Benson believed “they could finish the season in the Top 25.”
ASU (7-4) could vault its status with its second consecutive bowl victory, when the Red Wolves face the Blue Raiders for the first time since their 45-0 victory in 2012 that gave ASU its second consecutive Sun Belt title.
Camellia Bowl
ARKANSAS STATE VS. MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE
WHEN 7:30 p.m. Central, Saturday WHERE Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Ala.
RECORDS Arkansas State 7-4; Middle Tennessee State 6-6 TV ESPN
“I remember the last time they played,” Benson said. “I was at that game. Love to see a repeat of the same exact outcome.”