21 Schools•Division I•Est. 1976
The Sun Belt was founded on August 4, 1976, as a basketball-only league with six charter members: New Orleans, South Alabama, Georgia State, Jacksonville, UNC Charlotte, and South Florida. Vic Bubas, the former Duke coach who took the Blue Devils to three Final Fours, became the first commissioner and led the league for fourteen years. Football arrived in 2001. The conference now spans fourteen member institutions across ten states in the South and sponsors 19 sports from its headquarters in the Caesars Superdome.
Football has become the calling card. In the College Football Playoff era the Sun Belt has led all of the FBS in bowl winning percentage, and member schools have knocked off power conference programs, hosted College GameDay, and placed teams in the final playoff rankings. Coastal Carolina and Louisiana have both posted some of the best winning percentages in the country since 2020.
Championship pedigree runs deep. Member schools have won 29 NCAA titles between them. Old Dominion owns ten across field hockey and women's basketball. Georgia Southern has six football championships, James Madison five titles across four different sports, Appalachian State three straight in football, and Marshall won a national championship in men's soccer. Coastal Carolina claimed the 2016 College World Series. Louisiana Tech has two women's basketball crowns.
Olympians stretch back decades, from Arkansas State triple jump gold medalist Al Joyner to Old Dominion basketball legend Anne Donovan, with recent Games bringing athletes and coaches from eight different member schools.
Rivalries are the heart of it. App State and Georgia Southern play Deeper Than Hate. Troy and South Alabama fight for the Belt. Georgia Southern and Georgia State stage Modern Day Hate, Louisiana and ULM swap the Wooden Boot, and James Madison and Old Dominion contest the Royal Rivalry crown.
Official Website
The Sun Belt was founded on August 4, 1976, as a basketball-only league with six charter members: New Orleans, South Alabama, Georgia State, Jacksonville, UNC Charlotte, and South Florida. Vic Bubas, the former Duke coach who took the Blue Devils to three Final Fours, became the first commissioner and led the league for fourteen years. Football arrived in 2001. The conference now spans fourteen member institutions across ten states in the South and sponsors 19 sports from its headquarters in the Caesars Superdome.
Football has become the calling card. In the College Football Playoff era the Sun Belt has led all of the FBS in bowl winning percentage, and member schools have knocked off power conference programs, hosted College GameDay, and placed teams in the final playoff rankings. Coastal Carolina and Louisiana have both posted some of the best winning percentages in the country since 2020.
Championship pedigree runs deep. Member schools have won 29 NCAA titles between them. Old Dominion owns ten across field hockey and women's basketball. Georgia Southern has six football championships, James Madison five titles across four different sports, Appalachian State three straight in football, and Marshall won a national championship in men's soccer. Coastal Carolina claimed the 2016 College World Series. Louisiana Tech has two women's basketball crowns.
Olympians stretch back decades, from Arkansas State triple jump gold medalist Al Joyner to Old Dominion basketball legend Anne Donovan, with recent Games bringing athletes and coaches from eight different member schools.
Rivalries are the heart of it. App State and Georgia Southern play Deeper Than Hate. Troy and South Alabama fight for the Belt. Georgia Southern and Georgia State stage Modern Day Hate, Louisiana and ULM swap the Wooden Boot, and James Madison and Old Dominion contest the Royal Rivalry crown.
Official Website