NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference released its 2013 composite football schedule on Friday which is highlighted by the first announcement of several games that will be nationally televised.

The release of the schedule official announces that as of today the Sun Belt Conference will have two midweek appearances on ESPN or ESPN2 and four Thursday night appearances on ESPNU.

Two-time defending R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Champions Louisiana-Lafayette will be featured in both of the ESPN/ESPN2 matchups. The first of the two midweek games will feature the Cajuns facing the Bobby Petrino led WKU Hilltoppers in Bowling Green, Kentucky. That game will be aired live on either October 15th or 16th.

A week later, the Cajuns will travel to Jonesboro to face last season’s GoDaddy.com Bowl Champions and two-time defending Sun Belt Champions Arkansas State. The game will take place on either October 22nd or 23rd.

Additional television games can be added through ESPN’s 12-day selection option, the announcement of non-conference games that will be televised and the scheduling of the Sun Belt Network games.

ESPN3 will also cover this year’s Sun Belt Conference Football Media Day on July 15 live from New Orleans. It will be the second consecutive year that ESPN3 has covered the event.

Georgia State and Texas State will make their Sun Belt debuts this season with both teams hosting four conference opponents.

The Sun Belt Conference is coming off its best season in the 12 year history of the league having sent a league record four teams to postseason bowl games, wining a league record 19 non-conference games, and having two teams defeat top-25 ranked opponents.

The Sun Belt Conference is currently comprised of eight football playing members – Arkansas State (founding football member in 2001), Georgia State (inaugural year as football member), Louisiana-Lafayette (founding football member in 2001), Louisiana-Monroe (founding football member in 2001), Texas State (inaugural year as football member), Troy (joined league as football member in 2004), South Alabama (joined league as football member in 2012) and Western Kentucky University (joined league as football member in 2009).

All four of the Sun Belt Conference’s bowl teams from 2012 (Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe and WKU) return for the 2013 season.

2013 Sun Belt Conference Composite Football Schedule

August 29
Southern Utah at South Alabama
­Samford at Georgia State

August 31
Arkansas Pine-Bluff at Arkansas State
Louisiana-Lafayette at Arkansas
Louisiana-Monroe at Oklahoma
Texas State at Southern Miss
UAB at Troy
Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky^

September 7
Arkansas State at Auburn
Tennessee-Chattanooga at Georgia State
Louisiana-Lafayette at Kansas State
Grambling at Louisiana-Monroe
South Alabama at Tulane
Prairie View A&M at Texas State
Savannah State at Troy
Western Kentucky at Tennessee

September 12
Troy at Arkansas State* – ESPNU

September 14
Georgia State at West Virginia
Nicholas State at Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe at Wake Forest
Western Kentucky at South Alabama*

September 21
Arkansas State at Memphis
Jacksonville State at Georgia State
Louisiana-Lafayette at Akron
Louisiana-Monroe at Baylor
Texas State at Texas Tech
Troy at Mississippi State
Morgan State at Western Kentucky

September 28
Arkansas State at Missouri
Tulane at Louisiana-Monroe
South Alabama at Tennessee
Wyoming at Texas State
Troy at Duke
Navy at Western Kentucky

October 3
Western Kentucky at Louisiana-Monroe* - ESPNU

October 5
Georgia State at Alabama
Texas State at Louisiana-Lafayette*
South Alabama at Troy*

October 12
Idaho at Arkansas State
Troy at Georgia State*
Louisiana-Monroe at Texas State*

October 15 or 16
Louisiana-Lafayette at Western Kentucky* - ESPN or ESPN2

October 19
Georgia State at Texas State*
Kent State at South Alabama

October 22 or 23
Louisiana-Lafayette at Arkansas State* – ESPN or ESPN2

October 26
Georgia State at Louisiana-Monroe*
South Alabama at Texas State*
Troy at Western Kentucky*

October 31
Louisiana-Monroe at Troy* - ESPNU

November 2
Arkansas State at South Alabama*
Western Kentucky at Georgia State*
New Mexico State at Louisiana-Lafayette
Texas State at Idaho

November 7
Troy at Louisiana-Lafayette* - ESPNU

November 9
Arkansas State at Louisiana-Monroe*
Western Kentucky at Army

November 16
Texas State at Arkansas State*
Louisiana-Lafayette at Georgia State*
South Alabama at Navy
Troy at Mississippi

November 23
Georgia State at Arkansas State*
Louisiana-Monroe at South Alabama*
Western Kentucky at Texas State*

November 29
Texas State at Troy*

November 30
Arkansans State at Western Kentucky*
South Alabama at Georgia State*
Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette*

December 7
Louisiana-Lafayette at South Alabama*

* denotes Sun Belt Conference game
^ Game to be played at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn.