Sun Belt Membership: University of Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State University, University of Denver, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, University of Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State University, University of New Orleans, University of North Texas, University of South Alabama, Troy University, and Western Kentucky University.
While there are 31 NCAA conferences that sponsor multiple sports, the Sun Belt is one of only 11 to participate in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and Football Bowl Subdivision. The Sun Belt was formed in 1976 with six members competing in four men’s sports, and today comprises 13 institutions of higher learning while sponsoring 19 championship sports for men and women.
The Sun Belt Conference enters its 34th season in 2009-10 with a proud history of athletic and academic success. The conference sponsors 10 women’s sports - basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball; and nine men’s sports – baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field.
Each of the 19 sports has seen numerous team and individual accomplishments, and nearly every Sun Belt Conference school is currently graduating its student-athletes at a rate higher than its respective school’s student body. All Sun Belt schools are committed to excellence in the 21st century, and facility upgrades and expansions are taking place on every campus.
During the 2008-09 academic year alone, the Sun Belt Conference accomplished numerous feats. In the fall of 2008 Middle Tennessee, FIU and Western Kentucky University all represented the league in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament – the first time the Sun Belt has sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament in volleyball and the second straight year the conference has sent multiple teams. Middle Tennessee advanced to the second round of the tournament, while WKU and FIU put forth strong and hard-fought efforts in the first round.
The Sun Belt momentum continued in the sport of football as Florida Atlantic and Troy both earned bowl bids after impressive regular-season performances. It marked the third time in the league’s eight-year football history that two teams have received postseason nods. FAU marked its place in the history books when the Owls defeated Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl, becoming the first SBC team to win back-to-back bowl games.
In men’s basketball, WKU received its second straight bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship. The Hilltoppers secured a trip to the second round with a 76-72 win over fifth-seeded Illinois and battled to the end in a heartbreaking two-point loss to Gonzaga. It was the second year in a row that WKU defeated a higher-seeded team to advance past the tournament’s opening round.
On the women’s side, Middle Tennessee captured national attention with the help of standout junior Alysha Clark. The Blue Raiders spent time in the coaches’ poll top 25. The squad earned a spot in the 2009 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament as Sun Belt Conference champions and finished the season with an impressive 28-6 record. Clark’s consistent performances earned her the title of the nation’s leading scorer as she averaged 27.5 points per game. The Blue Raiders will look to continue their success in the 2009-10 season, and with every student-athlete returning, they will be poised to make another strong showing.
There was no shortage of success in the Sun Belt’s spring sports in 2009, either. Three tennis teams represented the league in the NCAA Tennis Tournaments. The Middle Tennessee men’s team and FIU women’s team both earned their places in the national competition by winning their respective Sun Belt Conference championships. The Denver women’s squad received an at-large bid after building a 16-5 regular season record, marking their second straight appearance at the event. FIU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following a 4-3 win over Princeton in the first round.
The 2009 Sun Belt Conference golf teams picked up right where they left off after an impressive 2008 season that saw two squads advance to the NCAA National Championship after top-10 finishes at their respective regional sites.
The Sun Belt followed up the strong 2008 showing by sending three teams to the NCAA Regionals. Middle Tennessee and Denver were both selected to compete at the regional events, marking the 10th consecutive year that the conference has sent two men’s teams to the postseason. The Denver women also received an automatic bid to the regionals after taking home its sixth consecutive Sun Belt crown.
The Pioneer women held a national ranking throughout the entire season and capped the year with its first-ever regional championship, winning the NCAA East Regional at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla. Denver came away with a top-five finish in the national competition, taking fifth place at the 2009 NCAA National Championship. It marked the highest finish in the program’s history and the third consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship for the Pioneers.
A year after Louisiana-Lafayette reached the pinnacle of collegiate softball by advancing to the Women’s College World Series, the high level of competition within the conference during the 2009 softball season was clear evidence of the league’s increasing parity. Louisiana-Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajuns took home their ninth Sun Belt Conference crown in 10 years, but they faced heavy opposition in the regular season and throughout the conference tournament.
Louisiana-Lafayette fell to host Baylor University in the first game of the Waco Regional, but fought off elimination by winning its next two contests against No. 13 Northwestern and Texas State. The Cajuns’ postseason run came to an end with a second loss to Baylor. But with their entire pitching staff returning, including Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Donna Bourgeois, the Cajuns have plenty of reason to look forward to the 2010 season.
In baseball, the Sun Belt Conference has sent multiple teams to the NCAA tournament each year since 1988. The 21-year streak of having two or more teams reach NCAA play is matched by only four other conferences (ACC, Big West, SEC, Pac-10). Both WKU and Middle Tennessee represented the league in the NCAA Baseball Championships in 2009.
Because of its status as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivsion coalition, the Sun Belt Conference has a permanent seat on the NCAA’s 17-member Board of Directors. As a result, the conference has a crucial voice on some of the most pressing issues in college athletics and will always have a role in the implementation of any future NCAA legislation and guidelines.
The conference continues to utilize television to grow and promote the league and its member institutions. The Sun Belt Conference signed a new multi-year agreement with ESPN, Inc. in January of 2009 that will result in unprecedented national coverage for the league. Additionally, ESPN televised the conference’s men’s basketball championship game for the 29th straight season in 2009, marking its longest affiliation with any conference in the country.
The conference’s regional television partnership with Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and Cox Sports Television (CST) enables live telecasts of Sun Belt events to reach millions of households. The addition of volleyball, baseball and softball to the conference’s television package has resulted in more national and regional television exposure for the league than at any time in its history.
The Sun Belt Conference has also partnered with JumpTV Sports, Inc. to deliver a full-service, customized, public and premium website to provide fans with a broad range of real-time information and content about the conference’s athletic teams. The Sun Belt is one of the few conferences in the nation to provide video highlights and features on its website from each of the league’s respective championships. This technology serves as a great recruiting tool for schools by enabling anyone in the world with internet access to view the conference’s championship events. Fans in five different countries viewed the conference’s most recent soccer championship.
Prominent Sun Belt alumni include former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (Denver), NFL Hall of Fame football player “Mean” Joe Greene (North Texas), Florida Marlins All-Star baseball player Luis Gonzalez (South Alabama), Boston Red Sox baseball player Mike Lowell (MLB All-Star and 2007 MLB World Series MVP, FIU), former member of the United States Senate and House of Representatives John Breaux (Louisiana-Lafayette), country music superstar Tim McGraw (Louisiana-Monroe), and actor Andy Garcia (FIU).
The conference’s first 33 years have also produced numerous individual national champions along with Olympic track medalists including Earl Bell, Tom Hill and Al Joyner (Arkansas State), Hollis Conway (Louisiana-Lafayette), and Tayna Lawrence (FIU). Old Dominion’s Anne Donovan, who received the Naismith Trophy recognizing the nation’s top women’s basketball player in 1983, helped the United States win the Olympic gold medal in 1984 and helped the Lady Monarchs capture the national championship in 1985 (one of eight women’s Final Four appearances by Sun Belt schools: Old Dominion - 1983, 1985; WKU – 1985, 1986, 1992; Louisiana Tech – 1994, 1998, 1999). Sun Belt teams have also participated in the men’s NCAA Final Four (Charlotte 1977), the College World Series (Louisiana-Lafayette 2000), the women’s College World Series (Louisiana-Lafayette 1993, 1995, 1996, 2003, 2008), and have had 11 players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.
The Sun Belt Conference is led by Commissioner Wright Waters, who is in his 10th full year as commissioner. He was named the conference’s fourth commissioner in February of 1999 following the tenures of Vic Bubas (1976-1990), Jim Lessig (1990-1991), and Craig Thompson (1991-1998). The league’s annual all sports champion is awarded the Vic Bubas Cup, named after the conference’s first commissioner.
The conference office has been headquartered in downtown New Orleans since 2000 after moving from suburban Metairie, La., where it had been based since 1991. Prior to moving to the “Big Easy,” the league was based in Tampa, Fla., from 1977-1991. The original conference office was located in Charlotte, N. C., from 1976-77.
