Sun Belt Future is Now
NEW ORLEANS - Sun Belt Conference commissioner Karl Benson did not lack for optimism Monday when he gave his views of where league football will be over the next half-decade.
“In the next five years, we will have a team play in a New Year’s Day bowl game, and we will be in the top three each year among our peer conferences in our football performance,” Benson said in his annual “State of the Conference” address to kick off Monday’s media day activities.
Benson has reason for that optimism, with the Sun Belt coming off the most successful football season in its 16-year history.
The conference put six teams into bowl games, two more than the previous best from 2012 and 2015. Sun Belt teams also won four of those games, the most ever by the league.
The Sun Belt’s 4-2 postseason mark was second only to the ACC among the 10 FBS conferences in winning percentage. The .667 mark was easily the best winning mark among the “Group of Five” conferences.
The Sun Belt also finished ahead of Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference in the conference computer rankings. That move resulted in a $3 million boost to conference funds from the College Football Playoff payouts.
All those accomplishments give good reason for optimism, and Benson said that the league is positioned for even more future success. During his 45-minute address, he cited increased revenues for the league and its members, success for league teams in improved non-conference scheduling, continuing relationships with its five bowl partners, a continuing relationship with ESPN, the upcoming football championship game that begins in 2018, and an upgraded officiating program that includes partnership with the SEC in collaborative replay.
“Five years ago we were preparing for the departure of five universities,” he said, “and now five years later we have completed the addition of six schools that share a commitment to seek greatness with our continuing members.
“Four years ago we adopted the mantra of ‘Together We Rise,’ and the Sun Belt and its members have taken that to heart. The pundits who question whether the Sun Belt teams can match up with other conference don’t have to look too far in the past to find success.”
Benson wasn’t the only person with that optimistic attitude during Monday’s media day activities, either.
“I really, really like where this conference is,” said Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson. “I was in the league in some of its formative years (as an assistant coach), and the quality of the football here has changed tremendously. It’s quality football … you go into some of the stadiums in this league, you better bring your ‘A’ game. We showed that in the bowl season, and that says a lot about how competitive we can be.”
“I was part of this league in its infancy,” said ULM assistant head coach Mike Collins, substituting for head coach Matt Viator who was dealing with family issues. “This is a very different league now, with the amount of attention we’re receiving on a national level. What Karl and his staff have done to help put us on a national platform, it’s been tremendous.”
The league will complete its transition to 10 football-playing institutions and a traditional “sun belt” footprint for the 2018 season with the departure of Idaho and New Mexico State, along with the addition of Coastal Carolina as a full-fledged member this year. The Chanticleers are eligible to compete for the Sun Belt football title for the first time this year but are not eligible for postseason bowl participation.
The Sun Belt also inaugurates divisional play for 2018 and will stage its first championship game, that being held at the home site of the divisional winner with the highest ranking in the CFP poll. The first-ever championship game could be played either on Friday, Nov. 30, or Saturday, Dec. 1, in 2018. Benson said that the league athletic directors worked on 2018 scheduling during a Sunday meeting.
Texas State, Louisiana, ULM, Arkansas State and South Alabama make up the West division and Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Troy make up the East.
“If you look at the map we’re pretty distinct between east and west,” Benson said. “Right in the middle are South Alabama and Troy, but with Troy being closer to the Georgia schools, they went east and South Alabama went west. But even with the eight-game schedule, we have made sure that South Alabama and Troy will play each other every year for the foreseeable future.”
Benson said that gross revenues for the conference were $31 million during the past year, nearly tripling the $11 million in revenues from the 2013 athletic
year. Of that total, $15 million came through the College Football Playoff payouts, showing the importance of the league continuing to rank highly in the “Group of Five” conference standings. At the end of the year, the league sent a $1 million payout to each football-playing member school, a ten-fold increase from the $100,000 from just three years ago in 2013.
“Our financial future is trending up, just like everything else,” Benson said.
Benson said that the league set up a model for its member non-conference football scheduling five years ago, and that more league schools are buying into that strategy in an effort to provide more postseason opportunities. That strategy includes one game against a “Power 5” opponent, two games against peer conference teams with a minimum of one of those at home, and one home game against a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent.
“There’s a buy-in now that those four non-conference games are important,” he said. “I believe us getting six teams in bowls was in part due to scheduling. It doesn’t happen overnight, football schedules are set well in advance, but we’re heading in that direction.
“We play 17 games against Power 5 teams, and five of our teams are playing only one Power 5 opponent. Five years ago, it was not uncommon to see teams play three Power 5 teams.”
Last year the Sun Belt played 17 games against “Group of Five” members. This year there will be 16 such games – six against Conference USA, four against the American Athletic and Mountain West and two against the MAC. In addition, three of this year’s league games against Power 5 conference members will be played at Sun Belt stadiums.
“It’s great to knock off a Power 5 team,” Benson said, “and we will have those. But those 16 games against our peer conferences are critical to our overall ranking and postseason eligibility.”
Benson said that of the league’s five bowl tie-ins, three of them – the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome that also serves as home of the Sun Belt offices, the Dollar General Bowl in Mobile, Ala., and the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. – are located within the league’s “footprint.” The other two are in “destination” cities, with the AutoNation Cure Bowl in Orlando and the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl in Tucson.
“Our five bowls fit perfectly and very nicely,” he said. “Fans can easily travel to the three directly in the Sun Belt footprint, and when you add in the destinations it provides the geographic and travel opportunities we want.”
The five bowls have an order of selection, with the New Orleans game getting the first pick due to its affiliation with the league throughout its 16-year history. But Benson said that there is cooperation between the games to allow movement and provide the best possible opportunities for bowl-eligible teams.
“That cooperation helps put the right team in the right place and against the right opponent,” he said. “That flexibility helped to move a team out of the designated five bowls last year and allowed us to get a sixth team into a bowl game.”
Benson reaffirmed the league’s commitment with ESPN, also a long-running affiliation in existence since the first year of both the league and the network’s existence. The Sun Belt’s contract with ESPN for football runs through 2019, and he said negotiations have begun for an extension of that arrangement. The league will have 12 games on the network’s “linear” lineup (ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU) and another 68 games – all home games for every league member – on some ESPN platform.
“We continue to benefit from the power of ESPN,” he said. “It is the most powerful television network in sports.”
Benson said that the league made a major step last year in its officiating consortium with the SEC, and that will expand this year to a collaborative instant replay program that involves a central viewing location at SEC headquarters. One designated Sun Belt official will be viewing all conference games at that location to supplement the instant-replay reviews, and two SEC officials will also be available to look at plays along with their own conference replay duties.
“What was an experiment and a short-term agreement is now a terrific addition,” he said. “Now that it’s permissible to have collaborative replay, we can do that because of our affiliation with the SEC, and that gives us the opportunity to make sure we get it right. That’s six more eyes taking a look at it.”
Steve Shaw, entering his fourth year as Coordinator of Football Officials, is also in his seventh season in the same role with the SEC. He will also serve as secretary and rules editor for the official NCAA Football Playing Rules this season.
Benson said that there are no plans for expansion now that the league has cemented its 10-team football membership, but did add that Little Rock is currently going through a feasibility study involving adding football.
“We’re absolutely not looking to entertain new members,” he said. “We got to 10 in a methodical way, and that is the right number in our scheduling structure to help teams get to six wins and for the possibility of postseason play.
“We do have bylaws in place that ‘grandfather’ in existing members, so if Little Rock determines they want to add football, they would be automatically in with our bylaws.”
Benson also added, though, that this year’s 12-member football group is positioned for success before the changes coming next year.
“We still want to focus on this season,” he said. “We want to be the highest rated conference and have the highest rated champion, and beat that bowl team from the Power 5. We’re no longer the younger brother of those nine conferences … we’re ready to stand toe to toe and shoulder to shoulder with them. That’s a realistic goal now.”