The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The 14 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed across the Southern United States.
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Established in 1921, the Southern Conference ranks as the fifth-oldest major college athletic conference in the United States, and either the third or fourth oldest in continuous operation, depending on definitions.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, United States. The Mountaineers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and were a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) between 1972 and 2014. On July 1, 2014, Appalachian State moved to the Sun Belt Conference. Appalachian State fields varsity teams in 17 sports, 7 for men and 10 for women. The football team competes in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly I-A, as a result of the transition to the Sun Belt. The wrestling team remains in the Southern Conference because the Sun Belt does not sponsor the sport. In field hockey, another sport not sponsored by the Sun Belt, Appalachian State joined the Mid-American Conference for the 2017 season after playing two seasons as an independent following the demise of its former league, the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NorPac). While rivalries exist with Sun Belt west division schools such as Troy and Louisiana, Appalachian State's main Sun Belt rivals are east division members Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern, as well as rekindled rivalries from the days in FCS with recent Sun Belt additions Marshall and James Madison. Historically prior to joining the Sun Belt, Western Carolina and Furman were prominent rivalries.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are the athletic teams that represent Coastal Carolina University. They participate in Division I of the NCAA as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in most sports, having joined that conference as a full but non-football member on July 1, 2016. At that time, the football team began a transition from the second-level Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the top-level Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The team played the 2016 season as an FCS independent, joined SBC football for the 2017 season, and became full FBS members for 2018 and beyond. A Chanticleer is a proud and fierce rooster. Before joining the SBC, the Chanticleers had been members of the Big South Conference since that league's formation in 1983. Coastal fields varsity teams in 19 sports, 8 for men and 11 for women. The university regularly competed for the Sasser Cup, the Big South's trophy for the university with the best sports program among the member institutions, winning the trophy nine times, tied with rival Liberty University.
The West Virginia Mountaineers men's soccer team is the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I soccer team of West Virginia University (WVU). Beginning with the 2012 season, the team was an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference because WVU is the only school in its primary conference, the Big 12 Conference, that has a varsity men's soccer team. For the 2022 season, West Virginia joined in-state rival Marshall in the Sun Belt Conference, and the Mountain State Derby will become an annual conference game. WVU had been scheduled to leave the MAC for Conference USA but this plan was changed when Marshall changed conferences from CUSA to the SBC.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers men's soccer team was an intercollegiate varsity sports team of Appalachian State University. The team was a member of the Sun Belt Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The 2013–14 Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team represented Appalachian State University during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mountaineers, led by fourth year head coach Jason Capel, played their home games at the George M. Holmes Convocation Center and were members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 9–21, 5–11 in SoCon play to finish in ninth place.
The 2014 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament took place between Friday, March 7 and Monday, March 10 in Asheville, North Carolina, at the U.S. Cellular Center. The entire tournament was streamed on ESPN3, with the Southern Conference Championship Game televised by ESPN2. The champion received an automatic bid into the 2014 NCAA tournament.
The 2014 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament was the 12th overall tournament and the first Sun Belt Conference tournament since 1995.
The 2015 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament was the 13th edition of the tournament, and the second since the conference reinstated the sport in 2013. It determined the Sun Belt Conference's automatic berth into the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
The 2016 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament, was the 9th edition of the tournament. It determined the Sun Belt Conference's automatic berth into the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Sun Belt Conference held from November 1–5, 2017. The seven-match tournament took place at the Foley Sports Complex in Foley, Alabama. The eight-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the South Alabama Jaguars and they successfully defended their title with a 5–0 win over the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in the final. This was the fifth consecutive and fifth overall Sun Belt women's soccer tournament title for South Alabama and the first for first-year head coach Richard Moodie.
The 2019 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season was the 18th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season began in late August 2019 and concluded in mid-November 2019.
The 2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer season was the 19th season of men's varsity soccer in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The regular season began on September 18 and concluded on November 6, 2020. The season culminated with the Sun Belt Tournament which began on November 13 and concluded on November 15, 2020.
The 2020 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament was the 26th edition of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament decided the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) champion. The tournament began on November 11 and concluded on November 15, 2020.
The 2020 NCAA Division I women's soccer season was the 38th season of NCAA championship women's college soccer. The season was originally slated to begin on August 20, 2020 and conclude on November 9, 2020. The season was to culminate with the 2020 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, which was to be held from November 18 to December 13, 2020, with the four-team College Cup.
The 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 63rd season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. After the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 season partially returned to normal. However, despite the development of several vaccines, the pandemic was still ongoing, which might have led to various local or regional disruptions. Also, many conferences did not fully return to their pre-COVID state, with several having changed postseason tournament formats.
The 2021 Sun Belt Conference women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Sun Belt Conference held from November 1 to November 7, 2021. The ten-match tournament took place at the Foley Sports Complex in Foley, Alabama. The eleven-team single-elimination tournament consisted of four rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The defending champions were the South Alabama Jaguars. South Alabama successfully defended their title with a 1–0 championship game win over Georgia Southern in the final. This was the eighth Sun Belt women's soccer tournament title for the South Alabama women's soccer program and the fourth for head coach Richard Moodie. Eight of the last nine Sun Belt Women's Soccer Tournaments have been won by South Alabama. As tournament champions, South Alabama earned the Sun Belt's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.
The 2022 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament was the 27th edition of the Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. The tournament ran from November 6 to November 13, 2022. Kentucky won the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) tournament and with it the SBC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I National Tournament.
