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 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 rivialries 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 prominant rivialries.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers football team is the intercollegiate American football team representing Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. The Mountaineers have competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Sun Belt Conference since 2014. Appalachian plays its home games in Kidd Brewer Stadium, named after former head coach Kidd Brewer, whose 1937 squad was unbeaten and unscored upon during the regular season, outscoring opponents 206–0.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team is the college basketball team at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. The Mountaineers compete in the Sun Belt Conference after having competed in the Southern Conference from 1972 to 2014. They are currently a Division I member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Appalachian State plays their home games at the George M. Holmes Convocation Center.
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 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 Hartwick Hawks men's soccer team represents Hartwick College as member of the Empire 8 in NCAA Division III. The Hawks play their home matches on Elmore Field located on the Hartwick campus in Oneonta, New York. The team is coached by John Scott, the seventh head coach in the program's long history. The Hawks were distinguished by being the only Division III program playing Division I men's soccer as an affiliate member of the Sun Belt Conference and by having won the 1977 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. However, on February 28, 2018, Hartwick announced that the men's soccer program would be moving from D1 to D3.
The Appalachian State–Georgia Southern football rivalry, also known as Deeper Than Hate, is a college rivalry between the Mountaineers of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and the Eagles of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia. Despite being located in separate states, the two universities have similar academic profiles, both having developed from teachers' colleges, and having enrollments of approximately 20,000. In addition, both Appalachian and Georgia Southern historically held a very strong presence during their time in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, having combined to win nine national championships, four Walter Payton Awards, and two Buck Buchanan Awards. On March 27, 2013, both schools were invited to join the Sun Belt Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) beginning in 2014.
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 season was the 15th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference.
The 2017 Appalachian State Mountaineers baseball team represented the Appalachian State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Mountaineers played their home games at Beaver Field.
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 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team represented Appalachian State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mountaineers played their home games at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina, and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by fifth-year head coach Scott Satterfield. They finished the season 9–4, 7–1 in Sun Belt play to earn a share of the Sun Belt championship for the second consecutive year. They received an invite to the Dollar General Bowl where they defeated Toledo for the second consecutive year in a bowl game.
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference men's soccer tournament, was the 23rd edition of the tournament. It determined the Sun Belt Conference's automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The tournament was hosted by Coastal Carolina, and all matches were played at CCU Soccer Field.
The 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championship Game was played on December 1, 2018, between the Mountaineers of Appalachian State and the Ragin' Cajuns from Louisiana. The game was played at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina, due to Appalachian State's better conference record. This was the second time these teams played this year; the first meeting finished 27–17 in the Mountaineers' favor. The winner of the game would play in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl while the loser would play in the Cure Bowl.
The 2020 Sun Belt women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Sun Belt Conference. The tournament was contested over four days between November 2–8 at the Foley Sports Tourism Complex in Foley, Alabama. The South Alabama Jaguars successfully defended their title, defeating Arkansas State in the final, 2–1, to win their seventh Sun Belt tournament championship in the last eight years.
The 2021–22 Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team represented Appalachian State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mountaineers, led by third-year head coach Dustin Kerns, played their home games at the Holmes Center in Boone, North Carolina as members in the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 19–15, 12–6 in Sun Belt play to finish in second place. They defeated Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament before losing to Georgia State in the semifinals. The Mountaineers received an invitation to The Basketball Classic postseason tournament, formerly known as the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. There they lost in the first round to USC Upstate.
The 2022–23 Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team represented Appalachian State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mountaineers, led by fourth-year head coach Dustin Kerns, played their home games at the Holmes Center in Boone, North Carolina as members in the Sun Belt Conference.
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