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 Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014, the Eagles were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference and the Southern Conference (SoCon). During their time at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS/I-AA) level, the Eagles have won six national championships.
The Georgia Southern Eagles football program represents Georgia Southern University in football as part of the Sun Belt Conference. The current head coach is Clay Helton. The Eagles have won six FCS (I-AA) national championships and have produced two Walter Payton Award winners. Georgia Southern first continuously fielded a football team in 1924, but play was suspended for World War II and did not return until 1981. The Eagles competed as an FCS independent from 1984 to 1992 and as a member of the Southern Conference from 1993 to 2013, winning 10 SoCon championships. In 2014, Georgia Southern moved to the FBS level and joined the Sun Belt Conference, winning the conference championship outright in its first year. Georgia Southern's main Sun Belt rivals are Appalachian State and Georgia State.
The Kennesaw State Owls fields 16 varsity athletics teams, competing for Kennesaw State University. After spending ten years in Division II's Peach Belt Conference, the university fully transitioned to Division I status in the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the beginning of the 2009–10 season. All of Kennesaw State's sports teams compete in the ASUN Conference through the 2023–24 school year. In July 2023, KSU will start a transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision in advance of its move to Conference USA (C-USA) in July 2024. Of its 18 varsity sports, only women's lacrosse is not sponsored by C-USA. The school mascot is Scrappy the Owl.
The Georgia State Panthers are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Georgia State University, located in Atlanta, Georgia. All GSU teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as members of the Sun Belt Conference, a conference of which they were a charter member. Previously, GSU was a member of the CAA, and prior to that, the ASUN Conference.
The Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team is the college basketball team at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, United States. 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 Jacksonville Dolphins are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Jacksonville University, located in Jacksonville, Florida. The Dolphins participate in NCAA Division I athletics, and are primarily members of the ASUN Conference. Some teams in sports that are not sponsored by the ASUN play in other conferences; specifically, the men's and women's rowing teams are in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The men's lacrosse team had played in the Southern Conference (SoCon) from 2015 to 2022, but that sport will return to the ASUN for the 2023 season.
The Mercer Bears are the athletic teams of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with an NCAA Division I athletic program and fields teams in eight men's and nine women's sports. The university competes in the Southern Conference for most sports. In 2013, the football team competed in the Pioneer Football League.
The North Florida Ospreys are the athletic teams of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. The Ospreys compete in the ASUN Conference in NCAA Division I. UNF became a full-fledged member of Division I in 2009; previously, the Ospreys were members of the Sunshine State Conference and Peach Belt Conference in NCAA Division II. UNF fields teams in seven men's sports and ten women's sports.
The Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team represents Georgia State University and competes in the Sun Belt Conference of NCAA Division I. The Panthers play at the Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
The FIU Panthers are the athletic teams representing Florida International University, an American public university located in Miami, Florida. The Panthers currently compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athletics as members of Conference USA. The men's soccer and swimming & diving teams compete in the American Athletic Conference. Until 2011, they were known as the FIU Golden Panthers.
The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles refer to the fifteen intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Florida Gulf Coast University, located in unincorporated Lee County, Florida near Fort Myers, in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, and tennis; women's-only: softball, swimming and diving, indoor volleyball, and beach volleyball; and men's-only: baseball. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the ASUN Conference (ASUN). FGCU is also notable as the youngest institution competing in NCAA Division I, having been officially founded in 1991 and started classes in 1997. Their mascot is Azul the Eagle.
The Georgia State Panthers softball team represents Georgia State University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team currently competes in the Sun Belt Conference. It competed in the Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun) prior to joining the CAA. The Panthers play their home games at Georgia State's Panthersville sports complex in the Bob Heck Softball Complex, and are currently coached by head coach Roger Kincaid.
The Georgia Southern Eagles men's soccer program represents Georgia Southern University in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. Founded in 1980, the Eagles currently compete in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). They played briefly as members of the Mid-American Conference. However, following a major conference realignment in 2021 brought several new men's soccer schools to the SBC including the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 Conference playing members, the league announced it would reinstate men's soccer no later than 2023. The reinstatement of SBC men's soccer was ultimately pushed forward to 2022.
The 2014–15 Georgia State Panthers men's basketball team represented Georgia State University during 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach]was Ron Hunter serving his fourth season at GSU. The Panthers played their home games at the GSU Sports Arena competing as members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 25–10, 15–5 in Sun Belt play to win the Sun Belt regular season championship. They defeated Louisiana–Lafayette and Georgia Southern to become champions of the Sun Belt tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Baylor in the second round before losing in the third round to Xavier.
The Georgia Southern–Georgia State rivalry, also known as Modern Day Hate, is a college athletics rivalry between the Georgia Southern Eagles and Georgia State Panthers. Both schools are members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). For the 2021–22 school year, the men's soccer rivalry temporarily moved to the Mid-American Conference, with both schools joining that league for men's soccer after the SBC disbanded its men's soccer league. However, SBC expansion in 2022 and the addition of three "Power Five" programs led to the reinstatement of SBC men's soccer effective in 2022–23. While the teams have only met nine times in football, the rivalry dates back to the 1970s in basketball and other sports.
The Mercer Bears women's basketball team represents Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Southern Conference.
The 2017–18 Georgia Southern Eagles women's basketball team represents Georgia Southern University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Eagles, led by third year head coach Kip Drown, play their home games at Hanner Fieldhouse and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 5–25, 2–16 in Sun Belt play to finish in eleventh place. They lost in the first round of the Sun Belt women's tournament to Louisiana.
The 2018–19 Georgia Southern Eagles women's basketball team represents Georgia Southern University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Eagles, led by fourth year head coach Kip Drown, play their home games at Hanner Fieldhouse and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 7–22, 2–16 in Sun Belt play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the Sun Belt women's tournament.
The 2019–20 Georgia Southern Eagles women's basketball team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Eagles, led by first year head coach Anita Howard, played their home games at Hanner Fieldhouse and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 10–20, 7–11 in Sun Belt play to finish in ninth place. The qualified for the Sun Belt tournament, seeded ninth, were defeated by No. 4 Louisiana by the score of 64–81. Shortly after being eliminated, the Sun Belt canceled the remainder of the tournament which was followed by the NCAA cancelling all remaining post-season play.
