Sun Belt Conference

This article is about the college athletic conference. For the region of the southern United States, see Sun Belt.

Sun Belt Conference

Association	NCAA
Founded	1976;48 years ago (1976)
Commissioner	Keith Gill (since 2019)
Sports fielded	19 men's: 9 women's: 10
Division	Division I
Subdivision	FBS
No. of teams	14
Headquarters	New Orleans, Louisiana
Region	Southern United States
Official website	sunbeltsports.org
Locations

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.

History

Original Sun Belt logo from 1976

The Sun Belt Conference was founded on August 4, 1976, with the University of New Orleans, the University of South Alabama, Georgia State University, Jacksonville University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the University of South Florida. Over the next ten years the conference would add Western Kentucky University, Old Dominion University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Virginia Commonwealth University. New Orleans was forced out of the league in 1980 due to its small on-campus gymnasium that the conference did not deem suitable for conference competition. New Orleans competed as an independent before joining the newly formed American South Conference in 1987.

After the 1990–91 basketball season, all members of the Sun Belt, except Western Kentucky, South Alabama, and Jacksonville, departed for other conferences. The Sun Belt, including incoming member the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, then merged with the American South Conference, made up of Arkansas State University, Louisiana Tech University, the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), the University of Texas–Pan American (now merged into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), New Orleans (re-joined), Lamar University, and the University of Central Florida. Although the American South was the larger conference, the merged league retained the Sun Belt name. In 1991, the league first began to explore the idea of sponsoring football. ^[1]

Central Florida left the league following the 1991–92 academic year due to a dispute over television rights, among other reasons. ^{[2] [3]} Lamar, Texas–Pan American, and Jacksonville departed at the end of the 1997–98 academic year. Florida International University joined the Sun Belt in 1998, and the University of Denver was added in 1999. Louisiana Tech departed after the 2000–01 academic year.

The Sun Belt Conference headquarters are currently housed at the Caesars Superdome.

The conference did not sponsor football until 2001, when the league added former Big West Conference members New Mexico State University and the University of North Texas and former Ohio Valley Conference member (an FBS Independent on football) Middle Tennessee State University as full members (all three of them joined a year earlier for all sports in the 2000-01 school year) and added FBS Independent University of Louisiana at Monroe and Big West member University of Idaho as football-only members. These new members gave the Sun Belt seven football playing members in their first season, as Arkansas State and Louisiana were already full members which sponsored football. Another Big West school, Utah State University, was added as a football-only member in 2003, then departed in 2005 with Idaho and New Mexico State for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

In 2004, Troy University became a football-only member before joining for all sports in the 2005–06 academic year. In 2005, Florida Atlantic became a football-only member before joining for all sports in the 2006-07 academic year. In 2006, Louisiana–Monroe joined the conference as an all-sports full member when the Warhawks left their former home, the Southland Conference.

Longtime Sun Belt member Western Kentucky joined the Sun Belt's football conference in 2009 after its board of regents voted to upgrade the school's football program to Division I FBS. ^[4]

On November 11, 2009, New Orleans announced it was investigating a move from Division I to the NCAA's Division III. In order to maintain athletic scholarships, UNO instead opted for entry into Division II. On April 20, 2011, UNO officially received transition approval from the NCAA Division II Membership Committee. ^[5] (UNO later decided to remain in Division I, and joined the Southland Conference in 2013.)

Early 2010s realignment

Main article: 2010–2013 Sun Belt Conference realignment

See also: 2010–2013 Conference USA realignment and 2010–2013 Western Athletic Conference realignment

The former Sun Belt Conference logo used until its rebranding in 2013

On April 9, 2012, Georgia State, one of the founding members of the Sun Belt Conference, announced that it would be returning to the conference as a full member in 2013. As part of the move, the football program began a transition from FCS to FBS in the 2012 season; it played a full Sun Belt schedule as a "transitional" FBS member in 2013, and became a full FBS member, with bowl eligibility, in 2014. ^[6] On May 2, 2012, Texas State University announced it would leave the WAC after just one year and join the Sun Belt in July 2013 to begin play for the 2013–14 academic year. At the press conference to announce Texas State's addition, Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson also hinted that more changes could be on the way for the conference. ^[7] On May 25, 2012, the conference announced that the University of Texas at Arlington (a non-football member) had accepted an invitation to join the conference and would become a full member by 2013. ^[8]

On May 4, 2012, FIU and North Texas announced that they would be leaving the Sun Belt for Conference USA on July 1, 2013 as part of a Conference USA expansion effort involving four other schools. ^[9] On November 29, 2012, Florida Atlantic and Middle Tennessee State announced that they would also leave the Sun Belt for Conference USA. ^[10] The move for Florida Atlantic and MTSU was originally scheduled to take place in 2014; however, the two schools announced on January 28, 2013 that they would leave for Conference USA a year early, departing on July 1, 2013 with FIU and North Texas. Western Kentucky also accepted an invitation to join Conference USA on April 1, 2013, and departed from the Sun Belt on July 1, 2014. ^[11]

These moves depleted the Sun Belt and made the need to expand their membership more urgent than ever, as the Sun Belt was left with ten full members and only eight members that sponsor football (the minimum number required for a conference to sponsor football at the FBS level) for the 2013 season. Appalachian State University accepted an invitation on March 27, 2013 to join the Sun Belt effective July 1, 2014. ^[12] Georgia Southern University accepted a similar Sun Belt invitation at the same time as Appalachian State. ^[13] Appalachian State and Georgia Southern both joined for all sports from the Southern Conference on July 1, 2014. Both schools had been very successful within the Football Championship Subdivision, combining to win nine national championships since 1985. They upgraded to the Football Bowl Subdivision, and were eligible for Sun Belt conference championships in 2014, but were not postseason-eligible in football until 2015.

The Sun Belt also granted football-only invites to Idaho and New Mexico State on March 28, 2013. ^[14] Idaho and New Mexico State were both former Sun Belt members (Idaho for football only, New Mexico State for all sports) from 2001 to 2005. The large number of defections from the WAC forced that conference to drop football after the 2012 season. Idaho and New Mexico State were the only remaining WAC members that sponsored football, and competed as FBS independents for the 2013 season before competing in the Sun Belt in 2014. Idaho is located by far the farthest away from the other Sun Belt conference members, but it was rejected by the Mountain West Conference, ^[15] leaving it with no other choice. ^{[16] [17]}

On September 1, 2015, Coastal Carolina University accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference. The university joined in all sports except for football starting July 1, 2016, with football joining in 2017. ^[18]

The conference announced on March 1, 2016, that the affiliation agreement with Idaho and New Mexico State would not be extended past the 2017 season. ^[19]

The conference announced that beginning in 2018, the conference (10 teams) would be divided into two divisions for football: East: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and Troy; West: Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana–Monroe, South Alabama, and Texas State. The winner of each division will meet in the Sun Belt Championship game. ^[20]

Early 2020s realignment

Main article: 2021–2026 NCAA conference realignment

App State

Coastal Carolina

Georgia Southern

Georgia State

James Madison

Marshall

Old Dominion

Arkansas State

Louisiana

Louisiana–Monroe

South Alabama

Southern Miss

Texas State

Troy

Kentucky

USC

WVU

UCF

CofC

Mercer

UNCW

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Sun Belt Member locations
– Full member, – current associate member

Following the July 30, 2021 announcement of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Oklahoma both moving from the Big 12 Conference to the Southeastern Conference, ^[21] the world of college athletics faced the prospect of realignment once again. The Big 12 responded on September 10 by adding three schools from the American Athletic Conference (The American) and BYU, an FBS independent and otherwise a member of the non-football West Coast Conference, effective in 2023. ^[22] The American in turn responded on October 21 by adding six schools from Conference USA (C-USA), with 2023 as the most likely entry date. ^{[23] [24]} Following this move, rumors began to circulate that the Sun Belt was planning to take on another three members (the University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM), Marshall University, and former Sun Belt member Old Dominion University) from C-USA, likely in response to that conference's remaining teams worried of the conference folding. ^[25] These moves would help to establish the market areas for the Sun Belt and The American, which cover similar geographic footprints. The American would now have most of its members in metropolitan areas, while the Sun Belt would instead have its members in smaller college towns.

On October 22, The Action Network reported that Southern Miss had been accepted as a new Sun Belt member, with 2023 as the likely entry date. The report also stated that the Sun Belt would add three more members—the aforementioned Marshall and Old Dominion, plus James Madison University, a member of the FCS Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). ^[26] Southern Miss ^[27] and Old Dominion ^[28] were respectively announced as incoming members on October 26 and 27. At the time, both were to join no later than 2023. On October 29, the day after Marshall named its next president, ^[29] both the Sun Belt and Marshall issued tweets announcing that school's entry; a formal announcement followed the next day ^[30] and an introductory press conference was held on November 1. ^[31] As for James Madison, its board met on October 29 to discuss a potential Sun Belt invitation, but its timeline was also affected by a Virginia state law that requires legislative approval for a four-year public school to move upward in athletic classification, including FCS to FBS. The legislative committee that must review the move did not meet until November 5, after the state's gubernatorial election. ^[32] The committee unanimously approved JMU's move from FCS to FBS, and the Sun Belt move was officially announced on November 6. ^{[33] [34]} The original Action Network report also stated that the two full non-football SBC members, Little Rock and UT Arlington, would no longer be members of the conference after the 2022–23 school year. ^[26]

Initial plans were for James Madison to compete as a de facto Sun Belt affiliate in sports other than football and men's soccer during the 2022–23 season. ^[35] However, those plans would eventually change, with JMU and the SBC jointly announcing on February 2, 2022 that JMU would become a full SBC member, including football, in 2022–23. ^[36]

By the end of January 2022, both non-football members would announce their departures for other conferences, effective that July. On December 8, 2021, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees voted to accept an invitation for Little Rock to join the Ohio Valley Conference, ^[37] and UT Arlington, which had been a Western Athletic Conference member in the 2012–13 school year, announced its return to that conference on January 21, 2022. ^[38]

Shortly thereafter, Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss announced that they planned to leave C-USA for the Sun Belt in July 2022. They claimed to have notified C-USA of their plans in December 2021, apparently seeking to negotiate a 2022 exit. C-USA had indicated in late January 2022 that it expected the three schools to remain in that league through the 2022–23 school year. ^[39] Marshall escalated the situation by filing suit against C-USA in its local court in an attempt to force a 2022 move. ^[40] On March 29, Conference USA agreed to let Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss move to the Sun Belt starting July 1, 2022. ^[41]

On April 6, with the entrance of three new men's soccer-sponsoring schools in James Madison, Marshall, and Old Dominion, the Sun Belt announced that men's soccer would be reinstated as a sponsored sport. The three aforementioned programs joined current Sun Belt members Coastal Carolina (previously affiliates with Conference USA) as well as Georgia State and Georgia Southern (previously affiliates with the Mid-American Conference). Additionally, it was announced that Kentucky, South Carolina, and West Virginia would join as men's soccer affiliate members beginning in fall 2022, giving the conference an inaugural soccer membership of 9. ^[42] Kentucky and South Carolina were previously also affiliated with C-USA, while West Virginia was affiliated with the MAC. The SBC later announced it would add UCF as a men's soccer affiliate when that school joined the Big 12 Conference in 2023. ^[43] In men's soccer, the conference is not a "mid-major" conference, but a "power" conference due to the quasi-alliance of the Big 12 and SEC schools, plus the presence of a recent national champion in Marshall.

On June 6, the SBC presidents & chancellors approved adding two new women's sports, beach volleyball and swimming & diving, no later than the 2023–24 school year. They also announced that the conference would explore adding another women's sport, field hockey, at an undetermined future date. ^[44]

On January 18, 2023, the SBC officially announced that its beach volleyball league would launch that spring, with the four full members sponsoring the sport joined by Charleston, Mercer, UNC Wilmington, and Stephen F. Austin as affiliate members. ^[45]

On August 17, 2023, the SBC officially announced the return of women's swimming and diving as a sponsored sport. ^[46]

Member schools

Current full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)	Nickname	Colors
East Division
Appalachian State University	Boone, North Carolina	1899	2014	Public	21,570	$191 [47]	Mountaineers
Coastal Carolina University	Conway, South Carolina	1954	2016		10,894 [48]	$44.6 [49]	Chanticleers
Georgia Southern University	Statesboro, Georgia	1906	2014		26,106 [50]	$98.4 [51]	Eagles
Georgia State University	Atlanta, Georgia	1913	2013 [a]		50,521 [52]	$220 [53]	Panthers
James Madison University	Harrisonburg, Virginia	1908	2022		21,496	$123 [54]	Dukes
Marshall University	Huntington, West Virginia	1837	2022		11,962 [55]	$201 [56]	Thundering Herd
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	2022 [b]		24,286 [57]	$312 [58]	Monarchs
West Division
Arkansas State University	Jonesboro, Arkansas	1909	1991	Public	14,109 [59]	$122.6	Red Wolves
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	Lafayette, Louisiana	1898	1991		19,188 [60]	$232 [61]	Ragin' Cajuns
University of Louisiana at Monroe	Monroe, Louisiana	1931	2006 [c]		9,060 [62]	$37.3 [63]	Warhawks
University of South Alabama	Mobile, Alabama	1963	1976		14,834 [64]	$466 [65]	Jaguars
University of Southern Mississippi	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	1910	2022		14,606 [66]	$131 [67]	Golden Eagles
Texas State University	San Marcos, Texas	1899	2013		40,678 [68]	$410 [69]	Bobcats
Troy University	Troy, Alabama	1887	2005 [d]		17,494 [70]	$164 [71]	Trojans

Notes

1. Georgia State left after the 1980–81 school year, then rejoined effective the 2013–14 school year.
2. Old Dominion left after the 1990–91 school year, then rejoined effective the 2022–23 school year.
3. Louisiana–Monroe was an affiliate member in football from the 2001 to 2005 fall seasons (2001-02 to 2005-06 school years).
4. Troy was an affiliate member in football during the 2004 fall season (2004–05 school year).

Affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors	Sport	Primary conference
College of Charleston	Charleston, South Carolina	1770	2022	Public	10,468	Cougars		Beach volleyball	CAA
University of Kentucky	Lexington, Kentucky	1865			32,710	Wildcats		Soccer (m)	SEC
Mercer University	Macon, Georgia	1833		Private	8,740	Bears		Beach volleyball	SoCon
University of South Carolina	Columbia, South Carolina	1801		Public	35,364	Gamecocks		Soccer (m)	SEC
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	1963	2023		70,406	Knights		Soccer (m)	Big 12
University of North Carolina Wilmington	Wilmington, North Carolina	1947	2022		14,765	Seahawks		Beach volleyball	CAA
West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	1867			26,269	Mountaineers		Soccer (m)	Big 12

• The three beach volleyball associates (Charleston, Mercer, and UNCW) are listed as having joined in 2022, even though they were not announced as incoming affiliates until January 2023. The SBC's first beach volleyball season of 2023, which featured the four schools, was part of the 2022–23 school year.

Former full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Nickname	Colors	Subsequent conference	Current conference
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, Alabama	1969	1979	1991	Public	Blazers		Great Midwest	The American
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida	1963	1991	1992		Knights		ASUN	Big 12
University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	1864	1999	2012	Private	Pioneers		WAC	Summit
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961	2006 [a]	2013	Public	Owls		CUSA	The American
Florida International University	Miami, Florida	1965	1998			Panthers		CUSA
Jacksonville University	Jacksonville, Florida	1934	1976	1998	Private	Dolphins		ASUN
Lamar University	Beaumont, Texas	1923	1991		Public	Cardinals		Southland
University of Arkansas at Little Rock	Little Rock, Arkansas	1927	1991	2022		Trojans		OVC
Louisiana Tech University	Ruston, Louisiana	1894	1991	2001		Bulldogs & Lady Techsters		WAC	CUSA
Middle Tennessee State University	Murfreesboro, Tennessee	1911	2000	2013		Blue Raiders		CUSA
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888		2005 [b]		Aggies		WAC	CUSA
University of New Orleans	New Orleans, Louisiana	1958	1976	1980		Privateers		D-I Independent	Southland
			1991	2010				D-I Independent
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946	1976	1991		49ers		Metro	The American
University of North Texas	Denton, Texas	1890	2000	2013		Mean Green		CUSA	The American
University of South Florida	Tampa, Florida	1956	1976	1991		Bulls		Metro	The American
University of Texas at Arlington	Arlington, Texas	1895	2013	2022		Mavericks		WAC
University of Texas–Pan American [c]	Edinburg, Texas	1927	1991	1998		Broncs		Independent	Southland (as UTRGV Vaqueros)
Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, Virginia	1838	1979	1991		Rams		Metro	Atlantic 10
Western Kentucky University	Bowling Green, Kentucky	1906	1982	2014		Hilltoppers & Lady Toppers		CUSA

Notes

1. Florida Atlantic was an affiliate member for football during the 2005 fall season (2005–06 school year).
2. New Mexico State was a full member from 2000–01 to 2004–05 and an affiliate member for football from the 2014 to 2017 fall seasons (2014–15 to 2017–18 school years).
3. Texas–Pan American was merged into UTRGV in 2015; the merged school inherited UTPA's athletic program, with the new nickname of Vaqueros, and membership in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

Former affiliate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Left	Type	Nickname	Colors	Sport	Conference in former Sun Belt sport [a]
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1907	2019	2021	Public	Bears [b]		Soccer (m)	ASUN
Hartwick College	Oneonta, New York	1797	2014	2018	Private	Hawks			Empire 8 [c]
Howard University	Washington, D.C.	1867		2021 [d]		Bison			Northeast
University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	1889	2001	2005	Public	Vandals		Football	Big Sky
			2014	2018
New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark, New Jersey	1881		2016		Highlanders		Soccer (m)	America East
New Mexico State University	Las Cruces, New Mexico	1888		2018		Aggies		Football	CUSA
Stephen F. Austin State University	Nacogdoches, Texas	1923	2022	2024		Ladyjacks		Beach volleyball	SLC
Utah State University	Logan, Utah	1888	2003	2005		Aggies		Football	Mountain West (Pac-12 in 2026)
Vanderbilt University	Nashville, Tennessee	1873	1995	1997	Private	Commodores		Soccer (m)	none [e]

Notes

1. In all cases except those of Howard and Vanderbilt, this matches the school's primary conference affiliation. Howard is a full member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, including FCS football. Vanderbilt has been a full member of the Southeastern Conference since that league's creation in 1932.
2. Central Arkansas uses "Bears" only for men's teams, with women's teams known as "Sugar Bears". Men's soccer was the school's only Sun Belt sport.
3. Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference.
4. Due to COVID-19 concerns, Howard chose not to play soccer in the 2020–21 school year, although the Sun Belt chose to hold a men's soccer season, with the four remaining men's soccer members playing a fall conference schedule and spring non-conference games to accommodate the NCAA's move of the Division I tournament from fall 2020 to spring 2021.
5. Vanderbilt dropped men's soccer after the 2005 fall season (2005–06 school year). It has been a full member of the Southeastern Conference since 1932.

Membership timeline

 Full members (all sports)  Full members (non-football)  Associate members (football-only)  Associate members (other) Other ConferenceOther Conference

Commissioners

Vic Bubas was the Sun Belt Conference's first commissioner, successfully creating what was initially a premier mid-major basketball league.

• Vic Bubas (1976–1990)
• Jim Lessig (1990–1991)
• Craig Thompson (1991–1998)
• Wright Waters (1999–2012)
• Karl Benson (2012–2019)
• Keith Gill (2019–present)

In addition to the five Sun Belt commissioners, three future league leaders served on the Sun Belt staff prior to becoming conference commissioners, including Doug Elgin (Missouri Valley), John Iamarino (Northeast, Southern), and Tom Burnett (Southland).

On October 12, 2011, ESPN reported that Wright Waters would retire, effective July 1, 2012. ^[72] On February 15, 2012, Karl Benson was hired as the new commissioner of the Sun Belt, after having been the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference for 17 years. Waters would later move his departure date to March 15, allowing Benson to take over at that time. ^[6]

Keith Gill was named the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference on March 18, 2019. He is the first African American to lead any FBS conference. ^{[73] [74]}

Sports

As of the current 2024–25 school year, the Sun Belt Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports. ^[75] The most recent change to sports sponsorship was the reinstatement of women's swimming & diving in 2023–24.

When Marshall was formally introduced as an incoming Sun Belt member, SBC commissioner Keith Gill also announced that the conference would reinstate men's soccer once all new members joined. Men's soccer resumed play in 2022–23 with six full members joined by three associates; a fourth associate joined in 2023–24. Beach volleyball started play with eight members, evenly divided between full members and associates.

Teams in Sun Belt competition ^[a]

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	14	–
Basketball	14	14
Beach Volleyball	–	8
Cross Country	9	13
Football	14	–
Golf	14	13
Soccer	10	14
Softball	–	12
Swimming & Diving	–	4
Tennis	9	14
Track & Field Indoor	7	13
Track & Field Outdoor	10	13
Volleyball	–	14

1. Numbers of teams are as of the 2023–24 school year.

Men's sponsored sports by school

Member-by-member sponsorship of the nine men's SBC sports for the 2023–24 academic year.

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Football	Golf	Soccer	Tennis	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Total Sun Belt Sports
Appalachian State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	6
Arkansas State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	7
Coastal Carolina	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	8
Georgia Southern	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	6
Georgia State	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	6
James Madison	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	6
Louisiana	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Louisiana–Monroe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	7
Marshall	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	8
Old Dominion	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	6
South Alabama	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Southern Miss	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	7
Texas State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	7
Troy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	7
Totals	14	14	9	14	14	6+4	9	7	10	97+4
Affiliate members
Kentucky						Yes				1
South Carolina						Yes				1
UCF						Yes				1
West Virginia						Yes				1

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Sun Belt

School	Sailing [a]	Swimming & Diving	Wrestling
Appalachian State			SoCon
Old Dominion	Independent	ASUN

1. Sailing is a coeducational sport not governed by the NCAA, but instead by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

Women's sponsored sports by school

Member-by-member sponsorship of the 11 women's SBC sports for the 2024–25 academic year.

School	Basketball	Beach Volleyball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field Indoor	Track & Field Outdoor	Volleyball	Total Sun Belt Sports
Appalachian State	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
Arkansas State	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Coastal Carolina	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Georgia Southern	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Georgia State	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
James Madison	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Louisiana	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Louisiana–Monroe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Marshall	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Old Dominion	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	6
South Alabama	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
Southern Miss	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Texas State	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
Troy	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
Totals	14	4+3	13	13	14	12	4	14	13	13	14	128+3
Affiliate members
Charleston		Yes										1
Mercer		Yes										1
UNCW		Yes										1

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Sun Belt

School	Bowling	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Rifle	Rowing	Sailing [a]
Appalachian State		MAC
Arkansas State	CUSA
Coastal Carolina			ASUN
Georgia Southern				SoCon
James Madison		MAC	American
Old Dominion		Big East	American		Big 12	Independent

1. Sailing is a coeducational sport not governed by the NCAA, but instead by the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

Championships

See also: List of Sun Belt Conference champions

"RS" is regular season, "T" is tournament. Championships from the previous academic year are flagged with the calendar year in which the most recent season or tournament ended.

Current Sun Belt champions

Fall 2024 Sport School Cross Country Appalachian State (men) Appalachian State (women) Football Marshall (East RS & CG) Louisiana (West RS) Soccer (M) West Virginia (RS & T) Soccer (W) James Madison (RS & T) Volleyball (W) Appalachian State (East RS) Arkansas State (West RS) Texas State (T)

Winter 2023–24 Sport School Basketball (M) Appalachian State (RS) James Madison (T) Basketball (W) Marshall (RS & T) Swimming & Diving (W) James Madison Track & Field Indoor Arkansas State (Men) Arkansas State (Women)

Spring 2024 Sport School Baseball Louisiana (RS) Southern Miss (T) Beach Volleyball Georgia State (RS & T) Golf Arkansas State (Men) Texas State (Women) Softball Louisiana (RS) Texas State (T) Tennis (M) Georgia Southern, Old Dominion (RS) Old Dominion (T) Tennis (W) Old Dominion (RS & T) Track & Field Outdoor South Alabama (Men) Texas State (Women)

NCAA champions

The only school to have won a national title while an SBC member is Old Dominion, which won one title in women's basketball and five in the non-SBC sport of field hockey during its first conference tenure from 1982 to 1991. Six other current members have won NCAA Division I team championships prior to joining the conference. Coastal Carolina won its only D-I national title on the day before it officially joined the SBC, while representing the Big South Conference.

School	NCAA titles	Sport	Years
Old Dominion	10	Women's basketball	1985
		Field hockey	1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1988 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1998 • 2000
Georgia Southern	6	Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	1985 • 1986 • 1989 • 1990 • 1999 • 2000
James Madison	5	Field hockey	1994
		Archery	1995
		Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	2004 • 2016
		Women's lacrosse	2018
Appalachian State	3	Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	2005 • 2006 • 2007
Marshall	3	Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	1992 • 1996
		Men's soccer	2020
Louisiana–Monroe	1	Football (Division I-AA/FCS)	1987
Coastal Carolina	1	Baseball	2016
Total	29

See also: List of NCAA schools with the most NCAA Division I championships, List of NCAA schools with the most Division I national championships, and NCAA Division I FBS Conferences

Football

For more information see Sun Belt Conference football. For the current season, see 2024 Sun Belt Conference football season.

West Division	East Division
Arkansas State	Appalachian State
Louisiana	Coastal Carolina
Louisiana–Monroe	Georgia Southern
South Alabama	Georgia State
Southern Miss	James Madison
Texas State	Marshall
Troy	Old Dominion

APP

CCU

GASO

GAST

JMU

MAR

ODU

ASU

ULL

ULM

USA

USM

TXST

Troy

class=notpageimage|

Sun Belt Member locations
– Football member (East)
– Football member (West)

The Sun Belt first began sponsoring football in 2001. It originally consisted of seven football playing schools, three of which are still members of the conference. Up until 2009, the conference only had a contract with one bowl, the New Orleans Bowl. Following the Sun Belt's improved football success and geographical membership changes, other bowls began to sign contracts with the Sun Belt Conference. As of October 2021 ^[update] , the conference had seven bowl game tie-ins (Cure, Boca Raton, LendingTree, New Orleans, Myrtle Beach, Frisco, and Camellia)

Throughout the years, the conference has experienced flux in membership changes, similar to many other FBS conferences. The conference announced that beginning in 2018, the conference (10 teams after the departure of Idaho and New Mexico State) ^[76] would be divided into two divisions for football: East: Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, and Troy; West: Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana–Monroe, South Alabama, and Texas State. The divisional alignments changed again with the 2022 expansion, with the new dividing line being the Alabama–Georgia border. The winner of each division will meet in the Sun Belt Championship game. ^[77]

Team	First season	All-Time record	All-Time win %	Bowl appearances	Bowl record	All-Time Conference titles	Current Head Coach
Appalachian State	1928	653–349–28	.648	7	6–1	22	Shawn Clark
Arkansas State	1911	487–509–37	.489	10	4–6	14	Butch Jones
Coastal Carolina	2003	157–81	.660	2	1–1	9	Tim Beck
Georgia Southern	1924	407–240–10	.627	4	3–1	11	Clay Helton
Georgia State	2010	50–92	.352	5	3–2	0	Dell McGee
James Madison	1972	351–220-4	.614	0	0–0	10	Bob Chesney
Louisiana	1901	553–563–34	.496	7	5–2	13	Michael Desormeaux
Louisiana–Monroe	1931	319–446–8	.418	1	0–1	5	Terry Bowden
Marshall	1895	623–563–47	.524	18	12–6	13	Charles Huff
Old Dominion	2009 [a]	92–79–0	.538	3	1–2	0	Ricky Rahne
Southern Miss	1912	607–447–27	.574	24	11–13	8	Will Hall
South Alabama	2009	66–83	.443	2	0–2	0	Kane Wommack
Texas State	1904	522–486–25	.517	1	1–0	12	G. J. Kinne
Troy	1909	554–424–28	.565	8	5–3	21	Gerard Parker

Notes

1. The team played as a division of the College of William & Mary from 1930 to 1940, then folded. It was restarted in 2009; 15 years ago.

Sun Belt champions

Since the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS season, the Sun Belt Conference has held a football championship game. ^[78]

Season	Champion	Conference record
2001	Middle Tennessee North Texas	5–1
2002	North Texas	6–0
2003	North Texas	7–0
2004	North Texas	7–0
2005	Arkansas State Louisiana–Lafayette Louisiana–Monroe	5–2
2006	Middle Tennessee Troy	6–1
2007	Florida Atlantic Troy	6–1
2008	Troy	6–1
2009	Troy	8–0
2010	Florida International Troy	6–2
2011	Arkansas State	8–0
2012	Arkansas State	7–1
2013*	Arkansas State	5–2
2014	Georgia Southern	8–0
2015	Arkansas State	8–0
2016	Appalachian State Arkansas State	7–1
2017	Appalachian State Troy	7–1
2018	Appalachian State	7–1
2019	Appalachian State	7–1
2020*	Coastal Carolina Louisiana	8–0 7–1
2021	Louisiana	8–0
2022	Troy	7–1
2023	Troy	7–1
2024	Marshall	7–1

Notes

• Louisiana–Lafayette vacated 2013 shared Sun Belt Conference co-championship due to major NCAA violations. ^[79]
• The 2020 championship game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues; the divisional champions were declared league co-champions.

Bowl games

As of the 2024–25 NCAA football bowl games, the Sun Belt Conference had tie-ins with the following bowl games: ^[80]

Name	Location	Opposing conference
68 Ventures Bowl	Mobile, Alabama	MAC
Cure Bowl	Orlando, Florida	The American
Myrtle Beach Bowl	Conway, South Carolina	CUSA/MAC
New Orleans Bowl	New Orleans, Louisiana	CUSA
Salute to Veterans Bowl	Montgomery, Alabama	MAC

Football rivalries

Football rivalries involving Sun Belt teams include:

Teams		Rivalry Name	Trophy	Meetings (last)	Record	Series Leader
Appalachian State	Georgia Southern	Deeper Than Hate	—	40 (2024)	22–17–1	Appalachian State
Appalachian State	Marshall	Old Mountain Feud	—	27 (2024)	16–11	Appalachian State
Georgia State	Georgia Southern	Modern Day Hate	—	11 (2024)	6–5	Georgia State
James Madison	Old Dominion	Royal Rivalry	Crown	5 (2024)	3–2	James Madison
Louisiana	Louisiana–Monroe	Battle on the Bayou	Wooden Boot	60 [a] (2024)	33–26	Louisiana
South Alabama	Troy	Battle for the Belt	Belt	13 (2024)	9–4	Troy

Notes

1. In 2015, Louisiana–Lafayette vacated their win over Louisiana–Monroe in their 2011 football season due to alleged major NCAA violations.

Basketball

Men's basketball

For the current season, see 2024–25 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball season.

This list goes through the 2021–22 season. ^[81]

Team	First season	All-time record	All-time win %	NCAA Tournament appearances	NCAA Tournament record	Arena	Head coach
Appalachian State	1919–20	1263–1162	.521	3	0–3	Holmes Center	Dustin Kerns
Arkansas State	1926–27	1183–1184	.500	1	0–1	First National Bank Arena	Bryan Hodgson
Coastal Carolina	1974–75	711–680	.511	4	0–4	HTC Center	Justin Gray
Georgia Southern	1926–27	1289–1014	.560	3	0–3	Hill Convocation Center	Brian Burg
Georgia State	1963–64	668–954	.412	6	2–6	Georgia State Convocation Center	Jonas Hayes
James Madison	1969–70	787–714	.524	6	5–6	Atlantic Union Bank Center	Preston Spradlin
Louisiana	1911–12	1449–1124	.563	11	4–11	Cajundome	Bob Marlin
Louisiana–Monroe	1951–52	1014–937	.520	7	0–7	Fant–Ewing Coliseum	Keith Richard
Marshall	1906–07	1539–1139–2	.575	6	1–6	Cam Henderson Center	Cornelius Jackson
Old Dominion	1950–51	1214–765	.613	12	3–12	Chartway Arena	Mike Jones
South Alabama	1968–69	857–682	.557	8	1–8	Mitchell Center	Richie Riley
Southern Miss	1912–13	1279–1112–1	.535	3	0–3	Reed Green Coliseum	Jay Ladner
Texas State	1920–21	1357–1184	.534	2	0–2	Strahan Arena	Terrence Johnson
Troy	1950–51	1086–933	.538	2	0–2	Trojan Arena	Scott Cross

Women's basketball

This list goes through the 2022–23 season. ^[82]

Team	First season	All-time record	All-time win %	NCAA Tournament appearances	NCAA Tournament record	Arena	Head coach
Appalachian State	1970–71	689–726	.487	4	0–4	Holmes Center	Alaura Sharp
Arkansas State	1974–75	770–602	.561	0	0–0	First National Bank Arena	Destinee Rogers
Coastal Carolina	1974–75	572–732	.439	0	0–0	HTC Center	Kevin Pederson
Georgia Southern	1973–74	707–679	.510	2	0–2	Hill Convocation Center	Hanna Haden
Georgia State	1975–76	630–692	.477	3	0–3	Georgia State Convocation Center	Gene Hill
James Madison	1920–21	1176–578–5	.670	12	8–12	Atlantic Union Bank Center	Sean O'Regan
Louisiana	1982–83	466–684	.405	1	0–1	Cajundome	Gary Broadhead
Louisiana–Monroe	1974–75	632–682	.481	4	4–4	Fant–Ewing Coliseum	Missy Bilerback
Marshall	1969–70	715–737	.492	2	0–2	Cam Henderson Center	Juli Fulks
Old Dominion	1969–70	1121–480	.700	25	34–24	Chartway Arena	DeLisha Milton-Jones
South Alabama	1974–75	666–701	.487	1	0–1	Mitchell Center	Yolisha Jackson
Southern Miss	1975–76	780–589	.570	8	4–8	Reed Green Coliseum	Joye Lee-McNelis
Texas State	1982–83	565–576	.495	2	0–2	Strahan Arena	Zenarae Antoine
Troy	1975–76	670–677	.497	4	0–4	Trojan Arena	Chanda Rigby

Championships

Main articles: Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament and Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament

Since the 2022–23 season, the Sun Belt Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments, held in early March, have involved all 14 of the conference's teams, and have been bracketed in a semi-stepladder format. The bottom four seeds play in the first round; seed 5 through 10 receive byes to the second round, and the top 4 seeds to the quarterfinals. All rounds are held in Pensacola, Florida at Pensacola Bay Center since 2022. ^[83] Winners of the tournaments earn automatic bids to their respective NCAA Division I basketball tournament.

Season	Men's Regular Season Champion	Men's Tournament Champion	Women's Regular Season Champion	Women's Tournament Champion
1977	North Carolina–Charlotte		No Regular Season	No Tournament
1978	North Carolina–Charlotte	New Orleans	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1979	South Alabama	Jacksonville	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1980	South Alabama	Virginia Commonwealth	No Regular Season	No Tournament
1981	Virginia Commonwealth		No Regular Season	No Tournament
1982	Alabama–Birmingham		No Regular Season	No Tournament
1983	Virginia Commonwealth	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion
1984	Virginia Commonwealth	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion
1985	Virginia Commonwealth		Old Dominion
1986	Old Dominion	Jacksonville	Western Kentucky
1987	Western Kentucky	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion
1988	North Carolina–Charlotte		Old Dominion	Western Kentucky
1989	South Alabama		Old Dominion	Western Kentucky
1990	Alabama–Birmingham	South Florida	Alabama–Birmingham	Old Dominion
1991	South Alabama		Alabama–Birmingham	Western Kentucky
1992	Southwestern Louisiana		Western Kentucky
1993	New Orleans	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
1994	Western Kentucky	Southwestern Louisiana	Louisiana Tech
1995	Western Kentucky		Louisiana Tech	Western Kentucky
1996	Arkansas–Little Rock	New Orleans	Louisiana Tech
1997	South Alabama		Louisiana Tech
1998	South Alabama		Louisiana Tech
1999	Louisiana Tech	Arkansas State	Louisiana Tech
2000	Louisiana–Lafayette		Louisiana Tech
2001	Western Kentucky		Louisiana Tech
2002	Western Kentucky		Florida International
2003	Western Kentucky		Western Kentucky
2004	Louisiana–Lafayette (vacated)		South Alabama	Middle Tennessee State
2005	Denver	Louisiana–Lafayette (vacated)	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee State
2006	Western Kentucky	South Alabama	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee
2007	South Alabama	North Texas	Middle Tennessee
2008	South Alabama	Western Kentucky	Western Kentucky
2009	Western Kentucky		Middle Tennessee
2010	Troy	North Texas	Arkansas–Little Rock	Middle Tennessee
2011	Florida Atlantic	Arkansas–Little Rock	Middle Tennessee Arkansas–Little Rock	Arkansas–Little Rock
2012	Middle Tennessee	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee	Arkansas–Little Rock
2013	Middle Tennessee	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee	Arkansas–Little Rock
2014	Georgia State	Louisiana–Lafayette	Arkansas State	Western Kentucky
2015	Georgia State		Arkansas–Little Rock
2016	Little Rock		Arkansas State	Troy
2017	UT Arlington	Troy	Little Rock	Troy
2018	Louisiana	Georgia State	Little Rock
2019	Georgia State		Little Rock UT Arlington	Little Rock
2020	Little Rock	Tournament canceled	Troy	Tournament canceled
2021	Texas State	Appalachian State	Louisiana	Troy
2022	Texas State	Georgia State	Troy	UT Arlington
2023	Southern Miss	Louisiana	James Madison Southern Miss Texas State	James Madison
2024	Appalachian State	James Madison	Marshall

Baseball

Main article: Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament The Sun Belt Conference has sponsored an annual baseball tournament to determine the conference winner since 1978. South Alabama has won the most championships, at 13. Teams in bold represent current conference members. School Tourney titles Title Years South Alabama 13 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 1984 • 1987 • 1992 • 1996 • 1997 • 2000 • 2001 • 2005 • 2017 • 2021 Louisiana 5 1998 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2022 New Orleans 3 1978 • 1979 • 2007 South Florida 3 1982 • 1986 • 1990 Coastal Carolina 2 2018 • 2019 FIU 2 1999 • 2010 Lamar 2 1993 • 1995 Middle Tennessee 2 2003 • 2009 Western Kentucky 2 2004 • 2008 Arkansas State 1 1994 Florida Atlantic 1 2013 Jacksonville 1 1989 Little Rock 1 2011 New Mexico State 1 2002 Old Dominion 1 1985 Southern Miss 1 2023 Troy 1 2006 UAB 1 1991 ULM 1 2012 VCU 1 1988

Season Tournament Champion 1978 New Orleans 1979 New Orleans 1980 South Alabama 1981 South Alabama 1982 South Florida 1983 South Alabama 1984 South Alabama 1985 Old Dominion 1986 South Florida 1987 South Alabama 1988 Virginia Commonwealth 1989 Jacksonville 1990 South Florida 1991 Alabama–Birmingham 1992 South Alabama 1993 Lamar 1994 Arkansas State 1995 Lamar 1996 South Alabama 1997 South Alabama Season Tournament Champion 1998 Southwestern Louisiana 1999 Florida International 2000 South Alabama 2001 South Alabama 2002 New Mexico State 2003 Middle Tennessee State 2004 Western Kentucky 2005 South Alabama 2006 Troy 2007 New Orleans 2008 Western Kentucky 2009 Middle Tennessee State 2010 Florida International 2011 Arkansas–Little Rock 2012 Louisiana–Monroe 2013 Florida Atlantic 2014 Louisiana 2015 Louisiana 2016 Louisiana 2017 South Alabama 2018 Coastal Carolina 2019 Coastal Carolina 2020 No champion due to COVID-19 2021 South Alabama 2022 Louisiana 2023 Southern Miss

Facilities

Veterans Memorial Stadium, on the campus of Troy University.

School	Football stadium	Capacity	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity	Softball stadium	Capacity
Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium	30,000	Holmes Center	8,325	Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium	1,000	Sywassink/Lloyd Family Stadium	1,000
Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium	30,406	First National Bank Arena	10,563	Tomlinson Stadium–Kell Field	1,200 [84]	Non-softball school
Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium	21,000	HTC Center	3,370	Springs Brooks Stadium	5,400 [85]	St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field	500
Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium	25,000	Hill Convocation Center	5,500	J. I. Clements Stadium	3,000	Eagle Field	400
Georgia State	Center Parc Stadium	24,333	GSU Convocation Center	8,000 [86]	GSU Baseball Complex	1,092	Robert E. Heck Softball Complex	500
James Madison	Bridgeforth Stadium	24,877	Atlantic Union Bank Center	8,500	Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park	1,200	Veterans Memorial Park	1,500
Louisiana	Cajun Field	41,426	Cajundome [a]	12,068	M. L. Tigue Moore Field	6,000	Yvette Girouard Field	2,790
Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium	27,617	Fant–Ewing Coliseum	7,085	Lou St. Amant Field	1,800	Geo-Surfaces Field	500
Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium	30,475	Cam Henderson Center	9,048	Jack Cook Field [87]	3,500	Dot Hicks Field	325
Old Dominion	S.B. Ballard Stadium	21,944	Chartway Arena	8,472	Bud Metheny Baseball Complex	2,500	Non-softball school
South Alabama	Hancock Whitney Stadium	25,450	Mitchell Center	10,041	Eddie Stanky Field	4,500	Jaguar Field	1,050
Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium	36,000	Reed Green Coliseum	8,095	Pete Taylor Park	4,300	Southern Miss Softball Complex	607
Texas State	UFCU Stadium	30,008	Strahan Arena	10,000	Bobcat Ballpark	2,000	Bobcat Softball Stadium	1,000
Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium	30,470	Trojan Arena	6,000 [88]	Riddle–Pace Field	2,500	Troy Softball Complex	800

Notes

1. Louisiana's women's basketball team primarily plays at the Cajundome but occasionally plays at Earl K. Long Gymnasium on the main campus.

Athletic department revenue by school

Total revenue includes ticket sales, contributions and donations, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and all other sources including TV income, camp income, concessions, and novelties.

Total expenses includes coach and staff salaries, scholarships, buildings and grounds, maintenance, utilities and rental fees, recruiting, team travel, equipment and uniforms, conference dues, and insurance.

The following table shows institutional reporting to the United States Department of Education as shown on the DOE Equity in Athletics website for the 2021–22 academic year. ^[89]

Institution	2021–22 Total Revenue from Athletics	2021–22 Total Expenses on Athletics
James Madison University	$52,857,185	$52,857,185
Old Dominion University	$47,364,891	$45,109,567
Georgia State University	$45,248,891	$39,913,977
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	$39,088,716	$39,088,716
Marshall University	$38,114,204	$38,114,204
Coastal Carolina University	$38,077,490	$38,077,490
Texas State University	$33,707,371	$33,707,371
Appalachian State University	$32,271,589	$32,271,589
Georgia Southern University	$29,737,578	$29,737,578
Troy University	$29,054,724	$29,054,724
University of Southern Mississippi	$25,564,444	$25,564,444
University of South Alabama	$24,652,380	$24,652,380
Arkansas State University	$21,009,474	$21,009,474
University of Louisiana at Monroe	$18,416,615	$18,416,615

Academics

Four of the Sun Belt's member schools, Georgia State, Louisiana, Old Dominion and Southern Miss are doctorate-granting universities with "very high research activity," the highest classification given by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. ^[90]

Appalachian State is also currently ranked as one of the Top 10 regional schools in the South by the U.S. News & World Report .

University	Affiliation	Carnegie [90]	Endowment [91]	US News [92]	Forbes [93]
Appalachian State University	Public (UNC)	Master's (Larger)	$99,593,000 [94]	6 (Regional: South)	301
Arkansas State University	Public (ASU System)	Research (High)	$66,217,000 [94]	317 (National)	N/A [d 1]
Coastal Carolina University	Public	Master's (Larger)	$39,432,000 [94]	38 (Regional: South)	N/A [d 2]
Georgia Southern University	Public (USG System)	Research (High)	$50,999,000 [94]	331-440 (National)	N/A [d 3]
Georgia State University	Public (USG System)	Research (Very High)	$155,303,000 [94]	234 (National)	367
James Madison University	Public	Research (High)	$116,700,000 [95]	151 (National)	139
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	Public (UL System)	Research (Very High)	$178,300,000 [96]	331-440 (National)	N/A [d 4]
University of Louisiana at Monroe	Public (UL System)	Doctoral/Research	$28,787,795 [97]	331-440 (National)	N/A [d 5]
Marshall University	Public	Research (High)	$192,000,000 [95]	299 (National)	N/A [d 6]
Old Dominion University	Public	Research (Very High)	$265,800,000 [95]	299 (National)	472
University of South Alabama	Public	Research (High)	$555,735,000 [94]	331-440 (National)	N/A [d 7]
University of Southern Mississippi	Public	Research (Very High)	$136,300,000 [95]	331-440 (National)	N/A [d 8]
Texas State University	Public (TSU System)	Research (High)	$186,676,000 [94]	331-440 (National)	385
Troy University	Public (TU System)	Doctoral/Research [98]	$191,458,000 [99]	44 (Regional: South)	N/A [d 9]

Notes

1. Arkansas State is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
2. Coastal Carolina is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
3. Georgia Southern is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
4. Louisiana-Lafayette is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
5. Louisiana-Monroe is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
6. Marshall is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
7. South Alabama is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
8. Southern Miss is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.
9. Troy is not ranked in the 2022 Forbes America's Best Colleges rankings.

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External links

• Official website