Georgia State is back where it started.
The Panthers announced on Monday that they have joined the Sun Belt Conference, which they originally helped found in 1976. They will become official members in July 2013 and will then be immediately eligible to compete for championships in all sports.
The move was driven by the university's desire to become an FBS program, with access to the financial rewards that it can incur, and developing stronger geographic rivalries. Georgia State will finish its last season as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in the 2012-13 school year.
"Welcome home," Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr., chancellor of Troy University and Sun Belt Conference president, told Georgia State University President Dr. Mark Becker.
The move marks a remarkable progression for a football team that less than two years ago played its first game in the Georgia Dome, where Monday's news conference for the official announcement was held. The atmosphere was celebratory, with a blue carpet welcoming more than a hundred university officials, coaches -- including football coach Bill Curry and basketball coach Ron Hunter -- athletes and fans.
"For us to be able to move this quickly is something I would’ve never dreamed of. ... Maybe six or eight years down the road, but not this soon," said Curry, who added the changeover won't impact his pending decision whether he wants to coach past this season.
Becker said there was no timeline for such a move when he first met Curry in December 2008. But Becker said the university's desire to improve, coupled with the ever-changing landscape of college football, caused the administration to commission a feasibility study last November. That study reported the Sun Belt seemed a natural fit for many reasons, proximity high among them.
As athletic director Cheryl Levick and Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson began talks in January, the logic for such a move it became more apparent. The invitation to join the conference was extended and accepted by Becker Friday afternoon.
"It was too perfect not to act on it now," Benson said.
Becker notified CAA commissioner Tom Yeager on Sunday that Georgia State was withdrawing. By CAA bylaws, any withdrawing school is excluded from participating in conference tournaments. Georgia State has requested a waiver for spring sports this year and hopes that the league will also vote to allow GSU to compete for titles next year.
"Georgia State's withdrawal from the CAA and CAA football is predicated on the university's desire to reclassify to FBS football which requires membership in an FBS league," Yeager said in a statement. "We've been aware that GSU was having discussions with the Sun Belt Conference as the CAA could not accommodate that desire within GSU's time frame. The conference wishes the university well as it pursues these new interests."
Finances played into the timing. Georgia State must pay an exit fee of at least $250,000 to leave the CAA. The conference is scheduled to vote on Tuesday whether to increase the exit fee to $1 million, which sped up negotiations. Levick said Georgia State will not participate in Tuesday's vote. There also will be a $300,000 entry fee to join the Sun Belt.
The move to the Sun Belt should help alleviate several concerns that Georgia State has had since joining the CAA in 2005. The CAA membership stretches from Atlanta to Maine in football, and Atlanta to Boston in basketball. Regional unfamiliarity, the lack of geographical rivalries that can boost ticket sales, missed class time and travel costs have been issues.
Four member schools in the Sun Belt are within a five-hour drive from Atlanta. There are no CAA schools located that close.
Once Georgia State begins play in 2013, the Sun Belt will have 11 football-playing members, stretching from Texas to Florida. Benson, on the job for three months, isn't done with expansion and wants to add a 12th football school. The number is less important than his stated ambition.
"We want to be a player on the FBS and BCS levels," Benson said.
Though football was the driving force, Benson said he wants the Sun Belt to be more than a one-bid league for the NCAA basketball tournament as well and said he will push initiatives to try to make that happen.
Georgia State now must submit to the NCAA a notice to reclassify, along with an application, strategic plan and philosophy statement, as well as pay a $5,000 fee. The NCAA’s annual deadline for receiving such packages is June 1 and Levick said that application is in the process of being completed.
"Today's announcement will yield significant advancements for the Sun Belt and Georgia State for many years to come," Becker said.
What it means
Questions about Georgia State's decision to join the Sun Belt Conference:
1. When will Georgia State play Sun Belt schedules?
Georgia State will become an official member in July 2013. It will be immediately eligible to compete for championships in all sports.
2. What will happen with Georgia State and the CAA?
Though conference by-laws exclude members who have withdrawn from playing in conference tournaments, the Panthers have filed a waiver asking it be allowed to play in its spring tournaments. The school is also hopeful to compete within the league next year, although that is up to a vote by the CAA presidents.
3. Who could be Georgia State's new rivals?
Four Sun Belt schools are a five-hour drive or less from Atlanta: Troy, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky and South Alabama.
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