The Sun Belt Conference announced Tuesday that the agreement with New Mexico State and Idaho as football-only affiliate members will be allowed to run out following the 2017 season, according to league comissioner Karl Benson and Texas State President Denise Trauth.
The decision will reduce the conference’s football members to 10 for 2018 and should reduce travel costs, increase class time for student-athletes, and increase shared revenues for the remaining schools.
Idaho and New Mexico State joined the conference in 2014 on a four-year deal that was set to be reviewed for a renewal following the 2015 season. A vote of the conference’s presidents and chancellors was scheduled to be held March 10 on whether to renew the agreement. Trauth said it was apparent that the presidents and chancellors clearly wanted to move to 10 teams. She said the conference also wanted to give Idaho and New Mexico State time to plan their futures.
Changes in the conference and college football necessitated Tuesday’s announcement.
The first change was the Sun Belt agreed to add Coastal Carolina last year. The Chanticleers will join in all sports but football this fall. Football will come on line in 2017.
The second change was the NCAA recently ruled that conferences don’t need 12 teams to host a title game. One of the reasons that New Mexico State and Idaho were added was so that the conference could try to get to 12 teams, which would have enabled it to hold a championship game.
Benson called the NCAA’s decision to loose the championship rules a major factor in Tuesday’s announcement. Trauth said the league is discussing hosting a championship game. Benson said the earliest a title game could be held is 2017, but the first one would be most likely held in 2018. Benson said the game will likely be held on a school’s site and not a neutral site.
Neither New Mexico State nor Idaho were a geographic fit for the conference, which stretches from Texas to South Carolina.
The conference was supposed to release its football schedule Tuesday, but posted a message on its website and via Twitter that it was postponed to Thursday.
The departures shouldn’t affect the conference’s scheduling because each of its full members don’t play each other every year. The slots that will open the with the losses of New Mexico State and Idaho can be filled by one of the other schools. Benson said the conference could stay as one 10-team group, or split it into two five-team divisions.
Georgia State played at New Mexico State last year so the Panthers should play Idaho this year.
Benson said the conference is in a place of great stability and solidarity, so much that while conference officials will listen to any schools that might want to join to help the league get to 12 schools, the Sun Belt is not in interested at this time.
About the Author
