Georgia State and Georgia Southern will gain a new conference opponent and Kennesaw State will lose one in football with the news Tuesday that Coastal Carolina will leave the Big South Conference to join the Sun Belt Conference.
The Panthers and Eagles are Sun Belt members, while the Owls are about to start their first season of football as members of the Big South. Kennesaw State is a member of the Atlantic Sun for all other sports.
The Chanticleers will join the Sun Belt, based out of New Orleans, in all sports but football for the 2016-17 season. Football will join in 2017.
The Sun Belt has been trying for three years to add a 12th member. Commissioner Karl Benson said in March that it was his biggest challenge. He seemed elated and relieved Tuesday.
“This is a very important day for future of Sun Belt Conference,” Benson said.
The decision reportedly came down to three schools: Eastern Kentucky, New Mexico State and Coastal Carolina. The presidents and chancellors met Sunday and voted. Benson said the decision wasn’t driven by any particular sport, revenue projections or media markets. Instead, he said the vote was driven by Coastal Carolina’s potential and what was best for the athletes at the remaining 11 schools. He said the new geographic structure will enable divisional play and reduce travel time for competitions, allowing athletes to spend more time on their campuses.
“That was our goal, and we have satisfied that,” Benson said.
Pending the expected approval of the conference’s presidents and chancellors, the divisions likely will be: Georgia State, Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Troy, South Alabama and Coastal Carolina in the East, and Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Arkansas State, Texas State, Texas-Arlington and Arkansas-Little Rock in the West.
Idaho and New Mexico State replace Texas-Arlington and Arkansas-Little Rock as football-playing members. There is a four-year agreement with New Mexico State and Idaho that started last year and can be reviewed following this season.
While money didn’t drive the decision, it eventually could result in more revenue from football and men’s basketball.
The conference can now discuss with the NCAA the possibility of hosting a championship game in football, which could mean TV and sponsorship opportunities. Benson said a championship game won’t be decided until the NCAA decides on the minimum number of teams required. That is expected to happen in January.
Benson said that he’s not yet sure if the conference will stick with an eight-game or nine-game conference schedule in football. He said the coaches prefer an eight-game schedule.
Scheduling in basketball will undergo a radical change. The current 20-game conference schedule will disappear following the 2015-16 season and will be replaced by a 16- or-18-game schedule. That decision will likely be made within 30 days.
The reduction in conference games will allow teams to pursue higher-profile non-conference games that could boost RPIs, which would help the Sun Belt overcome its recent trend as a one-bid league in the NCAA tournament. Georgia State earned the bid last year and upset Baylor in the tournament’s second round. Louisiana-Lafayette earned the big the year before.
At least one coach, Georgia State’s Ron Hunter, doesn’t like the idea of a 16-game schedule because it is harder to schedule non-conference games at the GSU Sports Arena.
“Anything less than 18 I’m completely against,” he said. “It’s very difficult for us to get home games. No one wants to play us here.”
Georgia Southern’s Mark Byington said he would prefer an 18-game schedule, but recognizes the difficulty in constructing that with 12 teams.
Other than the possibility of streamlining schedules as well as a beautiful location near Myrtle Beach, Coastal Carolina brings a strong sports tradition and solid facilities to the Sun Belt. Ten of its 18 sports made the NCAA postseason during the 2014-15 season. The Chanticleers will compete in 16 sports in the Sun Belt.
CCU recently renovated its baseball and softball facilities at a cost of $15.2 million. It opened in 2012 a $35 million facility that hosts men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball. The football stadium, which currently seats less than 10,000, will be upgraded to host 20,000 by Sept. 1, 2017.
“This is the Sun Belt’s future,” Benson said. “I’m very excited, elated, bullish on these 12 teams in all sports.”
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