The Sun Belt Conference
By Matt Shetler

The Sun Belt Conference is a thirteen member Division I Athletic Conference that competes in nineteen men’s and women’s Division I sports. All of the Sun Belt’s members are located in the Southern, United States and the conference headquarters are located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The commissioner of the conference is Wright Waters, a post he has held since 1999.
  
The conference was founded in 1976, but did not begin sponsoring football until 2001. After the 1990-91 basketball season, all of the original members, except three departed for other conferences. The Sun Belt then merged with the American South Conference, consisting of most of the teams currently in the Sun Belt today.
  
The Sun Belt Conference currently has thirteen active members: the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas State University, University of Denver, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Middle Tennessee State University, University of New Orleans, University of North Texas, University of South Alabama, Troy University, and Western Kentucky University.
  
The conference competes in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the higher of the two Division I levels. For football, only eight conference teams compete, as Arkansas Little Rock, Denver and New Orleans do not sponsor teams. Western Kentucky will begin competing in football in 2009, as will South Alabama in 2013. The Sun Belt currently has ties with four bowls: The New Orleans Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl, Independence Bowl and PapaJohns.com Bowl.
  
Even though the Sun belt has only competed in football for six seasons, it has created some very interesting conference rivalries. The Florida Atlantic-Florida International game has been dubbed The Shula Bowl and the winner each year is given The Shula Award. Other significant games include the Battle on the Bayou (Louisiana-Lafayette-ULM) and the Battle for the Palladium (Middle Tennessee- Troy).
  
The Sun Belt Conference has also experienced success in other sports as well. In men’s basketball, where the conference is considered a “mid-major”, both Western Kentucky and South Alabama received bids to the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament, marking the first time since 1994 the league has received multiple bids. Western Kentucky had a very nice run, as the Hilltoppers defeated Drake and San Diego, en route to the leagues first Sweet 16 appearance since 1993.
  
The 2008 season also brought success in women’s volleyball as Middle Tennessee St. and Western Kentucky both received invitations to the NCAA Tournament, the first time the Sun Belt has ever had multiple selections in volleyball. Middle Tennessee also became the first league representative to reach the Sweet 16.The Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns also reached the 2008 Women’s College World Series.
  
Famous Sun Belt Conference alums include NFL Hall-of-Famer “Mean” Joe Greene (North Texas) and major league baseball all-star Luis Gonzalez (South Alabama).