Starting with the 2018 football season, there will only be 10 teams playing football in the Sun Belt Conference
The University of Idaho and New Mexico State will no longer be part of the Sun Belt after the Presidents and Chancellors of the conference decided to not extend the universities agreement, which is set to expire following the 2017 football season.
According to Sun Belt Conference and Texas State University President Dr. Denise Trauth, “This was a strategic decision that was reached following a thorough and complete review of our options. The Sun Belt’s Presidents and Chancellors strongly believe it is in the best interest of the conference to have a core membership of 10 football teams that are geographically located within the ‘footprint’ of the conference and that these 10 members also compete in all conference sports.”
Sun Belt Commisioner Karl Benson stated in the release that the change “will maximize the Sun Belt’s on-field performance, push us to the top ranking of our four peer conferences, and will give us the best opportunity to soon place a team in one of the College Football Playoff’s New Year’s Day bowl games.”
-Clint Domingue