![]() ![]() The new divisions are currently unbalanced – the East will be the best division in the G5 this year, the West might produce just two bowl teams – but the cohesion and potential are just phenomenal. Now, in substance, the Sun Belt is prepared to build on an already strong foundation. ![]() Gill understands this and took full advantage of it, grabbing what could very well be the four best possible fits for his league, outside maybe of the currently unattainable (Charlotte, East Carolina, Tulane, UAB) or the forbidden (Liberty, Louisiana Tech). The money is made up, as are the rules, and pretending that they aren’t is only playing into the hands of an organization in the NCAA that has as much power over its programs and leagues as I do. This is true in all facets of collegiate sports now. The only real backlash you’ll face will come from the whiniest, least important merit badge journalists on the planet. ![]() There are no more sheriffs and no more laws. Gill has built the ideal modern conference, and he’s done so using the exact techniques that, frankly, every league or school administrator should be deploying in the post-NCAA landscape where they now find themselves. The details of the split between the C-USA and those teams are not yet public, but just about any amount of damage control the league will need to undertake because of this will be well worth it. But, the Sun Belt – as it will gladly showcase this season – has just broken into another league, grabbed three of its most valuable assets (all three of which fit perfectly into the culture and geography of its 11 previously established members), and gotten away with it. The AAC and Mountain West will still have a claim to stake on that front, even with the former sifting through the C-USA to nab replacements for some of the top G5 brands and taking a hit in the process. Through more than a decade of work, the Sun Belt has successfully overturned its previously bleak outlet and public perception, piling up valuable programs to create an increasingly interesting football conference in the late 2010s, which is now well on its way to becoming the premier Group of Five league – especially as Cincinnati, Houston and UCF depart from the American, Conference USA collapses and the MAC stands pat as a cohesive but parity stricken and talent deprived league. What matters is the new Sun Belt, and the moves made by league commissioner Keith Gill and predecessor Karl Benson to arrive at it. Conference USA will play this season with just 11 teams, reshaping its schedule and, if it gets its wish, adding games to week zero to make those shifts work. The trio is headed to the Sun Belt, giving it teams 12-14 and (short of an unexpected more) filling it out along with FCS addition James Madison, breaking the league into two seven-team divisions designed largely around geography. With the announcement from Conference USA that a divorce with Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss was imminent, with a split set for the end of this academic year – critically, ahead of the 2022 football season. The Sun Belt has written the blueprint for running a conference in 2022, both in substance and in approach, and on March 29, it earned its payout. ![]()
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