Sun Belt Expansion?

Back from vacation and a break, so let’s dig right into what’s in the news.

Conference expansion and realignment could leave non-BCS conferences like the Sun Belt depleted, forcing a conference realignment of their own.

The answer to the Sun Belt could be a lot simpler than you think.

Most likely, the Sun Belt is going to lose some schools to other conferences like the Big East and Conference USA, leaving the conference undersized.

Georgia Southern could be the option to join the Sun Belt, if the scenario is played out right.

A true storied football program in Georgia Southern, they first fielded a team in 1924 and have gone on to win six FCS national championships, Georiga Southern can win.

A current member of the Football Championship Series and the Southern Conference, Georgia Southern would provide the Sun Belt with a new market and a storied program.

Little History Here; Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Florida, LSU, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Duke all once were members of the Southern Conference.

Located in Statesboro, Georgia, the public college finds it’s self with an enrollment of almost 20,000, right on pace with the other Sun Belt football schools that average a little over 21,000 students.

Along with its enrollment, the location of Georgia Southern is very attractive to the Sun Belt. Georgia is one of the most talent rich football producing states and is only home to two Football Bowl Series football teams, Georgia and Georgia Tech, compared to Florida with 7 and Alabama with 4.

An untapped market is waiting in Georgia Southern, where a lack of teams could allow for Georgia Southern to make a name of its self.

The Statesboro region is almost home to almost 70,000 residents.

Many of those residents have already shown support for the football program, as Georgia Southern averages over 16,000 fans and have had attendance sometimes over 25,000. All of this needs to be taken into account when looking at a jump from the FCS to FBS, because attendance averages are taken into account.

If the Sun Belt lost schools like Middle Tennessee State or Troy, Georgia Southern could be a very easy replacement option for three reasons:

1. Stadium. When Florida Atlantic joined the Sun Belt, a required larger capacity stadium needed to be in the works. Georgia Southern already has Allen E. Paulson Stadium (18,000 +) and two expansion phases are in place which would raise the capacity to 50,000. Dubbed the "Prettiest Little Stadium in America", Paulson Stadium could very easily become a staple in the Sun Belt.

2. Football and Baseball? The Sun Belt flat out is a football conference; however they truly could be a baseball conference. Recently, the Sun Belt has been ranked as the 5th best conference for baseball according to different RPIs. (Yes this means if baseball were like football, the Sun Belt would be a BCS conference in baseball.) Georgia Southern has a strong baseball program and has been to the NCAA tournament three times the past decade. Adding Georgia Southern would provide a big upgrade for the Sun Belt in this category.

3. Money. All of the conference expansions have to do with is $. Finding new markets and getting bigger TV contracts is the main goal of universities and conferences. Adding a third Football Bowl Division team to the state of Georgia could open up a huge market for the Sun Belt, meaning more coverage of the conference and more opportunities for money.

- Andrew Ivins

Andrew Ivins can be contacted at AndrewRivins@gmail.com