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After the 16pocalypse: The Sun Belt


The minor conference part of this series is somewhat hit or miss. The first entry had a few interesting teams and some exciting games. The second one features, well, schools that shouldn't be playing I-A football (even if one of them thinks they should be in the Big East, and another was once part of a major conference).

Sun Belt Map

This conference was mostly a hodgepodge of what's left between the southeast and the southwest, going through Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas (and Middle Tennessee State). It exists mostly as device to save money on travel costs and play baseball.

League Name: Since about half of these schools came from there, and no other moniker not in use really fit, this conference goes by the Sun Belt Conference name.

Members: Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Arkansas State, Memphis, Middle Tennessee State.

Advantages: Rice is one of the better colleges in the south; Memphis has a near-elite (if often on probation) basketball program; schools in Houston, near Dallas, and in Memphis give some accesss to major markets; Texas and Louisiana are major football recruiting areas; many of these schools are good at baseball. FedEx's CEO is a major booster of Memphis athletics.

Disadvantages: No one is all that good at football; no programs other than Memphis basketball have more than a small following.

Summary: Not a lot to say here; these schools needed a conference, and so this one exists.