According to CBS Sports, the current Sun Belt school Presidents have voted via teleconference to add Georgia State in all sports beginning in 2013. They will be ineligible for league titles and bowl games until 2014, however. The official invitation is expected to be given on Thursday when Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson visits the campus.
Our friends down at Georgia Southern must really be in pain. After all, they have been playing FCS football since 1984 and have 6 national championships. Ga State on the other hand has been playing for a whopping 2 seasons. We will probably be feeling the same thing if UNCC (I refuse to call them Charlotte) receives a similar offer, as this and other articles suggest. UT-San Antonio is also widely considered to receive an invite if they are not invited to the CUSA/MWC Alliance. If you are located in a big city it doesn’t matter how you perform. In UNCC’s case, they haven’t even played a down yet.
It is unfortunate that conference officials don’t seem to be aware of the potential in schools like Appalachian State and Ga Southern. Both schools would be competing right away, have an extremely passionate fanbase, tons of history, and would be unlikely to move further up in the near future. In any case, moves like this will only help to cement the idea that Sun Belt football is a joke. All of their best teams are leaving, and the teams they are adding have never had a season worth noting, or a season at all. In UNCC’s case, they risk ruining their basketball program with the move (if it isn’t ruined already). With the way things are shaping up, maybe we are better off without the Sun Belt.
**UPDATE**
According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, maybe this ISN’T happening…YET. Karl Benson says he will not be at Georgia State on Thursday.
“No invitations have been extended, no decisions have been made…We have had a continued dialogue.”-Karl Benson
Back to wait and see mode I guess. But if I were a betting man, I think Georgia State to the Sun Belt in the very near future is a safe bet.
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