Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA ' s Division I since 1976 . Originally a non - football conference , the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001 . Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) . The 11 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed primarily across the southern United States . History . The Sun Belt Conference was founded on August 4 , 1976 with New Orleans , South Alabama , Georgia State , Jacksonville , Charlotte and South Florida . Over the next ten years the conference would add WKU , Old Dominion , UAB , and Virginia Commonwealth . Also , New Orleans was forced out of the league in 1980 due to its small on - campus gymnasium that the Conference did not deem suitable for Conference competition . UNO competed as an independent before joining the newly - formed American South Conference in 1987 . After the 1990 – 91 basketball season , all members of the Sun Belt except WKU , South Alabama , Jacksonville , and incoming member Arkansas – Little Rock departed for other conferences . The Sun Belt then merged with the American South Conference , made up of Arkansas State , Louisiana Tech , Southwestern Louisiana ( now Louisiana – Lafayette ) , Texas – Pan American , New Orleans , Lamar , and UCF . Although the American South was the larger conference , the merged league retained the Sun Belt name . UCF left the league following the 1991 - 92 academic year . Lamar , Texas – Pan American and Jacksonville departed at the end of the 1997 - 98 academic year . FIU joined in 1998 , and Denver was added in 1999 . Louisiana Tech departed after the 2000 - 01 academic year . The conference did not sponsor football until 2001 , when the league added former Big West Conference members New Mexico State and North Texas and then - independent Middle Tennessee State as full members and added independent Louisiana – Monroe and Big West member Idaho as " football only " members . Another Big West school , Utah State , was added as a " football only " member in 2003 , then departed in 2005 with Idaho and New Mexico State for the WAC . In 2004 , Troy became a " football only " member until 2005 when they joined the conference in all sports . In 2006 , Louisiana – Monroe joined the conference as a member in all sports when it left the Southland Conference , and Florida Atlantic joined the conference in all sports . On November 11 , 2009 , New Orleans announced they were investigating a move from Division I to the NCAA ' s Division III . In order to maintain athletic scholarships , UNO instead opted for entry into Division II . On April 20 , 2011 , UNO officially received transition approval from NCAA Division II Membership Committee . ( Since then , UNO has decided to remain in Division I and has since agreed to join the Southland Conference . ) Florida Atlantic joined the league as a member in all sports on July 1 , 2006 . WKU joined the Sun Belt Conference for football in 2009 after its Board of Regents voted to upgrade the school ' s football program to Division I FBS . On April 9 , 2012 , Georgia State , one of the founding members of the Sun Belt Conference , announced that it would be returning to the conference as a full member in 2013 . As part of the move , the football program will begin a transition from FCS to FBS in the 2012 season ; it will play a full Sun Belt schedule as a " transitional " FBS member in 2013 , and become a full FBS member , with bowl eligibility , in 2014 . On May 2 , 2012 , Texas State announced it would leave the WAC after just one year and join the Sun Belt in July 2013 to begin play for the 2013 - 14 academic year . At the press conference to announce Texas State ' s addition , Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson also hinted that more changes could be on the way for the conference . On May 25 , 2012 , the conference announced that the Texas – Arlington had accepted an invitation to join the conference and would become a full member by 2013 . Member schools . Current members . The Sun Belt has 11 members for the 2012 – 2013 academic year . All of the full members compete in football except for Arkansas – Little Rock , the Sun Belt ' s lone non - football member . Departing members in " pink " . Membership timeline . < br > Commissioners . In addition to the five Sun Belt commissioners , three future league leaders served on the Sun Belt staff prior to becoming conference commissioners , including Doug Elgin ( Missouri Valley ) , John Iamarino ( Northeast , Southern ) and Tom Burnett ( Southland ) . On October 12 , 2011 , ESPN reported that Wright Waters would retire , effective July 1 , 2012 . On February 15 , 2012 , Karl Benson was hired as the new commissioner of the Sun Belt , after having been the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference for 17 years . Waters would later move his departure date to March 15 , allowing Benson to take over at that time . Sports . The Sun Belt Conference sponsors championship competition in eight men ' s and ten women ' s NCAA sanctioned sports . Future member Georgia State is an Associate member for men ' s and women ' s cross country and track and field . Football . " For the current season , see 2012 Sun Belt Conference football season " Sun Belt champions Bowl games The Sun Belt has secondary tie - ins to serve as an alternate in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl or Beef ' O ' Brady ' s Bowl if the primary contracted participants cannot participate . Rivalries Football rivalries involving Sun Belt teams include : Baseball . The Sun Belt Conference has sponsored an annual baseball tournament to determine the conference winner since 1978 . South Alabama has won the most championships , at 11 . Championships . NCAA champions . The following current Sun Belt teams have won NCAA Division I team championships : Facilities . Notes :