The dawn of a new era in the Sun Belt Conference began on July 1, 2016 as Coastal Carolina University officially joined the Sun Belt Conference after announcing its acceptance of an invitation on Sept. 1, 2015.
The Chanticleers joined the Sun Belt Conference as full members and began play in all sports, with the exception of football, in the 2016-17 academic year. The CCU football program began its two-year transition from the FCS to FBS in 2016-17. The Chanticleers completed the transition and attained full football membership status, with eligibility to play in a bowl game, for the 2018 season.
"This is a great day for the Sun Belt Conference as we are very proud to have Coastal Carolina University officially join our membership," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson. "The Sun Belt has a bright future and Coastal Carolina makes a perfect fit as it too has seen a tremendous amount of growth and success with its baseball team most recently winning the College World Series and a national championship. Under the leadership of President DeCenzo, Athletics Director Matt Hogue, and all the Chanticleer coaches and student-athletes, I expect CCU to be very competitive in the Sun Belt immediately and represent the SBC in NCAA championships in the upcoming season."
"July 1 ushers in a new wave of excitement at Coastal Carolina University as we officially join the Sun Belt Conference," said Coastal Carolina University president Dr. David A. DeCenzo. "The entire Coastal Carolina community is excited about our transition and look forward to a new level of competition with our sister Sun Belt schools. We could not be more honored than to have been asked to join the Sun Belt Conference and look forward to a long and rewarding association with Commissioner Benson and the SBC schools."
"We have been looking forward to July 1 for nearly a year now and are thrilled to now officially join the Sun Belt," Coastal Carolina director of athletics Matt Hogue said. "This new era will bring new opportunities to not only our athletic programs, but our entire University and will support our strategy and vision to expand the Coastal Carolina brand nationally and globally. We are excited to begin competing with and working alongside the prestigious institutions of the Sun Belt."
With the addition of Coastal Carolina, the Sun Belt Conference will now have a symmetrical, geographic structure that is unparalleled in the history of the conference. The league will have two universities in Alabama (South Alabama and Troy), Arkansas (Arkansas State and Little Rock), Georgia (Georgia Southern and Georgia State), Louisiana (Louisiana and ULM), and Texas (UT Arlington and Texas State) to go along with Appalachian State in North Carolina and now Coastal Carolina in neighboring South Carolina.
The Sun Belt Conference was an 11-team league in football until the 2018 season when Idaho and New Mexico State departed and Coastal Carolina joined to bring the membership to 10 teams. That season was the first in which the Sun Belt Conference football champion was determined by a championship game. The conference, with the addition of Coastal Carolina, is a 12-team league in the following sports: baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's cross country, men's golf, women's indoor track & field, women's outdoor track & field, and volleyball. Coastal Carolina also sponsors men's sports in cross country, outdoor track & field, soccer, and tennis, and women's sports in golf, soccer, softball, and tennis.
The Sun Belt Conference has solidified its football postseason opportunities from 2020 to 2025 with five bowl tie-ins.
The conference's new postseason lineup includes placement in three ESPN Events owned-and-operated bowl games and participation in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and the LendingTree Bowl on an annual basis.
ESPN Events will hold the first, third and fourth selections and will utilize a flex model to select teams into the following pool of games:
• Boca Raton Bowl (Boca Raton, Fla.)
• Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.)
• Cure Bowl (Orlando, Fla.)
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise, Idaho)
• SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Dallas, Texas)
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl (Frisco, Texas)
• Myrtle Beach Bowl (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
• New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, N.M.)
The New Orleans Bowl will hold the second selection and the LendingTree Bowl will hold the fifth selection.
In addition to the league's five bowl tie-ins, the Sun Belt champion has access annually to the New Year's Six bowls, managed by the College Football Playoff, should the champion be selected as one of the top four teams overall by the CFP selection committee or ranked by the committee as the top champion among the Group of Five conference champions. The Sun Belt champion is determined by a matchup of the East Division and West Division champions squaring off at the home site of the divisional champion with the best overall conference winning percentage.
