NEW ORLEANS -- The light poked through the eighth-floor windows of the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on Tuesday morning, dipping its way around the various signage littering the Armstrong Ballroom.
It was fitting. As Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill stepped onto the stage for his state of the conference presser -- one in which he uttered the phrase "The Sun Belt is rising" four times -- the sun itself continued to take its place in the sky over the Big Easy.
The first of two days at Sun Belt Media Days featured appearances by Gill and the league's seven East Division teams, including new members James Madison, Marshall and Old Dominion.