The Sun Belt Conference has made its realignment moves, cherry picking what little was left of Conference USA after the American Athletic Conference claimed six for itself from C-USA.
Adding Southern Miss, Old Dominion and Marshall last month was a strategic decision the Sun Belt made with geographic proximity in mind. So too is SBC’s anticipated addition of two-time FCS national champion James Madison.
Including all four would push the count of Sun Belt football members to 14, an increase prompted largely by the desire of powers Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina to have more affordable road trips for programs in all sports.