A Sun Belt Conference occurs as college athletic conference that has been affiliated with a NCAA's Division I personally since 1976. A Sun Belt occurs as far-flung conference, by owning member institutions distributed primarily through a southern latitudes of the United States in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas.

Fallowing a 1990-91 basketbtons year all members of the Sun Belt except American Kentucky, South Alabama, Jacksonville, & incoming member Arkansas-Little Rock departed for more conferences. A Sun Belt merged sustaining a Western South Conference processed higher of Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Southwestern Louisiana (today University of Louisiana at Lafayette), Texas-Pan U.s., Just released Orleans, Lamar, & Central Florida. Football wwhen not sponsored per Sun Belt Conference until 2001, while a league added Just released Mexico State, Northward Texwhen & Middle Tennessee State as fully members & added Louisiana-Monroe & Idaho as football just members.

a Sun Belt is one of The moo graded Section We personally personally-A football conferences, with won upright Xv (14 percent) of 105 non-conference games against Section I-A opponents & Septenary (37 percent) of Xix games against Section I-AA opponents when you took the 2001-2003 regular seasons. It has a single bowl tie-link, a New Orleans Bowl, which currently pits a Sun Belt champion against an agreed-upon school from either Conference USA.

Current members (and year of membership, where known)
(^ denotes football-swimming member)

University of Arkansas at Little Rock (1991) Arkansas State University (1991)^ University of Denver Florida Atlantic University^ [football-only member (see notes)] Florida International University [(see notes)] University of Louisiana at Lafayette (1991)^ University of Louisiana at Monroe (2001)^ [member in football and swimming (see notes)] Middle Tennessee State University (2001)^ University of New Orleans (1991) University of North Texas (2001)^ University of South Alabama Troy University (2004 within football, 2005 in more sports)^ Western Kentucky University

3 schools—a University of Idaho, New Mexico State University, and Utah State University—left the Sun Belt within 2005 to join the Western Athletic Conference. Idaho & Utah State were footba lot-single members, when Up to date Mexico State got been an all-sports member since 2001.

Florida Atlantic University joined the Sun Belt for football lone inside 2005. Troy, which joined witharound football in 2004, joined altogether more sports in 2005. Florida Atlantic & Louisiana-Monroe will become tons-sports members in July First, 2006.

FIU is transitioning its football team from either Section We personally-AThe to Section I personally-the, & is swimming The to the full I-A football schedule inside 2005. Two Florida schools is reviewed for We-A criteria at a prevent of the 2005-06 year, & require to play inside the Sun Belt whilst it complete the transition in 2006.

Sports

A Sun Belt Conference sponsors intercollegiate competition around men’s baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s football, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer, women’s softball, women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, and women’s volleyball.