The Sun Belt's Future.......

Here we go, time for the Sun Belt to make a move.  With the bowl season now mapped out, the Sun Belt has a record four teams going to bowls this year.

• Louisiana 8-4 : R&L Carrier's New Orleans Bowl vs. East Carolina 8-4 (CUSA)
• Western Kentucky 7-5 : Little Caesar's Bowl vs. Central Michigan 6-6 (MAC)
• ULM 8-4 : AdvoCare 100 Independence Bowl vs. Ohio 8-4 (MAC)
• Arkansas State 9-3 : godaddy.com Bowl vs Kent St. 11-2 (MAC)

These are all quality matchups that, if the Sun Belt goes 4-0, will definitely help in the perception wars that will be going on when the TV contracts are being negotiated in the next few years.  The one bowl eligible team left out was Middle Tennessee, who is bolting for CUSA.  So, what will the future look like for the Sun Belt?  I believe the Sun Belt is looking east and is trying really hard to avoid adding New Mexico State and Idaho.  If all reports are correct, the Sun Belt is leaning towards adding Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.  Of course, there's always the long shot that the Sun Belt takes teams from CUSA; such as Southern Miss, Tulsa, or UAB.  Here's the numbers for the possible schools (not from CUSA) in regards to success the past four seasons, including total athletic department revenue (2011).

• New Mexico State; 10-40 (20%); 0 Bowl App; $26,997,597
• Idaho; 16-33 (32.65%); 1 Bowl App; $17,545,304
• Appalachian State; 37-14 (72.55%); 4 Playoff App; $17,748,605
• Georgia Southern; 35-17 (67.31%); 3 Playoff App; $11,245,505

What does all this mean?  Well, adding the eastern schools will cut down on travel expenses, bring quality football programs into the conference. and keep the Sun Belts regional footprint strong.  While history tells us that these programs will not be automatically successful on the FBS schedule, if they make the investment in football much like Western Kentucky, they will be successful and fighting for bowls within five years.

Now quickly onto my favorite topic, BASEBALL!  Here are the numbers on the possible schools baseball programs.

• New Mexico State; 149-88 (62.87%); 1 Reg App
• Appalachian State; 145-84 (63.32%); 1 Reg App
• Georgia Southern; 145-94 (60.67%); 2 Reg App
• Idaho; No program

Looking at this, it's a no-brainer that adding any of these schools will boost Sun Belt baseball.  However, how many Sun Belt fans remember those 21-18 Sunday games at New Mexico State? My vote is for the eastern schools. Now it's time for BOWL SEASON!