Reports: Sun Belt to add championship game in 2018
In 2018, all of the FBS conferences will have championship games.
According to ESPN and the Associated Press, the Sun Belt will announce Wednesday that it will introduce a conference title game, beginning in 2018. The expected announcement comes less than a week after the Big 12 voted to bring back its own title game in 2017.
For the Sun Belt, the introduction of a title game coincides with the league’s member count reducing to 10. The league will have 11 members for the next two seasons, but the memberships of Idaho and New Mexico State were not renewed. That drops the total to nine, but the league has already secured a membership for Coastal Carolina, which will move up from the FCS level to bring the football membership to 10.
Conferences previously needed 12 members in order to have a title game. However, in January, the NCAA Division I Legislative Council voted to change that policy, opening the door for the 10-member Big 12 – and now the Sun Belt – to have a championship game. The only other provision for 10-member leagues is playing a round-robin schedule – even without divisions.
The news is expected to become official in a Wednesday afternoon conference call with Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson and Texas State president Dr. Denise Trauth.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
