Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game

Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game
Conference Football Championship
Sport Football
Conference Sun Belt
Played 2018–future
TV partner(s) ESPN
Official website Official site
Host stadiums
TBA

The Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game is an upcoming American football game to begin in 2018 that will determine the Sun Belt Conference's season champion. The championship game pits the Sun Belt East Division regular season champion against the West Division regular season champion. It will be typically played on the first Saturday of December.

History

In 1987, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) approved a proposal made by two Division II conferences that allowed any conference with 12 football members to split into divisions and stage a championship game between the divisional winners, with that game not counting against NCAA limits on regular-season contests. However, the rule would not see its first use until 1992, when the Southeastern Conference, which had added Arkansas and South Carolina the previous year, launched its title game. In early 2016, NCAA legislation was passed that largely deregulated FBS conference championship games, allowing a conference with fewer than 12 teams to stage a championship game that featured either (1) the top two teams at the end of a full round-robin conference schedule, or (2) the winners of each of two divisions, with each team playing a full round-robin schedule within its division.[1] Several months later the Sun Belt Conference announced that they would be introducing the football championship game to its sponsor sport starting in 2018.[2]

In 2017, the conference announced the two divisions that the teams would compete to be able to be qualified for the championship game, for the first time in the sponsor sport.[3][4][5] The East and West divisions will have 5 teams in each division, the scheduling format has yet been released. The game will be played at the home stadium of the team with the best College Football Playoff ranking. If no teams are ranked in the CFP selection committee, the conference will determine home field using a formula based on six computer ratings that were used in the old Bowl Championship Series standings. Unlike in the conference's sponsor sport of Baseball and Volleyball that is as well divided up in divisions, the Jaguars of South Alabama will be competing in the west division and not in the east.

At the start of the 2018 season the Sun Belt Conference will have 10 member schools competing in football.

References

  1. ↑ Dan Wolken (January 13, 2016). "NCAA members OK football championship games for all conferences". USA Today. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  2. ↑ Creg Stephenson (June 7, 2016). "Sun Belt Conference will add football championship game in 2018". AL.com. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  3. ↑ AP (May 23, 2017). "Sun Belt announces divisions starting in 2018 football season". ESPN. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ Tom Fornelli (May 23, 2017). "Sun Belt announces football divisions for 2018, new collaborative replay system". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  5. ↑ Creg Stephenson (May 23, 2017). "Sun Belt football will split into divisions with addition of championship game in 2018". AL.com. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
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