By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – I never would have dreamed of saying this a month ago, but when all the dust has settled, the Sun Belt Conference will emerge as the winner in the Group of 5 conference realignment skirmish of 2021.
And that means Old Dominion University's athletic program will also win.
ODU, Marshall and Southern Miss all announced last week they are leaving Conference USA to join the Sun Belt.
Another school will become the league's 14th member late this week or early next.
ODU will compete in the Sun Belt East Division, a more regionally focused group with more natural rivals that are closer to Norfolk than Conference USA's East Division. A lot closer, in fact.
Three schools will be within driving distance of ODU. Georgia State in Atlanta is the furthest from Norfolk, 9 hours away, but a stone's throw compared to Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee.
That means ODU finally will have what it has long desired – a home in the Football Bowl Subdivision with regional rivals that will matter to fans.
ODU is also joining a league with an identifiable national reputation. The Sun Belt is known as the "Fun Belt," and that's in part because the league plays mid-week games on national TV. And they're often fun to watch.
The caliber of football is appealing, but it's the fans, and the noise they make, that draw in TV audiences.
A few weeks ago, when Appalachian State upset Coastal Carolina on a Thursday night, 31,000 fans crammed into Kidd Brewer Stadium for a nationally televised game. App State won on a last-second field goal.
No wonder seven Sun Belt Conference games drew TV audiences of more than one million in 2020.
What's it like to play in the Fun Belt? How about the first week of 2020, when three Sun Belt teams played at Big 12 teams and all three won.
In 2019, App State swept the Carolinas, beating both North and South Carolina on the road.
While the ACC has one team ranked in the Top 25, the Sun Belt has two – No. 21 Coastal Carolina and No. 24 Louisiana. App State is 33rd among those receiving votes.
That's what I call fun.
ODU fans can be a picky bunch, but as I wandered through the tailgate lots prior to last weekend's football game with Louisiana Tech, I could not find anyone who wasn't enthused about the move.
"I can't wait," was the refrain I heard from most people. Some grabbed me as I was walking by and breathlessly asked if it really was possible to join the Sun Belt next season.
Yes, I said, Athletic Director Wood Selig and President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., are working hard to get that done.
The East Division in which ODU will play is going to be a bear in all sports. But in football, it's going to be more than that. It will be the nation's best Group of 5 division.
Marshall is the Conference USA's traditional football powerhouse and the West Virginia school is the one that the Monarchs have considered their biggest C-USA rival.
Dr. Wood Selig said the Sun Belt has no pretentions
Appalachian State is a traditional powerhouse with a rabid fan base, and a national name that began when App, then an FCS program, upset Michigan in the Big House in 2007.
App State upsets Michican
Coastal Carolina has spent much of the last two seasons in the Top 25. Both schools are within driving distance of Norfolk.
Georgia Southern, another traditional football powerhouse, is the team that twice knocked ODU and Taylor Heinicke out of the FCS playoffs. Their fans are legion and although they're struggling a bit now, the program won six I-AA/FCS national titles. The Eagles just hired former USC head coach Clay Helton to take over the program.
Georgia State, a fast-growing school in downtown Atlanta, has a fast-growing athletic department as well. Two years ago, the Panthers upset Tennessee, 38-30, in Knoxville.
Sun Belt Conference a good move for other ODU sports
This is also a good move for ODU's other sports teams, primarily because the proximity of East Division teams means travel costs will shrink and missed class time will be reduced.
While the Sun Belt isn't as strong in men's basketball as it is in football, the league was ranked ahead of Conference USA in four of the last six seasons in the RPI or NET rankings. In 2015, Georgia State upset No. 3 Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Most Sun Belt schools play in facilities seating between 7,000 and 12,000 seats. Some opened recently. Most of those that are older have been renovated.
Sun Belt women's basketball was ranked a spot ahead of Conference USA in the 2019-2020 NET rankings.
And as for the men's and women's basketball tournaments, no longer will ODU venture to the Dallas Cowboys' indoor workout facility and play during the same week with a giant curtain separating two courts.
The Sun Belt tournament is held in Pensacola, Florida, at the Pensacola Bay Center, an impressive facility that seats about 9,000 for basketball. I've covered games there and the arena is first class, the city beautiful and Pensacola Beach, one of the nicest along the Gulf Coast, is a short drive away.
President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.d., speaking at ODU's Sun Belt press conference
The men's and women's tournaments are held on different dates – and not at the same time as Conference USA – meaning fans could extend a visit there over a week and a half and watch a ton of basketball.
Sun Belt baseball is a powerhouse, a multi-bid league that includes Coastal Carolina, the 2016 national champion, as well as strong programs at South Alabama, and Louisiana. Perennial power Southern Miss adds to the strength of the league
Men's soccer will be one of the nation's best leagues and will be anchored by Marshall, the 2020 national champion. Men's and women's golf and men's and women's tennis will also be joining competitive leagues, as will volleyball and women's soccer. ODU's other sports teams will continue as members of other leagues.
Parents of most ODU athletes like to travel to see their kids play, and not only will their trips be shorter, they'll be headed to cool destinations. Coastal Carolina is minutes from Myrtle Beach. App State is located among the most beautiful mountain vistas in North Carolina.
Georgia State is in Atlanta, a city busting at the seams with growth and entertainment options. Georgia Southern is minutes from Savannah.
ODU adds to that allure with a bustling downtown Norfolk and Virginia Beach located only minutes away.
I won't go to much into the West Division, but you've never really tasted Cajun food until you've been to Lafayette, Louisiana, home of the Louisiana Rajin' Cajuns. A French dialect is still the first language there for thousands of people, and the fans are as passionate as any I've ever seen.
Sun Belt Supplanted AAC as ODU's top option
Not long ago, the American AthleticConference was league most Monarch fans hoped would become ODU's future home. The AAC has long boasted of being the sixth Power 5 conference.
With Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston, and nearby East Carolina, it looked far more attractive than Conference USA. The league had a lucrative ESPN TV contract and truly was a step ahead of the rest of the Group of 5.
ODU Rector Bruce Bradley said move to the Sun Belt popular with alumni
But all of that changed in waves that rocked college sports after Oklahoma and Texas said they would leave the Big 12 for the SEC.
The Big 12 responded by gutting the AAC, taking Central Florida, Houston and Cincinnati. I would not be surprised to see Memphis and South Florida eventually also leave. The AAC then turned toward Conference USA and took six schools – Florida Atlantic, Texas-San Antonio, Charlotte, Rice, North Texas and UAB.
The AAC is using much the same strategy C-USA employed when it expanded nearly a decade ago. The league took urban universities in big markets rather than schools in smaller markets with better programs and more dedicated fans.
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but some of those schools remain small fish in big ponds. All of those markets have at least two professional teams and Power 5 college football located nearby. It quickly became clear that not enough people were watching to justify C-USA's then lucrative TV contract.
The Sun Belt Conference took a different route, adding schools such as Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern with powerful football programs that have loyal legions of supporters. Over time, that strategy has proven to be superior.
In 2013, the Sun Belt was considered the 10th best football league in the Group of 5. It took time, but the league grew and got better and as it did, its national rankings and TV numbers improved.
It eventually surpassed Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference in the College Football Playoff rankings, just behind the Mountain West and AAC.
When it's up to 14 schools, the Sun Belt may become the best. And that means increased revenues from the College Football Playoff.
The Sun Belt also chose ESPN as its sole TV provider while C-USA divided its TV rights with many other networks.
Every Sun Belt football and men's and women's basketball game is on an ESPN platform. The Sun Belt men's basketball semifinals and finals are on an ESPN national network.
Not so in Conference USA. ODU's football game at Marshall earlier this season was streamed on Facebook, as will Saturday's East Division showdown between the Herd and Florida Atlantic.
Facebook or an ESPN network? The choice there is easy.
"It's a very well-run conference," Dr. Selig said of the Sun Belt. "It's been a slow and steady rise.
"They haven't tried to stake claims to anything they can't back up. They know who they are. The schools are very like-minded. They support their athletic programs at a very high level, high enough to be nationally prominent."
Selig said that will be evident when ODU teams begin playing their Sun Belt partners.
Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill said ODU made the league "stronger."
A quick summary of the facilities of three Sun Belt programs:
Georgia State renovated Turner Field, former home of the Atlanta Braves and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, into its home football stadium and is a year away from opening an $85 million, 7,000-seat basketball arena. It will feature a large plate-glass window area with a panoramic view of downtown Atlanta.
App State's Kidd Brewer Stadium, already a very nice football stadium, recently underwent a $50 million renovation. The Boone, N.C. school also has an outstanding basketball facility in the 8,325-seat Holmes Center.
Louisiana recently expanded the Cajun Field football stadium to seat 41,426 and it looks like a Power 5 facility. The Lafayette, Louisiana school's Cajundome basketball arena seats 12,352 and recently underwent a $21 million renovation. It hosts more than 140 events per years, from concerts to circuses to conventions.
ODU will fit right in. S.B. Ballard Stadium recently underwent a $72 million renovation and expansion. Chartway Arena, the finest facility in Conference USA, will be among the best, if not the best, in the Sun Belt. ODU's basketball practice facility remains among the best in the Group of 5.
"Look around the league and you will see new football stadiums, basketball arenas, baseball complexes and more," Selig said.
"There is a genuine desire across the league for national prominence. Sun Belt schools are making the necessary commitment to be nationally relevant in all sports."
By joining the Sun Belt, ODU has improved its chances of competing at a much higher level.
As so many fans said last weekend, I can't wait.
Minium was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 39 years at The Virginian-Pilot, where he won 27 writing awards. He covers ODU athletics for odusports.com Follow him on Twitter @Harry_MiniumODU, Instagram @hbminium1 or email hminium@odu.edu
Minium: Sun Belt Conference Was the Big Winner in Conference Realignment and So Was ODU
