Football just came on board in 2001…

But i came across this list of former SBC members, and thought it was interesting…

Some argue that the SBC front office, when it went to football, drove the quality of the basketball rankings the conference held down…

I disagree…while i think there was a slight dip, it was only temporary…anyway here is the list…some would be beneficial memebers today…ODU, USF, Charlotte, and Lamar in particular:

Former Members

Georgia State - 1976-1981
Jacksonville - 1976-1998
Charlotte - 1976-1991
South Florida - 1976-1991
UAB - 1979-1991
Virginia Commonwealth - 1979-1991
Old Dominion - 1982-1991
Central Florida - 1991-1992
Lamar - 1991-1998
Texas-Pan American - 1991-1998
Louisiana Tech - 1991-2001
New Mexico State - 2001-2005
Idaho (football only) - 2001-2005
Utah State (football only) - 2003-2005

so what school of the ones that are in the belt now have been there the longest?

western kentucky and south alabama were charter members of the conference in 1977… they are the only remaining members of the SBC that were charter members

in 1990-91, there was a massive exodus of programs…

the 1991-92, only 3 charter members remained: WKU, USA and jacksonville

that time the SBC added UALR, UCF, lamar, ULL, texas-pan am, new orleans, louisiana tech and arkansas state

SBC members remaining today:

charter: WKU, USA
second wave (1990, following major loss of teams): UALR, new orleans, ULL, arkansas state
third wave (2001, creation of football): north texas, middle tennessee, ULM, troy
fourth wave (2005): florida atlantic, FIU

somewhere along time, denver joined in basketball-only… can't find out when

fauowl09 said

western kentucky and south alabama were charter members of the conference in 1977… they are the only remaining members of the SBC that were charter members

that time the SBC added UALR, UCF, lamar, ULL, texas-pan am, new orleans, louisiana tech and arkansas state

second wave (1990, following major loss of teams): UALR, new orleans, ULL, arkansas state

somewhere along time, denver joined in basketball-only… can't find out when

What's a "charter member"?

The conference was formed in 1976…

UNO was a part of the original 6 teams in 1976:

UNCC
UNO
USA
GSU
JU
USF

They (UNO) left in 1980 to join the "American South Conference"…

When the two conferences merged (SBC and ASC) in 1991, they returned…

WKU didn't join until 1983…

Denver joined in 1999…

Pg. 92:

Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide

"charter member" - founding member… termed "charter" because they were a part of the actual charter to create the organization, conference, committee, company, etc… it's a term used here and there… i use it… i dunno, sorry if it's confusing lol

AND sorry, you are right Florida_Owl… western was NOT a charter member…

USA and new orleans were

fauowl09 said

"charter member" - founding member… termed "charter" because they were a part of the actual charter to create the organization, conference, committee, company, etc…

oh, duh!?  i was a Greek and forgot that…

that's pretty bad…….

i like the way the "future" of the Belt looks, whether we are in it, or not…

let's just consider us being in the Belt for a while… who knows what will happen… but let's say we are in there until AT LEAST 2013… (and i use 2013 for a reason… of course, that's when So Alabama begins football competition in the Belt)

the future of basketball looks REALLY good…
- finished the 2007-2008 season with a conference RPI of 15 (of 31 conferences)
- 6 of 13 teams had overall winning records
South Alabama at-large bid for the conference in 2008
Western Kentucky 2008 Sweet 16
UALR constantly shows improvement
Florida Atlantic is building on back-to-back very good recruiting classes

football looks improving…
Western Kentucky adds credibility within 3-4 years, having huge success in D-II and D-IAA
Florida Atlantic 2007 bowl win
Troy 2 bowl bids in the past 4 years
Middle Tennessee always a player in conference, and a 2006 at-large bowl bid
(MUST work on multiple bowl bids as a conference, though)

baseball always a success…
Florida Atlantic, Troy, Lafayette, FIU, always a strong conference

FIU joined the Sun Belt in either 1997 or 1998, just prior to the advent of Sun Belt football and Wright Waters.  We left the TAAC when Carlos Arroyo and Raja Bell were both playing back in the day, under Shakey Rodriguez.

FIUFanatic said

FIU joined the Sun Belt in either 1997 or 1998, just prior to the advent of Sun Belt football and Wright Waters.  We left the TAAC when Carlos Arroyo and Raja Bell were both playing back in the day, under Shakey Rodriguez.

Yep, 1998-1999 season…went 7-7 in the SBC…

fauowl09 said

i like the way the "future" of the Belt looks, whether we are in it, or not…

let's just consider us being in the Belt for a while… who knows what will happen… but let's say we are in there until AT LEAST 2013… (and i use 2013 for a reason… of course, that's when So Alabama begins football competition in the Belt)

the future of basketball looks REALLY good…
- finished the 2007-2008 season with a conference RPI of 15 (of 31 conferences)
- 6 of 13 teams had overall winning records
South Alabama at-large bid for the conference in 2008
Western Kentucky 2008 Sweet 16
UALR constantly shows improvement
Florida Atlantic is building on back-to-back very good recruiting classes

football looks improving…
Western Kentucky adds credibility within 3-4 years, having huge success in D-II and D-IAA
Florida Atlantic 2007 bowl win
Troy 2 bowl bids in the past 4 years
Middle Tennessee always a player in conference, and a 2006 at-large bowl bid
(MUST work on multiple bowl bids as a conference, though)

baseball always a success…
Florida Atlantic, Troy, Lafayette, FIU, always a strong conference

i agree…the conference is solid basketball wise…thats a plus…its football we need to be concerned with, and as you mention that looks VERY promising!