Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson wants the league's football programs to "work on shedding their 'addiction' to big-money, non-conference matchups with heavily favored, Power Five programs," according to Brett Martel of the AP. Benson, speaking at the conference's football media event yesterday, said that more non-league games with "'peer conferences' would improve the chances of a Sun Belt team going unbeaten and getting a bid to one of six prestigious New Year's Day bowl games." The combined schedules this season of the 11 Sun Belt teams include 35 non-conference games against other FBS conferences, with 19 of them against Power Five teams. The other 16 are "against teams from Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the American Athletic Conference and the Mountain West Conference." Idaho coach Paul Petrino "agreed with Benson's 'peer conference' scheduling philosophy in principle, but added that it won't be easy for some schools to trim Power Five pay days." He said, "You want to play those leagues that are the five that we're in so you can beat them ... and then your league ends up (rated) higher than their league. But I think realistically a lot the teams at our level need at least one of those money games. They pay the bills" (AP, 7/20). In Albuquerque, Mark Smith writes for schools like New Mexico State, games against Power Five institutions are a "necessary evil." NMSU will play Florida and Ole Miss this season after earning $975,000 last year for a 63-7 loss against fellow SEC team LSU. NMSU AD Mario Moccia said of cutting such games, "Unfortunately our situation, financially, is not going to allow that to happen for several years." He added, "The payouts are anywhere between $1-and-$1.5 million. It’s a quick way to fund your operational budget for the year. Now, I also think that playing more than one of those, isn’t the best way to build a football program" (ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL, 7/21).
TWELVE-STEP PROGRAM: Benson said that the league "continues to look at options for a 12th member but not for reasons many might think." In Alabama, Jeremy Wise notes the Sun Belt currently has 11 members, and 12 are "required to form a conference championship game." But Benson said that he "expects the NCAA to change that rule in the fall." Benson wants a 12th member to "help other sports such as basketball, baseball and softball, mainly for conference organization and travel concerns." The conference "has two schools each in Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana." Only Appalachian State is an outlier, which Benson said is "not fair to them" (DOTHAN EAGLE, 7/21).
