NEW ORLEANS – ESPN and the Sun Belt Conference have announced game times for midweek contests that will air on ESPN2 or ESPNU. The schedule of games had previously been released, though times were not included.
The two Wednesday night contests and the five Thursday contests will see some of the conference’s top teams take the national spotlight on ESPN. Defending Sun Belt Champions Arkansas State will make three appearances as will 2014 champions Georgia Southern. Fresh off a win in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, Appalachian State will make two primetime appearances. UL Lafayette will host the Mountaineers and the Cajuns will also travel to face Georgia Southern.
For the fourth consecutive season, Sun Belt Conference teams will have all of their home games available on an ESPN platform.
A television schedule for the first three weeks of the regular season will be announced at a later date. For games in the fourth week of the season and beyond, networks will be determined 12 days out from the contest.
The 2016 season will conclude with the Sun Belt being guaranteed a minimum of four spots in postseason bowl games. The Sun Belt maintains partnerships with the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl and the AutoNation Cure Bowl. Additionally, the College Football Playoff guarantees that a spot among the premier bowl games in college football will be given to the highest-ranked champion from the Group of Five" conferences: the Sun Belt Conference, American Athletic Conference, Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA.
Wednesday, October 5
Georgia Southern at Arkansas State – 7 PM (ESPN2)
Wednesday, October 12
Appalachian State at Louisiana-Lafayette – 7 PM (ESPN2)
Thursday, October 20
Troy at South Alabama – 6:30 PM (ESPNU)
Thursday, October 27
Appalachian State at Georgia Southern – 6:30 PM (ESPNU)
Thursday, November 3
Arkansas State at Georgia State – 6:30 PM (ESPNU)
Thursday, November 10
Louisiana-Lafayette at Georgia Southern – 6:30 PM (ESPNU)
Thursday, November 17
Arkansas State at Troy – 8:30 PM (ESPNU)