2018 Sun Belt Football Championship Game:
Championship Central | Championship Preview | Friday Press Conferences Quotes
Friday Press Conferences: Appalachian State | Louisiana | Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson
Championship Game Notes: Appalachian State | Louisiana | Sun Belt
BOONE, N.C. – Historic day.
Two meaningful words for two tradition-rich programs as Appalachian and Louisiana meet Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C., for the inaugural Sun Belt Football Championship Game. Kickoff is set for 12:03 p.m. ET/11:03 a.m. CT on ESPN.
The Mountaineers and Ragin’ Cajuns are meeting for the sixth time with Appalachian State holding a 5-0 series record. Appalachian State has won the three meetings played at Kidd Brewer Stadium – 28-7 on Nov. 28, 2015, 63-14 on Dec. 2, 2017 and 27-17 on Oct. 20, 2018.
For Saturday’s game, Appalachian State is wearing all black as the home team and Louisiana is wearing all vermilion (red) as the visiting team.
AROUND #SUNBELTFB
Joining the Championship Party
The Sun Belt Conference is the final of the 10 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision conferences to stage a football championship game. The Sun Belt is the first FBS conference to hold an inaugural football championship game since the American Athletic Conference conducted its first title game in 2015. The Sun Belt is the 12th NCAA Division I football-playing conference (FBS or Football Championship Subdivision) to stage a football championship game:
Southeastern – 1992 to present
Western Athletic – 1996-98
Big 12 – 1996-2010, 2017 to present
Mid-American – 1997 to present
Southwestern Athletic (FCS) – 1999 to present
Atlantic Coast – 2005 to present
Conference USA – 2005 to present
Big Ten – 2011 to present
Pac-12 – 2011 to present
Mountain West – 2013 to present
American Athletic – 2015 to present
Championship Weekend Slate
The 2018 Sun Belt Football Championship Game joins the Big 12 Football Championship Game as the first FBS conference championship games of the day Saturday. The Sun Belt title game immediately follows
College GameDay on ESPN.
FBS Conference Championship Games Schedule
All Times Eastern
Friday, November 30
Mid-American – Northern Illinois vs. Buffalo (Detroit, Mich.), 7:00 p.m. [ESPN2]
Pac-12 – Utah vs. Washington (Santa Clara, Calif.), 8:00 p.m. [FOX]
Saturday, December 1
Sun Belt – Louisiana at Appalachian State, Noon [ESPN]
Big 12 – Texas vs. Oklahoma (Arlington, Texas), Noon [ABC]
Conference USA – UAB at Middle Tennessee, 1:30 p.m. [CBSSN]
American Athletic – Memphis at UCF, 3:30 p.m. [ABC]
Southeastern – Alabama vs. Georgia (Atlanta, Ga.), 4:00 p.m. [CBS]
Mountain West – Fresno State at Boise State, 7:45 p.m. [ESPN]
Atlantic Coast – Clemson vs. Pittsburgh (Charlotte, N.C.), 8:00 p.m. [ABC]
Big Ten – Northwestern vs. Ohio State (Indianapolis, Ind.), 8:00 p.m. [FOX]
Sun Belt Champion Headed to the Crescent City
The winner of the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game is headed to New Orleans and the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The 2018 edition of the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 9:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Sun Belt Champion is set to face a team from Conference USA at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
As a part of the game’s on-field postgame ceremony, the conference will present the championship trophy to the winning team and a custom-made belt to the player voted the Most Outstanding Player. In addition, representatives from the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will be on hand to present an invitation to participate in the 18th edition of the bowl game.
Sun Belt Runner-Up Headed to the Sunshine State
The runner-up from the 2018 Sun Belt Football Championship Game will play in the 2018 AutoNation Cure Bowl. The AutoNation Cure Bowl takes place Saturday, Dec. 15 at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
Live Coverage on ESPN3 Wraps Championship Game Broadcast
The 2018 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game is set for three hours of live programming on ESPN3 and the ESPN app, providing wrap-around coverage to complement game broadcast on ESPN.
The day’s coverage kicks off with a two-hour pregame show beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET/9:00 a.m. CT and closes with a one-hour postgame show immediately following the game. Both shows, presented by Louisiana Seafood, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Dole Food Company and Crystal Clear Imaging, are slated to originate from Duck Pond Field outside Trivette Hall on the Appalachian State campus.
Hosted by J.D. Byars and Wayne Gandy, the pregame show will take an in-depth look at the Mountaineers and Ragin’ Cajuns with analysis, season highlights, features and interviews and the postgame show will recap the game and showcase live coverage of the postgame awards ceremony from Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The tentative interview schedule for the pregame show is:
10:10 a.m. Jerry Silverstein – President, Dollar General Bowl
10:20 Doug Gillin – Director of Athletics, Appalachian State
10:35 Dr. Joseph Savoie – President, Louisiana
10:45 Alan Gooch – Executive Director, AutoNation Cure Bowl
11:05 Karl Benson – Commissioner, Sun Belt Conference
11:15 Bryan Maggard – Director of Athletics, Louisiana
11:30 Paul Valteau, Jr. – Executive Committee Chairman, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Non-Conference Success
The Sun Belt’s 21 non-conference wins in 2018 are the most regular season non-conference wins in league history, breaking the previous record of 19 in 2013. Including the postseason, the Sun Belt’s record for non-conference wins in a season is 22, set in 2016. The conference has a minimum total of five remaining non-conference games this season factoring in postseason bowl opportunities.
The Sun Belt has the second highest non-conference winning percentage the Group of Five conferences:
1. American Athletic – 25-21 (.543)
2. Sun Belt – 21-18 (.538)
3. Mountain West – 26-23 (.531)
4. Conference USA – 23-24 (.404)
5. Mid-American – 18-29 (.383)
Sun Belt Football History
The Sun Belt is in its 18th season as a Football Bowl Subdivision conference. For the first time, the Sun Belt used a divisional format this season to determine its Football Championship Game participants. The East Division comprises of Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Troy and the West Division comprises of Arkansas State, Louisiana, ULM, South Alabama and Texas State. Each team’s eight-game conference schedule included four (4) games against divisional opponents and four (4) against non-divisional opponents.
The Sun Belt entered the season coming off a 2017 campaign that saw the conference boast the second-best winning percentage (.800, 4-1) in bowl games among the 10 FBS conferences and the best winning percentage among the Group of Five conferences.
Over the past four seasons (2014-17), the Sun Belt holds the best bowl record in terms of winning percentage (.611, 11-7) among the 10 FBS conferences ahead of the SEC (.587, 27-19), Conference USA (.577, 15-11) and Big Ten (.538, 21-18).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Saturday, December 1
Louisiana at Appalachian State
12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT
TV: ESPN
Play-by-Play: Jason Benetti
Analyst: Kelly Stouffer
Reporter: Olivia Dekker
Louisiana Radio
Flagship: ESPN 1420 AM - Lafayette
Play-by-Play: Jay Walker
Analyst: Chris Lanaux
Reporter: Cody Junot
Appalachian State Radio
Flagship: 97.3 FM - North Wilkesboro
Play-by-Play: Adam Witten
Analyst: Simms McElfresh
Reporter: Molly Cotten
Appalachian State Radio Simulcast
Sirius 119, XM 202, Online 982