NEW ORLEANS – Renowned ESPN columnist Bill Connelly may have said it best.
 
“The nation’s most sensible college football conference—one that continues to focus on things like geography and local rivalries and natural divisions—has also been one of its most fun for quite a while,” said Connelly in his 2026 preseason preview of the Sun Belt Conference. “And in recent years, it has become increasingly successful.”
 
The Sun Belt made a positive move geographically, and created even more regional rivalries, this year with the addition of Louisiana Tech. That was the dominant theme on the final day of the 2026 Sun Belt Football Media Days on Thursday at the New Orleans Marriott Warehouse Arts District.
 
The final day spotlighted the Sun Belt West Division, where the addition of the Bulldogs renewed a number of in-state and regional rivalries. There were few nay-sayers during Thursday’s non-stop interview, breakout and Main Stage sessions.
 
“I think it’s excellent, exactly what we needed as universities and as a region,” said ULM head coach Bryant Vincent. “From day one when I got to campus I heard about Louisiana Tech and the old rivalry, the glory days when those two would get together and the crowds and the energy and the passion was so much a part of it. Our fans needed this. It’s going to give us some juice, some electricity. Everybody’s already talking about that game.”
 
ULM and Louisiana Tech are separated by just 35 miles along Interstate 20 in north Louisiana, becoming the closest opponents in a league that has found success by continuing and reuniting long-term rivalries within a geographic footprint across nine contiguous states in its East and West Divisions. 
 
“The Sun Belt’s the SEC of the Group of Six leagues,” said Vincent, “and to be able to still have those rivalries in the same geographical location is huge. Having the East and West Divisions, we’re the only FBS conference that does that. It separates us from the others. You fight to win your division and to be able to play the top team from the other division, and it gives you a true championship game. That’s something that’s unique and important and I’m proud to be a member of it.”
 
Blake Anderson is in his first year as the head coach at Southern Miss, whose school traded the 600-mile trip to San Marcos, Texas and Texas State for a two-hour drive from Hattiesburg to Ruston. He grew up in Jonesboro, Ark., the home of Arkansas State, and has coached in enough programs to realize the importance of conference rivalry games.
 
“It’s just huge, and a lot of leagues have lost that,” said Anderson. “The fact that we still have it, and we can create some really good regional rivalries. We’re packed in here pretty good in the West, which is awesome. Fans can drive to games and it creates a pretty cool dynamic. That’s one of the things about college football that you don’t want to lose, and we’re fortunate that we haven’t lost it, and with Louisiana Tech coming in we’re adding to that.”
 
Veteran coach Butch Jones at Arkansas State echoed that sentiment.
 
“It’s the 50th anniversary of our conference,” said Jones, “and when you look around the country and look at the lay of the land, we have what everybody wants in college football in our conference. We have the regional rivalries, and that makes us unique and different. To be able to add another program like Louisiana Tech, one that fits the footprint of our conference, it’s going to add another dynamic. Moves like this is why you see the sustained success of the Sun Belt over a long period of time.”
 
The man most affected by the Bulldogs’ addition to the league roster was also one of the most upbeat during Thursday’s Media Days activities. Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie’s positivity was also aided by the Bulldogs returning more production levels on ESPN’s metrics than any club in the Sun Belt.
 
“You’re just excited from the regional standpoint,” said Cumbie. “It makes a lot of sense for all of our sports. In this era of college athletics, there are times when the rosters do turn over and it’s hard for fans to follow. But one thing that’s consistent and fires people up here is that you’re going to get an opportunity to play Louisiana, ULM, Southern Miss, Troy, South Alabama and Arkansas State, just in our division. That’s a lot of passion that’s been ignited that’s been dormant from our fan base from the standpoint of conference opponents.”
 
“I think it’s awesome, and long overdue,” said Louisiana head coach Michael Desormeaux. “I was telling Coach Cumbie that this is nothing but a good thing for our state, our conference and our fan bases. Those guys have had a lot of success in their history and Coach Cumbie’s done a really good job, they’re playing great defense right now and they’re competitive as hell.”
 
Cumbie was quick to talk about his West Division rivals and the league as a whole.
 
“Eight times out of the year you’re playing somebody that people feel a certain way about, and there’s a lot at stake each time you play. When we play ULM there’s going to be a lot of passion and it’s going to be heated, and Coach Vincent is going to have his guys ready to play,” said Cumbie. “When you look up the definition of ball coach, you see Bryant Vincent. We’re thankful and grateful that being in the Sun Belt is going to allow us to have that opportunity.”
 
“A few more heated and a few more nasty rivalries, which will be a lot of fun for everybody,” said Anderson. “It’s a lot of history coming back, whether it was conference play or just old games that people remember, it’s pretty cool to build on. And on top of that, it’s a strong league. There’s not an easy Saturday out there.”
 
“It creates excitement among the fan bases,” said Desormeaux, “and it reignites old rivalries between us, ULM, Southern Miss and now Louisiana Tech. I don’t see how any of it’s a bad thing. When it’s driving distance for the teams to play, it means it’s driving distance for the fans, and that’s nothing but a good thing.”
 
Connelly was right all along in his ESPN preseason Sun Belt prospectus.
 
“The conference becomes even more geographically sensible this year,” said Connelly. “That’s a good sign that Fun Belt life is still something to aspire to. It puts Louisiana Tech in the same conference as two other schools, Louisiana and ULM, that all have clamored to become rivals. The hostility quotient in the conference rose a bit, in other words. Hell, yeah.”