Schools could find Sun Belt comfortable

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“I’d love from a geographic standpoint to be somewhere where we can save money in travel, and the Sun Belt is definitely one where we could save money,” UAB basketball coach Mike Davis told The Birmingham News. “But that’s not my call.”

Geographically, UAB and Southern Miss sit in the heart Sun Belt country. Tulane University in New Orleans is the nearest opponent for both schools (112 miles from USM and 450 miles from UAB). Southern Mississippi has three Sun Belt institutions, however, located within 250 miles of its campus (Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette and Troy).

In today’s world of college football, distance doesn’t seem to be as large of a factor for some university presidents and athletic directors. Boise State and San Diego State have agreed to join the Big East and will make the cross-country journey to play the likes of Connecticut, Cincinnati and South Florida.

The Big East not only snatched Memphis from C-USA’s cupboard, but also bagged Central Florida, Houston and Southern Methodist, leaving Conference USA with just eight teams (Tulane has also recently discussed dropping its football program altogether) and forcing the elimination of its conference championship game.

Those factors led to the league’s pursuit of a merger with the Mountain West Conference in October.

Troy head coach Larry Blakeney feels all the shuffling could led a beneficial result for the Sun Belt.

“We (Sun Belt) have a good footprint in the world of college football,” he said. “It would be more economical to add schools like UAB and Southern Miss.

http://www.troymessenger.com/2012/02/10/schools-may-find-sun-belt-homey/