New Mexico State football finds right fit with conference

The Sun Belt Conference needed two more football schools.

New Mexico State and Idaho, from a football standpoint, needed a port in the storm.

So Wednesday, the league announced that those two schools, along with Appalachian State and Georgia Southern, are joining the league effective July 1, 2014.

NMSU and Idaho come on board as football-only schools. Appalachian State and Georgia Southern will join in all sports.

New Mexico State’s move is pending approval by the state board of regents.

“The Sun Belt has established itself as a solid football conference, and our goal is to be a contributing member going forward,” NMSU athletic director McKinley Boston said. In a statement from the school, interim NMSU President Manuel Pacheco and first-year coach Doug Martin called the Sun Belt a league “on the rise.”

Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson was the longtime commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference, which as a football league went away after the 2012 season. That necessitated the Aggies’ search for a new affiliation.

New Mexico State played WAC football from 2005-12 and will retain its WAC membership in all other sports. NMSU will play 2013 as a football independent.

The Sun Belt is feeling its oats after 2012, with two wins over Top 25 opponents and Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas State winning bowl games.

When the Sun Belt reaches 12 schools, it can divide and play a league championship football game. Benson said that was a driving force in adding the four schools. He also cited AggieVision’s telecasts — largely student-produced — as an attractive factor in adding exposure to the Sun Belt as a whole in addition to NMSU.

The details of a league championship game, as well as how many league games each school will play, eight or nine, are still to be ironed out.

Georgia Southern and Appalachian State are about to transition from Football Championship Subdivision to major-college (Football Bowl Subdivision) status. They both become full-fledged FBS members in 2015.

Benson had stated previously that he wanted to reinforce the Sun Belt within its geographic footprint. Idaho is the outlier; its closest league opponent will be New Mexico State.

“We have to be realistic and honest,” said Benson. “The Sun Belt is providing (Idaho and New Mexico State) a conference home. It’s providing television opportunities with ESPN and other exposures, and more bowl opportunities than they would likely be able to achieve as independents.”

The 37-year-old Sun Belt Conference has eight football members for 2013: Arkansas State, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Texas State, Troy and Western Kentucky University.

Assuming New Mexico State retains its games with historical rivals New Mexico and UTEP, an eight- or nine-game league schedule would leave the Aggies seeking only one or two nonconference games to find per 12-game season.

The Aggies, 1-11 last season, haven’t appeared in a bowl game since 1960.
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal