Originally Posted by
TechAlum05
The only four teams I would consider from the Sun Belt Conference would be Georgia State, Arkansas State, UL-Lafayette, and South Alabama.
South Alabama is less than 100 miles from Southern Miss, so S. Alabama might be out due to locational reasons. Arkansas State might claim the Memphis market, but there are still issues with student body size, endowment, and U.S. News Ranking.
Compared to UL-Lafayette, Georgia State has a larger athletics budget, larger endowment, comparable U.S. News Ranking, double the student body size, and a much larger media market than Lafayette could ever boast. Georgia State plugs a huge hole in the southeast and gives C-USA access to the largest metro area in the southeast outside of Miami. To me, Georgia State is the most logical choice for a C-USA spot should a spot open up in the near future.