The 2022 Sun Belt Conference football season is the 22nd season of college football play for the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The season began on September 2, 2022, and will conclude with its conference championship game on December 3, 2022. It is part of the

2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2022 NCAA Division I FBS football season will be the 153rd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision ( ...

. The conference expanded to 14 football members for the 2022 season with the addition of 4 new member schools. The 14 members were divided into two divisions for play. The conference released its schedule on March 1, 2022.

Previous season

The 2021 season saw Appalachian State win the East Division, while

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

won the West Division. In the Conference Championship game, Louisiana took victory by a score of 24–16. Louisiana advanced to the

New Orleans Bowl The New Orleans Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2001. It is normally held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans; when the Superdome and the rest of the city suffered damage due t ...

, where they defeated

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

. Appalachian State advanced to the

Boca Raton Bowl The Boca Raton Bowl is an annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sanctioned post-season Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played in Boca Raton, Florida, since December 2014 on the campus of Fl ...

, where they lost to

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

. Coastal Carolina and Georgia State also reached bowl games, with both winning their games.

Conference expansion

Prior to the 2022 season, the SBC added four new schools as full members:

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

, and

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

, previously from Conference USA, and

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

, previously from the Colonial Athletic Association at the

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

level. The initial intent was for the schools to begin playing in the conference starting no later that July 1, 2023. However, all four teams elected to join for the 2022 season, with the move officially announced with the release of the conference's 2022 schedule. For the 2022 season, James Madison is ineligible for both the conference championship and for bowl games due to its transition from the FCS level to FBS level. Due to JMU meeting FBS scheduling requirements for the 2022 season, specifically five home games against FBS opponents, it was able to skip one year of the normal two-year transition process, making it eligible for both the SBC title and bowl games beginning with the 2023 season.

Preseason

Preseason Media Poll

The Sun Belt released its preseason poll on July 25. Appalachian State was named the favorite to win the East Division, while Louisiana was named the favorite to win the West Division.

Preseason All-Conference teams

*Offensive Player of the Year:

Grayson McCall Grayson McCall (born December 13, 2000) is an American football quarterback with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Early years At the age of 12, McCall joined a traveling Little League all-star baseball team that played in a televised tourname ...

(Redshirt Junior, Coastal Carolina quarterback) *Defensive Player of the Year: Josaiah Stewart, (Sophomore, Coastal Carolina defensive lineman)

Individual awards

The following list contains Sun Belt players who were included on preseason watch lists for national awards.

Head coaches

*On September 26, 2021, Georgia Southern fired head coach Chad Lunsford after 5 seasons with the team. Former USC head coach

Clay Helton Clay Charles Helton (born June 24, 1972) is an American college football coach and former player, who is currently the head coach at Georgia Southern. He was previously the head coach of USC from 2015 to 2021. Helton has also been an assistan ...

was announced as his permanent replacement, with Helton taking over duties at the conclusion of the 2021 season. *On November 21, 2021, Troy fired head coach

Chip Lindsey Chip Lindsey (born September 9, 1974) is an American college football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as the head coach at Troy ...

after 4 seasons with the team. Troy hired Kentucky co-defensive coordinator

Jon Sumrall Jon Sumrall (born July 5, 1982) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at Troy University, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Coaching career Sumrall began his coaching career at his alma mater, Kentucky W ...

as his replacement. *On November 28, 2021, Louisiana head coach

Billy Napier William Hall Napier (born July 21, 1979) is an American football coach currently serving as head coach at the University of Florida. From 2017 until 2021, he served as head coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, amassing a 40–12 rec ...

announced that he was leaving the team to take the head coach position at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

. Louisiana promoted their co-offensive coordinator

Michael Desormeaux Michael John Desormeaux (born September 29, 1985) is an American gridiron football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, a position he has held since the final game of the 2021 season. ...

to replace Napier.

Post-season changes

*On November 27, Texas State announced that they had fired head coach

Jake Spavital Jacob Stephen Spavital (born May 1, 1985) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the California Golden Bears. He previously served as the head football coach at Texas State University from 2019 to 2022. Coachi ...

. Spavital had posted a record of 13–35 over four years at the school. On December 7, Texas State announced Incarnate Word's head coach G. J. Kinne would take over as the new head coach for the 2023 season. *On December 4,

Jamey Chadwell Jamey Chadwell (born January 10, 1977) is an American football coach and former player, who serves as the head coach at Liberty University; he also served as head coach for Costal Carolina and interim HC in the 2017 season while permanent head co ...

announced that he was leaving Coastal Carolina to take over the head coaching position at

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

. Coastal Carolina's defensive coordinator Chad Staggs took over as the interim head coach for the team's bowl game. Later on December 4, Coastal Carolina announced NC State offensive coordinator Tim Beck as the new head coach beginning in 2023.

Rankings

Schedule

All times Central time.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Championship Game

Week 15 (Sun Belt Championship Game)

Postseason

Bowl Games

Rankings are from Final CFP rankings. All times Central Time Zone.

Selection of teams

*Bowl eligible (7): Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Louisiana, Marshall, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Troy *Bowl ineligible (7): Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia State, James Madison, Louisiana–Monroe, Old Dominion, Texas State

Sun Belt Records against other conferences

2022–2023 records against non-conference foes: Regular Season Postseason

Sun Belt vs Power 5 matchups

This is a list of games the Sun Belt has scheduled versus power conference teams ( ACC, Big 10,

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

, Pac-12,

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.

Sun Belt vs Group of Five matchups

The following games include Sun Belt teams competing against teams from the American,

C-USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

, MAC, or Mountain West.

Sun Belt vs FBS independents matchups

The following games include Sun Belt teams competing against FBS Independents, which includes

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from ...

, or UMass.

Sun Belt vs FCS matchups

The following games include Sun Belt teams competing against FCS schools.

Home game attendance

Bold – At or Exceeded capacity
†Season High

Awards and honors

Player of the week honors

Sun Belt Individual Awards

The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Sun Belt Conference football coaches at the end of the season.

All-Conference Teams

The following players were selected as part of the Sun Belt's All-Conference Teams.

Notes

References

{{Sun Belt Conference football navbox