1 year ago
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The Sun Belt's CEOs voted to invitation Louisiana Tech arsenic the league's 14th subordinate Monday morning, giving the schoolhouse a replacement for Texas State.
Louisiana Tech's introduction day into the league isn't certain, with the earliest the schoolhouse could articulation the league being 2026. The introduction day is expected to beryllium figured retired implicit the adjacent fewer weeks arsenic Louisiana Tech figures retired its departure from Conference USA, which is expected to outgo astatine slightest $5 million.
It marks a instrumentality to the Sun Belt for Louisiana Tech, which departed the league for the WAC successful 2001.
The summation of Louisiana Tech has agelong been expected, arsenic the schoolhouse emerged arsenic the beardown favourite adjacent earlier the Pac-12 officially added Texas State past month. The Bulldogs besides had been the absorption connected contingency conversations for the league successful the autumn of 2024.
The momentum for the determination came from the schools successful the Sun Belt West, arsenic Tech's determination gave it earthy synergy with Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Southern Miss and South Alabama arsenic geographic rivals.
The determination meshes with Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill's stated doctrine of focusing connected determination rivalries.
Louisiana Tech's contiguous shot past has been shaky, arsenic the the Bulldogs haven't had a winning grounds since Skip Holtz went 10-3 successful 2019. But there's been a beardown past of success, with Holtz reaching 7 consecutive vessel games from 2014 to 2020, and Sonny Dykes authoring a brace of beardown seasons successful 2011 and 2012.
The determination is simply a beardown 1 for some shot and softball, cardinal Sun Belt sports wherever Tech has been consistently beardown for decades. Tech's men's hoops programme has 11 20-win seasons since 2013, and the women's programme won 2 nationalist titles successful the 1980s and has 10 Final Fours. The women's squad hasn't reached the NCAA tourney since 2011.
This volition people Louisiana Tech's 3rd antithetic league the past 2 decades, arsenic it transitioned from the WAC to Conference USA successful 2013. Prior to Conference USA, Louisiana Tech was successful the Sun Belt from 1991-2001.
When Texas State flirted with the Mountain West successful the autumn of 2024, Louisiana Tech emerged arsenic the favourite to articulation the league. Sun Belt leaders began discussions successful earnest then, and those carried over.
There was immoderate pushback from the league's Eastern teams, but yet not overmuch question astir the league achieving the super-majority of 10 of 13 teams. The different enactment discussed was the league staying astatine 13 teams.
The Sun Belt CEOs met virtually past Thursday and acceptable the array for this move, with the ballot connected Monday greeting much of a formality than anything.
