Marshall Athletics has accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference, the department announced Saturday. The Thundering Herd will join the league no later than July 1, 2023.
The addition of Marshall will bring the number of Sun Belt members to 15, with the Thundering Herd joining current members—App State, Little Rock, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana, ULM, South Alabama, UTA, Texas State and Troy—and new additions Southern Miss and Old Dominion, which were welcomed to the Sun Belt Conference last week.
The Sun Belt Conference was founded in 1976 and began sponsoring football in 2001. Over the course of the past five football seasons, the conference has posted an FBS-leading .692 winning percentage in bowl games, going 18-8 over the stretch.
The Sun Belt sponsors 17 NCAA sports and annually awards nearly $134 million in financial aid to more than 4,600 student-athletes. App State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana, ULM, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy compose the league’s 10 football members. Little Rock and UTA compete as Sun Belt members in sports other than football.