Report says Sun Belt ready to vote on expansion

According to a report Friday by USA Today, the Sun Belt Conference is ready to vote on potential expansion “within the next few weeks, if not days,” with Coastal Carolina and Eastern Kentucky the schools in consideration.

The report by Dan Wolken attributed information to an anonymous source and said the conference is looking to add only one of the schools.

Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson would not confirm the timing of the vote in the story. In response to a separate request by The Sun News on Friday to discuss the process the conference will take in deciding on expansion, associate commissioner and chief branding and communications officer John McElwain said Benson would have “no comment at this time.”

Benson and other Sun Belt representatives spent two days visiting Coastal Carolina earlier this month after previously visiting Eastern Kentucky. In recapping those talks, CCU President David DeCenzo told The Sun News then that the university would accept an invitation to join the Sun Belt if it were offered and that the Chanticleers would then expand Brooks Stadium to more than 20,000 seats as part of the transition from the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Speaking after practice Friday, Chants football coach Joe Moglia said he has simply been focused on getting his team ready for its Sept. 5 season opener.

“I’m well aware in terms of where we stand and I’m well aware of kind of where we think the Sun Belt stands, so we’re aware that those things might happen,” he said. “But there’s not much I can do about that now so 100 percent of my focus is on our football team.”

The USA Today report suggested if the conference votes against football expansion that an alternative would be to add football-only member New Mexico State in all sports to give the league 12 basketball teams and allow it to split into East-West divisions for its other sports.

This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Report says Sun Belt ready to vote on expansion."