The Bison join their new league as part of the Sun Belt's revitalization of men's soccer as one of the conference's 18 championship sports after a nearly 20-year hiatus.The men's soccer group will consist of six institutions that will play a five game, single round robin schedule:
- Appalachian State (full-time member)
- Georgia Southern (full-time member)
- Georgia State (full-time member)
- HOWARD (affiliate member)
- Hartwick (affiliate member)
- New Jersey Institute of Technology (affiliate member)
The Sun Belt will also have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will be determined by a full-team postseason tournament where the top two seeds earn a bye to the semifinals. The host site and dates of the tournament will be announced in May.
"Howard University is extremely proud to be a member of the Sun Belt Conference in the sport of men's soccer," said Howard Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Louis B. "Skip" Perkins, Jr. "This gives our soccer program the opportunity to compete in a conference tournament and ultimately a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. We look forward to the challenge and are excited about being a part of the Sun Belt Conference."
"The reintroduction of men's soccer to the Sun Belt Conference means that we will be able to provide valuable opportunities for student-athletes and deliver them a first-class championship experience," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson. "Our new affiliate members provide us with a full field of competitive teams and we welcome them to the Sun Belt Conference."
"We are looking forward to having an automatic qualifier in the sport to represent us in the NCAA postseason," said Benson. "And we are optimistic at the possibility of sending multiple teams to the tournament field each year."
"Howard University is extremely proud to be a member of the Sun Belt Conference in the sport of men's soccer," said Howard Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Louis B. "Skip" Perkins, Jr. "This gives our soccer program the opportunity to compete in a conference tournament and ultimately a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament. We look forward to the challenge and are excited about being a part of the Sun Belt Conference."
"The reintroduction of men's soccer to the Sun Belt Conference means that we will be able to provide valuable opportunities for student-athletes and deliver them a first-class championship experience," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson. "Our new affiliate members provide us with a full field of competitive teams and we welcome them to the Sun Belt Conference."
"We are looking forward to having an automatic qualifier in the sport to represent us in the NCAA postseason," said Benson. "And we are optimistic at the possibility of sending multiple teams to the tournament field each year."
The Sun Belt previously sponsored men's soccer from 1976 to 1995. In fact, the first ever Sun Belt Championship in any sport was the 1976 men's soccer championship.
Of note is the fact that the three new affiliate members were all part of the former Atlantic Soccer Conference (ASC) at some point in the past. Howard was a founding member from 2000-2011 before playing the last two seasons as an independent; NJIT was a member from 2004 (their first season in Division I) to 2011; and Hartwick was as founding member from 2000-2006 before departing for the Mid-American Conference from 2007-2013.
Come July 1, 2014 the Sun Belt membership will consist of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (non-football), Arkansas State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University, the University of Idaho (football only), the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, New Mexico State University (football only), the University of South Alabama, the University of Texas at Arlington (non-football), Texas State University, and Troy University. Hartwick College, Howard University, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology will compete as affiliate members in men's soccer.
COURTESY HOWARD UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
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