Sun Belt Conference adds football title game starting in 2018

The Sun Belt Conference becomes the last FBS league to stage a championship game when they will start one in the 2018 season.

During the 2016 college football season, eight of the 10 conferences that play in the FBS level will stage a championship game to decide who are the kings of their league. In 2017, that number goes up to nine as the Big 12 will finally rejoin the party after being a spectator since 2011.

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The following year, the last holdout will join that postseason fun when the Sun Belt Conference becomes the final league to stage their first title game in football. The conference announced the move on Wednesday and believes it will do great things for making the Sun Belt a playoff contender, according to commissioner Karl Benson (h/t NBC Sports College Football Talk):

"“Sun Belt football student-athletes will make everlasting memories playing in the championship game during the upcoming years. This championship will be a first-class experience –- and we look forward to it being a launching-pad for a team to reach the College Football Playoff’s ‘New Year’s Six’ bowl games.”"

Currently, the Sun Belt Conference has 11 members, but will be losing two of those members after the 2017 season when both Idaho and New Mexico State are out the door (with Idaho heading down to FCS football). Coastal Carolina will be joining the league full time in 2018, giving them 10 members.

A recent change in the NCAA’s rule book stripped the former 12-team minimum that was required for a league to have a football title game. That number was lowered to 10 teams, which allowed both the Big 12 to renew their game and the Sun Belt to create theirs.

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