NOW ORLEANS – Heading into the 2022 season, its first as a 14-man football conference, the Sun Belt joins ESPN to announce updates on its 2022 football schedule on Thursday.
The announcement includes both kick-off times and network designations for most games in the first three weeks of the season, all midweek games throughout the 2022 campaign, and the conference bowl lineup. 2022 marks the eleventh consecutive year that every Sun Belt home game has appeared on an ESPN platform.
“We are excited to welcome four iconic football programs and dedicated fan bases to our membership during the 2022 season – James Madison, Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss,” said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill. “This schedule demonstrates the strength of Sun Belt Conference football and our partnership with ESPN as we seek to build on our successes of recent seasons.”
Virginia Tech at Old Dominion kicks off the Sun Belt linear performances on Friday, September 2 at 7:00pm ET/6:00pm CT on ESPNU.
The Sun Belt will have three more linear appearances on Saturday, September 3 — the first full Saturday of the college football season. UNC will visit App State at 12 PM ET / 11 PM CT on ESPNU; Troy will travel to Ole Miss at 4pm ET/3pm CT on SEC Network; and ULM will hit Texas at 8pm ET / 7pm CT on Longhorn Network.
A marquee non-conference Saturday panel on September 10 will feature five linear broadcasts – UNC in the state of Georgia on ESPN at 12pm ET/11am CT; State of Arkansas in the State of Ohio on the Big Ten Network at 12:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. CT; Southern Miss in Miami on the ACC Network at 12 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. CT; App State at Texas A&M on ESPN2 at 3:30pm ET/2:30pm CT; and Georgia Southern in Nebraska on FS1 at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT.
Texas State at Baylor at 12:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. CT on FS1; Old Dominion in Virginia at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT on the ACC network; South Alabama at UCLA at 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT on the Pac-12 network; and ULM in Alabama at 4:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. CT on the SEC network will also be shown on national linear networks on Saturday, September 17.
Midweek, App State in Coastal Carolina gets flagship settlement on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, November 3rd. Louisiana in Marshall at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, October 12 and Georgia State in App State at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, October 19 will air on ESPN2.
Other ESPNU performances include Coastal Carolina, Georgia at 7:30pm ET/6:30pm CT on Thursday, September 22; Troy in South Alabama at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, October 20; Louisiana in Southern Miss at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, October 27; and Georgia Southern in Louisiana at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, November 10.
The 2022 Sun Belt Football Championship Game will air on ESPN on Saturday, December 3 at 3:30pm ET/2:30pm CT. The game will be contested by the champions of the East and West divisions of the conference and will be played at the site of the division winner with the best overall conference record.
The 2022 season concludes with the Sun Belt guaranteeing a minimum of five spots in postseason bowl games – the Cure Bowl, Lending Tree Bowl, Myrtle Beach Bowl, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and Camellia Bowl.
The Cure Bowl at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla. will open the Sun Belt’s bowl season on Friday, December 16 at 3:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Two Sun Belt Stadiums will once again host bowl games. The Cure Bowl will be held on Saturday, December 17 at 5:45 p.m. ET/4:45 p.m. CT at Hancock Whitney Stadium in South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama and will be televised nationally on ESPN. The Myrtle Beach Bowl will be played on Monday, December 19 at 2:30pm ET/1:30pm CT at Coastal Carolina’s Brooks Stadium in Conway, SC and will also be shown on ESPN.
The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. will air Wednesday, December 21 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on ESPN during the Camellia Bowl at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. , will round out the Sun Belt guaranteed shell assignments Tuesday, December 27 at 12pm ET / 11am CT on ESPN.
The College Football Playoffs also guarantee that a berth in the New Year’s Six Bowl games will be awarded to the top-ranked champion from the group-of-five conferences.
Since the college football playoff era began in 2014, the Sun Belt has continued to power the FBS with a .649 bowl win ratio — including 3-of-4 in 2021.
2022 SUN BELT CONFERENCE SOCCER SCHEDULE
Friday, September 2nd
Virginia Tech at Old Dominion, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT – ESPNU
Saturday, September 3rd
UNC in App State, 12 PM ET/11 PM CT – ESPNU
Norfolk State at Marshall, 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT – ESPN3
Troy at Ole Miss, 4pm ET/3pm CT – SEC Network
Nicholls State in South Alabama, 5:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. CT – ESPN3
Morgan State in Georgia Southern, 6:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CT – ESPN3
Middle Tennessee at James Madison, 6pm ET/5pm CT – ESPN+
Army on the Carolina Coast, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Grambling State, Arkansas, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT – ESPN3
Southeast Louisiana in Louisiana, 7pm ET/6pm CT – ESPN+
Liberty at Southern Miss, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT – ESPN+
State of Georgia in South Carolina, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPN+/SECN+
ULM in Texas, 8pm ET/7pm CT – Longhorn Network
State of Texas in Nevada, TBA – TBA
Saturday 10 September
UNC in the state of Georgia, 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. CT – ESPNU
State of Arkansas, Ohio, 12 p.m. ET/11 p.m. CT – BTN
Southern Miss in Miami, 12 p.m. ET / 11 p.m. CT – ACC Network
South Alabama in Central Michigan, 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Marshall at Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT – TBA
App State at Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT – ESPN2
Norfolk State at James Madison, 4:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. CT – ESPN3
Gardner-Webb in Coastal Carolina, 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Old Dominion in East Carolina, 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Eastern Michigan in Louisiana, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT – TBA
Alabama A&M in Troy, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT – ESPN3
FIU in the State of Texas, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Georgia Southern in Nebraska, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – FS1
Nicholls State at ULM, 8pm ET/7pm CT – ESPN3
Saturday 17 September
Texas State at Baylor, 12:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. CT – FS1
Buffalo in Coastal Carolina, 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Old Dominion in Virginia, 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT – ACC Network
South Alabama at UCLA, 2:00 p.m. ET / 1:00 p.m. CT – Pac-12 Network
Troy in the App State*, 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Georgia Southern at UAB, 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT – Stadium
ULM in Alabama, 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT – SEC Network
Marshall at Bowling Green, 5:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. CT – TBA
Charlotte, Georgia, 7pm ET/6pm CT – ESPN+
Northwestern State at Southern Miss, 7:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. CT – ESPN3
State of Arkansas in Memphis, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Louisiana in Rice, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPN+
Thursday 22 September
Coastal Carolina, Georgia*, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPNU
Wednesday October 12th
Louisiana in Marshall*, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPN2
Wednesday 19 Oct
Georgia State at App State*, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPN2
Thursday 20 Oct
Troy in South Alabama*, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPNU
Thursday 27 Oct
Louisiana in Southern Miss*, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPNU
Thursday 3 Nov
App State in Coastal Carolina*, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPN
Thursday 10 Nov
Georgia Southern in Louisiana*, 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT – ESPNU
Saturday December 3rd
Sun Belt Football Championship Game, 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT – ESPN
Friday December 16th
Cure Bowl, 3pm ET/2pm CT – ESPN
Saturday December 17th
LendingTree Bowl, 5:45 p.m. ET/4:45 p.m. CT – ESPN
Monday 19 December
Myrtle Beach Bowl, 2:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. CT – ESPN
Wednesday December 21st
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT – ESPN
Tuesday, December 27th
Camellia Bowl, 12 p.m. ET/11 p.m. CT – ESPN
* Sun Belt conference game
