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2013 Georgia State Football
TH I S I S GEORG I A STATE FOOTBALL
A
fter more than a year’s worth of anticipation, the wait is finally over.
On July 1, 2013, the Georgia State Athletic Department officially
became a full member of the Sun Belt Conference and will now
compete for championships in 14 league-sponsored sports starting this fall.
SUN BELT
CONFERENCE
“We look forward to playing a leadership role in the Sun Belt
Conference and our teams competing for Sun Belt titles and
postseason berths,”Director of Athletics Cheryl L. Levick said.
I”t really is a tremendous day in Georgia State sports history.”
GSU’s move onto a national stage in all sports officially
began on April 9, 2012. At a press conference inside the
Georgia Dome, Sun Belt Conference officials joined Georgia
State President Mark Becker and Levick at the public
announcement of the Panthers’ impending conference move.
A feasibility study begun in the fall of 2011 concluded the
Panthers were well positioned to make the jump to the FBS
level and that the Sun Belt would be an ideal fit. The rest has
been history. The move now allows GSU to build on regional
rivalries with several schools within driving distance, while
also showcasing its talented teams to the country.
It is a return home of sorts for Georgia State, which was a
founding member of the Sun Belt Conference in 1976. At that
time, the league consisted of six universities playing across
four men’s sports – basketball, soccer, tennis and golf.
Today, the Sun Belt Conference sponsors 18 sports, including
14 that the Panthers will vie for conference titles. On the
men’s side, GSU will compete in baseball, basketball, football,
golf and tennis, while women’s sports include basketball,
golf, cross country, soccer, softball, indoor track and field,
outdoor track and field and court volleyball. GSU has also
announced plans to add women’s swimming and diving,
another Sun Belt-sponsored sport.
The Panthers already own two Sun Belt Conference titles in
the past year. Ten individual sports were accepted into the
league for 2012-13, giving the women’s cross country and
men’s tennis teams a leg up on collecting hardware. Each
squad won the Sun Belt title and helped Georgia State finish
ahead of two SBC schools in the 2012-13 Vic Bubas Cup
standings (an all sports trophy) despite competing in only
half of the league’s sports.
SUN BELT PRESS CONFERENCE, APRIL 9, 2012
