The New Look Sun Belt Has Arrived

We've known about the teams being added to the Sun Belt during this college sports offseason for some time, but today it was made official.

The Sun Belt is now home to 14 colleges with the addition of the James Madison Dukes, Marshall Thundering Herd, Old Dominion Monarchs, and Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.

Well, if nothing else, the Sun Belt is gaining some awesome team names.

Commissioner Keith Gill took to Twitter to post an official statement welcoming the new colleges.

Now the important point.

What does this mean for Louisiana?

Firstly, some more travel time. The Ragin' Cajuns away game against the Thundering Herd of Marshall is the furthest the Cajuns have had to travel for in-conference play. It is also a midweek game, further complicating travel.

Louisiana of course played and beat Marshall last year in the New Orleans Bowl, welcoming the Herd to the Sun Belt with a 36-21 loss.

But the best thing about that win? It was Coach Michael Desormeaux's first victory as head coach of the Cajuns.

The Cajuns will also face Southern Miss in late October in Hattiesburg. This is their only other game against any of the new expansion teams. I expect this to be a good matchup, and the travel time is negligible.

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All in all, this expansion can only be a good thing for the Sun Belt and the teams in it. More conference play leads to better competition and more national recognition.

So, Louisiana fans, get ready to welcome the new Sun Belt teams to the fold...

…before the Cajuns beat the stuffing out of them this season.

Geaux Cajuns.