Sun Belt Releases 2020 Football Schedules

February 28, 2020 by Coutesy SunBeltSports.org

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference and ESPN unveiled the league’s 2020 football schedule, headlined by a slate of seven midweek games on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

The broadcast schedule for the first three weeks of the regular season, including start times for midweek contests, will be announced at a later date. Beginning with the fourth week through the end of the regular season, network designations and start times will be determined 12 days prior to each week's games.

Kicking off the Sun Belt's midweek schedule is the cross-divisional clash between the participants in the first two Sun Belt Football Championship games. Appalachian State welcomes Louisiana to Kidd Brewer Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 7 on ESPN2. Seven days later on Oct. 14, Georgia Southern plays host to Appalachian State at Allen E. Paulson Stadium in another midweek showdown on ESPN2.

Five consecutive Thursday night matchups on ESPNU fill the heart of the conference slate – Texas State at Troy on Oct. 8, Georgia State at Arkansas State on Oct. 15, ULM at South Alabama on Oct. 22, Coastal Carolina at Georgia State on Oct. 29 and Arkansas State at Louisiana on Nov. 5.

The 2020 season marks the ninth-straight year that all Sun Belt regular-season football home games will receive live coverage on the ESPN family of networks. Beginning with the 2020-21 academic year, all Sun Belt men’s and women’s basketball home games to go along with all football home games are slated to receive live coverage on the ESPN family of networks.

The 2020 Sun Belt Football Championship Game is set for Saturday, Dec. 5 on ESPN or ESPN2. Following the title game, the Sun Belt is guaranteed a minimum of five spots in bowl games for the fifth-straight season. The league's bowl affiliations and matchups for the upcoming season will be announced at a later date.

The Sun Belt is coming off a historic 2019 season that saw league teams record four wins against Autonomy Five conference opponents in the same season for the first time in conference history, including firsts for Georgia State and Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State becoming the first team in conference history to achieve two wins against Autonomy Five schools in the same season.

The Mountaineers earned the conference's first in-season College Football Playoff ranking and closed their milestone season ranked 20th in the final CFP Rankings, 19th in the final Associated Press Top 25 and 18th in the final Amway Coaches powered by USA Today Sports Top 25.

Appalachian State and Louisiana clashed in the second edition of the Sun Belt Football Championship Game in the first-ever matchup between conference foes sporting 10 or more wins.

The Sun Belt finished with a .600 bowl winning percentage, earning three wins in its five postseason matchups, to finish second to the Southeastern Conference (8-2, .800) and first among the Group of Five conferences. The conference holds the best bowl winning percentage (.667, 14-7) among all 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences over the last four seasons (2016-19). With 25 non-conference wins (regular season and postseason), the conference reset its all-time high set in 2018.

2020 SUN BELT FOOTBALL SCHEDULES
Composite Schedule
Saturday, September 5
Morgan State at Appalachian State  
Arkansas State at Memphis
Coastal Carolina at South Carolina
Georgia Southern at Boise State
Murray State at Georgia State
McNeese at Louisiana
Cal Poly at ULM
South Alabama at Southern Miss
SMU at Texas State
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Troy

Friday, September 11
Appalachian State at Wake Forest

Saturday, September 12
Howard at Arkansas State
Coastal Carolina at Eastern Michigan
Campbell at Georgia Southern
Georgia State at Alabama
Wyoming at Louisiana
Grambling State at South Alabama
UTSA at Texas State
Troy at Massachusetts

Saturday, September 19
Appalachian State at Wisconsin
Arkansas State at Michigan
Duquesne at Coastal Carolina
Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern
*Louisiana at Georgia State 
*Texas State at ULM
South Alabama at Florida
North Carolina State at Troy

Saturday, September 26
Massachusetts at Appalachian State
Tulsa at Arkansas State
Kansas at Coastal Carolina
*Georgia Southern at Louisiana
Georgia State at Charlotte
ULM at Georgia
UAB at South Alabama
Ohio at Texas State

Saturday, October 3
*Arkansas State at Coastal Carolina
*Georgia Southern at ULM
East Carolina at Georgia State
*Troy at South Alabama
Texas State at New Mexico State

Wednesday, October 7
*Louisiana at Appalachian State (ESPN2)

Thursday, October 8
*Texas State at Troy (ESPNU)

Saturday, October 10
ULM at Liberty

Wednesday, October 14
*Appalachian State at Georgia Southern (ESPN2)

Thursday, October 15
*Georgia State at Arkansas State (ESPNU)

Saturday, October 17
*Coastal Carolina at Louisiana
*ULM at Troy
*Texas State at South Alabama

Thursday, October 22
*ULM at South Alabama (ESPNU)

Saturday, October 24
*Arkansas State at Appalachian State
*Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina
*Georgia State at Troy
Louisiana at New Mexico State

Thursday, October 29
*Coastal Carolina at Georgia State (ESPNU)

Saturday, October 31
*Appalachian State at ULM
*Troy at Arkansas State
*South Alabama at Georgia Southern
*Louisiana at Texas State

Thursday, November 5
*Arkansas State at Louisiana (ESPNU)

Saturday, November 7
*Appalachian State at Texas State
*South Alabama at Coastal Carolina
*Troy at Georgia Southern
*ULM at Georgia State

Saturday, November 14
*Georgia State at Appalachian State
*ULM at Arkansas State
*Coastal Carolina at Troy
*Texas State at Georgia Southern
*South Alabama at Louisiana

Saturday, November 21
*Appalachian State at Coastal Carolina
*Arkansas State at Texas State
Georgia Southern at Ole Miss
*Georgia State at South Alabama
Louisiana at Missouri
ULM at Arkansas
Troy at Tennessee

Saturday, November 28
*Troy at Appalachian State
*South Alabama at Arkansas State
*Coastal Carolina at Texas State
*Georgia Southern at Georgia State
*Louisiana at ULM

Saturday, December 5
Sun Belt Football Championship Game (ESPN or ESPN2)

Team-By-Team Schedules
Appalachian State
9/5 Morgan State
9/11 at Wake Forest
9/19 at Wisconsin
9/26 Massachusetts
10/7 Louisiana* (ESPN2)
10/14 at Georgia Southern* (ESPN2)
10/24 Arkansas State*
10/31 at ULM*
11/7 at Texas State*
11/14 Georgia State*
11/21 at Coastal Carolina*
11/28 Troy*

Arkansas State
9/5 at Memphis
9/12 Howard
9/19 at Michigan
9/26 Tulsa
10/3 at Coastal Carolina*
10/15 Georgia State* (ESPNU)
10/24 at Appalachian State*
10/31 Troy*
11/5 at Louisiana* (ESPNU)
11/14 ULM*
11/21 at Texas State*
11/28 South Alabama*

Coastal Carolina
9/5 at South Carolina
9/12 at Eastern Michigan
9/19 Duquesne
9/26 Kansas
10/3 Arkansas State*
10/17 at Louisiana*
10/24 Georgia Southern*
10/29 at Georgia State* (ESPNU)
11/7 South Alabama*
11/14 at Troy*
11/21 Appalachian State*
11/28 at Texas State*

Georgia Southern
9/5 at Boise State
9/12 Campbell
9/19 Florida Atlantic
9/26 at Louisiana*
10/3 at ULM*
10/14 Appalachian State* (ESPN2)
10/24 at Coastal Carolina*
10/31 South Alabama*
11/7 Troy*
11/14    Texas State*
11/21 at Ole Miss
11/28 at Georgia State*

Georgia State
9/5 Murray State
9/12 at Alabama
9/19 Louisiana*
9/26 at Charlotte
10/3 East Carolina
10/15 at Arkansas State* (ESPNU)
10/24 at Troy*
10/29 Coastal Carolina* (ESPNU)
11/7 ULM*
11/14 at Appalachian State*
11/21 at South Alabama*
11/28 Georgia Southern*

Louisiana
9/5 McNeese
9/12 Wyoming
9/19 at Georgia State*
9/26 Georgia Southern*
10/7 at Appalachian State* (ESPN2)
10/17 Coastal Carolina*
10/24 at New Mexico State
10/31 at Texas State*
11/5 Arkansas State* (ESPNU)
11/14 South Alabama*
11/21 at Missouri
11/28 at ULM*

ULM
9/5 Cal Poly
9/19 Texas State*
9/26 at Georgia
10/3 Georgia Southern*
10/10 at Liberty
10/17 at Troy*
10/22 at South Alabama* (ESPNU)
10/31 Appalachian State*
11/7 at Georgia State*
11/14 at Arkansas State*
11/21 at Arkansas
11/28 Louisiana*

South Alabama
9/5 at Southern Miss
9/12 Grambling State
9/19 at Florida
9/26 UAB
10/3 Troy*
10/17 Texas State*
10/22 ULM* (ESPNU)
10/31 at Georgia Southern*
11/7 at Coastal Carolina*
11/14 at Louisiana*
11/21 Georgia State*
11/28 at Arkansas State*

Texas State
9/5 SMU
9/12 UTSA
9/19 at ULM*
9/26 Ohio
10/3 at New Mexico State
10/8 at Troy* (ESPNU)
10/17 at South Alabama*
10/31 Louisiana*
11/7 Appalachian State*
11/14 at Georgia Southern*
11/21 Arkansas State*
11/28 Coastal Carolina*

Troy
9/5 Arkansas-Pine Bluff
9/12 at Massachusetts
9/19 North Carolina State
10/3 at South Alabama*
10/8 Texas State* (ESPNU)
10/17 ULM*
10/24 Georgia State*
10/31 at Arkansas State*
11/7 at Georgia Southern*
11/14 Coastal Carolina*
11/21 at Tennessee
11/28 at Appalachian State*

*Sun Belt Conference contest
Schedule Subject to Change

About the Sun Belt Conference
With each passing season, the Sun Belt Conference continues to challenge itself, and its competitors, in all aspects of intercollegiate athletics. Not content with being simply the youngest football conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the conference has shown that it can rise each and every season that comes along. And since the birth of the league as a FBS member in 2001, the Sun Belt has earned due respect in the FBS over the last several years by consistently beating teams from peer conferences, winning bowl games and upsetting Autonomy Five teams.

Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana, ULM, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy give the league 10 football members. Little Rock and UTA compete as Sun Belt members in sports other than football.