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Sun Belt Conference commissioner Karl Benson said it is possible leagues with less than 12 football-playing members will be allowed to stage championship games in the future. (File photo)

MOBILE, Alabama - Sun Belt Conference commissioner Karl Benson was among those in attendance for Sunday night's 16th annual GoDaddy Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Benson took some time prior to kickoff to talk about the league's football season, that came to an end with Sunday's game, and what may be ahead for the conference.

Q: As the year wraps up, a lot of things happened this season. Were most of those things expected?

A: There were some surprises on both ends. The success of Georgia Southern and Appalachian State coming into the league. I don't think anyone expected them to have that type of impact. I think that bodes well for the future. Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette, for the fourth year in a row, have both gotten to bowl games and have been the flagbearers for the Sun Belt. South Alabama getting to a (bowl) game for the first time. I think there were some great stories for the season. We didn't have the non-conference season we had a year ago in terms of non-conference wins. It was a solid year in general and tonight, with a win, we'll be able to have a winning record in bowl games. (Toledo defeated Arkansas State, giving the Sun Belt a 1-2 bowl record this year). That's all good.

Q: With Georgia Southern and Appalachian State coming into the league there was some criticism as to whether they would be able to compete right away. Is there any sense of vindication that they were able to have quick success?

A: They had the foundation in place, they had the resources in place and they had the history and the tradition. They had the chance to be like a Boise State or a Marshall or those teams that made the move from then I-AA to I-A and have immediate success. Georgia Southern and App State did it with kind of different strategies; Georgia Southern had a real veteran team and App State had a real young team. Both teams had relatively new coaches. But I think they definitely made a mark. At the same time, again, the traditional teams - Troy is going through a tradition with a new coach (Neal Brown) and Texas State has been bowl eligible two years in a row and that demonstrates that they are a legit team. I think all in all the future is still very, very solid and very promising.

Q: Any further thoughts about adding a 12th team to the league for football?

A: I always try to separate the 12th team discussion between the football side and the other sports. I believe that a football championship game is important, whether it's done with 12 teams are less. The Sun Belt and Big 12 and American didn't have a championship game this year and I think we all missed out on an opportunity to be on the big stage on that last week of the season. We can expect in the next 90 days a decision may be made regarding whether a conference can have a championship game without a 12th team.

Q: Would the Sun Belt be in favor of staging a championship game if allowed to do so with less than 12 teams?

A: Absolutely. Absolutely, if given the opportunity to have a championship game without a 12th team. We're waiting to see how that plays out. But on the other hand and with other sports, we still need better geography for the other sports. We're out of balance with our other sports.

Q: With a championship game, have discussions gotten to a point to selecting a site?

A: Our ADs meet in a week in Dallas during the CFP (College Football Playoff title game) and we'll have conversations about the what-ifs. But I think the most likely, if that is permissible, that we would go the route initially with a home site.

Q: Would you institute divisional play? Or would you simply take the teams with the top records?

A: I don't know. We haven't even gotten there yet to determine if it would be just 11 teams and somehow determine the champion. But I think there would be support for a championship game.

Q: With the bowls - Louisiana-Lafayette has been to the New Orleans Bowl the past four years and Arkansas State has been to the GoDaddy Bowl the past four years - would you like to see more variety in the future?

A: I think that there would be benefit from having some variety. As well as Arkansas State has come to Mobile and Lafayette has done in New Orleans, I think it would be beneficial to the rest of the conference for teams to experience the New Orleans Bowl and the Mobile bowl. South Alabama had a great experience in Montgomery (at Camellia Bowl) and that will prove to be a great spot. And as we add Orlando next year, I think it's still based on getting the right team in the right place, and we need to explore whether we look at a fifth bowl it might be better situated to accommodate teams in the Western half. Without identifying any cities, I think there are sites in the West or Central time zone, that could be good sites for us.

The agreements that we have with all the bowls are all their choice. It's pretty simple: New Orleans has first choice, Mobile has second choice and Montgomery has third choice and next year, Orlando will have fourth choice. As much as we want to assist in placing teams in the right spot, at the end of the day it's the bowl's prerogative. We saw it this year. Mobile needed to choose between South Alabama and Arkansas State and Texas State and they elected to select Arkansas State. It was solely their choice.

They made the decision based on a combination of factors, and that's their contractual right. And obviously New Orleans did the same. Montgomery, given the choice between South Alabama and Texas State, they made the decision based on geography. And in today's bowl world, I think the importance of the fans being able to travel in cars versus on planes. That's what we saw in all three of our bowl games this year. Very few Sun Belt fans had to get on airplanes and that's going to maximize fan attendance. As we go to Orlando, given our geography - obviously geography is more compatable to teams in the Eastern time zones.