Sun Belt Conference Primary Bowl Partners Announce Selections

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference’s three primary bowl partners – the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, GoDaddy Bowl, and Raycom Media Camellia Bowl – announced today the Sun Belt teams that will be playing in their respective games.



UL Lafayette (8-4, 7-1 Sun Belt) will be making its fourth consecutive appearance in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and similarly Arkansas State (7-5, 5-3 Sun Belt) will be playing the GoDaddy Bowl for the fourth year in a row. In addition, South Alabama (6-6, 5-3 Sun Belt) will be making its first ever appearance in a bowl game as the Jaguars were selected to play in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.



“The announcement of these three teams being selected by our bowl partners marks the beginning of what should be an exciting bowl season,” said Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson. “Sun Belt teams have regularly competed well in bowl games as evidence by our multiple wins in recent years and the selection of these well qualified teams should result in even more wins.”



UL Lafayette won’t just be playing in its fourth consecutive R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the Ragin’ Cajuns will also be looking to win their fourth consecutive game. The Cajuns defeated San Diego State in 2011, East Carolina in 2012, and most recently Tulane in 2013. Kickoff for the game is set for 10 a.m. (CT) Saturday, Dec. 20 from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the contest will air on ESPN.



Arkansas State, winners of the last two GoDaddy Bowls, will make its fourth straight appearance in the bowl and will play its 11th bowl game all-time. The Red Wolves defeated No. 25 Kent State in 2012 and Ball State in last year’s addition of the game. The game is slated for 8 p.m. (CT) at Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. and will be broadcast on ESPN.



South Alabama will be making its first-ever bowl appearance after earning an invitation to the inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. This is only the Jaguars’ sixth season of competition, and just their second as a full-fledged NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision member. It marks the fastest an FBS program has been invited to participate in a bowl game. The game will be played at Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 8:15 p.m. (CT), with the game scheduled to be televised by ESPN.



All opponents for these three games are expected to be announced Sunday, Dec. 7.



In addition to the three teams selected, Texas State also has a bowl eligible record of 7-5. The Bobcats could still find themselves playing in a bowl game this season as final bowl game selections throughout the country have yet to be finalized.



“As conference championship games are played this weekend and final bowl selections are made, the Sun Belt and Texas State will continue discussions with several different bowl games in hopes of placing the Bobcats in a bowl,” said Benson. “Texas State is deserving of a chance to showcase its program in a bowl game and work is being done to find to them this opportunity.”



