The 2018 preseason coaches football poll was released on July 19 , voted from the 10 coaches of the conference . Appalachian State and Arkansas State were chosen to be the finalist for their division , with the Red Wolves predicted to win the first ever Sun Belt Championship Game . '' ' East Division ' '' '' ' West Division ' '' This will be the first season with 10 teams as the New Mexico State left the conference to become independent and Idaho downgraded to FCS and compete in the Big Sky Conference . The scheduling format for the ten members were reset for the 2018 season . Each member will play eight other members in the conference with four at home and four away . The conference was split up with five teams representing the east and the other five representing the west division . A team will play each team within their division ( 4 teams ) and four from the other division ( two at home and two away ) . South Alabama ( west division ) and Troy ( east ) will be the only two teams to play each other every year due to their rivalry and proximity to each other
independent
NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
2018 Sun Belt Conference football season