ULM coach Bryant Vincent labels Sun Belt 'the SEC of the Group of Five'

The FBS has 10 conferences in it, typically divided into the Group of Five and the Power Five, though with realignment, that has largely shifted to a Power Four and a Group of Six. Those six conferences are battling for one automatic bid in the College Football Playoff, and ULM Warhawks head coach Bryant Vincent knows that the Sun Belt needs to be perceived as the best if they want to make the Playoff.

At Sun Belt Media Days, Vincent was bold. He compared his conference to what’s often seen as the top of the sport, the SEC.

Vincent said that the Sun Belt “is the SEC of the Group of Five.” In other words, it’s the top among its group of conferences. It, notably, also puts the Sun Belt ahead of the new-look Pac-12 conference and the traditionally top-tier G5 conference, The American.

The Sun Belt, certainly, has had some recent success that’s worth pointing out. Schools like Appalachian State, Louisiana, Troy, and James Madison are among the teams with relatively recent 10-win seasons. At the same time, there’s a lack of national success that the Sun Belt does need to contend with if coaches like Vincent want to be compared to the SEC.

The Sun Belt has had limited success in the postseason, though. The fact is that the conference has never put a team in the College Football Playoff in a New Year’s Six game, let alone the Playoff itself. The American and Mountain West have, even if those teams have either already moved on or are moving on from their previous conferences.

Since the start of the College Football Playoff, which coincides with the distinction between Power Five and Group of Five after what had previously been distinguished by BCS and non-BCS, The American has had the most national success. In the four-team Playoff, Cincinnati made the field, though they’re now in the Big 12. The American has also made the New Year’s Six seven times. The knock is that of those seven appearances, five of them were by UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston, all of whom moved on.

The Pac-12 has become another interesting conference at this level. It’s in a completely new position after being decimated by conference realignment. The remaining schools, Washington State and Oregon State, have raided the rest of the Group of Five to rebuild. That largely includes from the Mountain West, but it also includes from the Sun Belt itself. The SEC certainly hasn’t had a school poached from its own ranks.

The SEC, for its part, dominates viewership in college football. Among the 10 most watched teams of the 2024 season, eight came from the SEC.

Ultimately, for Vincent, ULM, and the Sun Belt, being compared to the SEC is the goal. There is certainly an argument for it too, but the conference likely also needs to see some more consistent postseason success.