You know, there was a time when the Sun Belt was basically the "leftovers" conference. People called it a one-bowl league. They joked about the "Fun Belt" like it was some chaotic circus where the football didn't actually matter as long as someone was throwing a lateral into the stands. Honestly? That's dead.
If you look at the list of sun belt football champions, you aren't just looking at a list of schools; you’re looking at the blueprint for how to build a powerhouse on a budget.
The 2025 season just wrapped up with James Madison absolutely dismantling Troy 31-14. It wasn't even as close as the score looked. Wayne Knight, their star back, put up 234 all-purpose yards. A record. It’s wild because JMU hasn’t even been in the FBS that long, and here they are, clinching the title in Harrisonburg while the rest of the conference watches in a mix of awe and annoyance.
The new blood and the old guard
Troy still holds the crown for the most titles. They've got eight. That’s a lot of hardware for a school in south Alabama that doesn't get the "Bama" or "Auburn" spotlight. They won back-to-back in 2022 and 2023, largely because their defense felt like a brick wall that also happened to be on fire.
But then you have the Appalachian State factor.
App State is the soul of this conference. Between 2016 and 2019, they were basically the final boss. If you wanted to win the Sun Belt, you had to go through Boone, North Carolina, and usually, you’d leave with a loss and a very cold realization that mountain football is different. They’ve got four titles. Louisiana also has four.
- Troy: 8 titles (Most recent: 2023)
- Arkansas State: 6 titles (The mid-2010s kings)
- Appalachian State: 4 titles
- Louisiana: 4 titles
- James Madison: 1 title (The reigning 2025 champs)
It’s kinda funny looking back at the early 2000s. North Texas owned this league. They won four straight from 2001 to 2004. Now? They aren't even in the conference anymore. They moved on to the AAC, leaving a vacuum that schools like Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern have spent years trying to fill.
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That weird 2020 "No Contest"
We have to talk about the 2020 season because it’s the ultimate trivia question for sun belt football champions. Coastal Carolina was 11-0. Louisiana was ranked 19th. The game was set for Conway, South Carolina. Then, COVID-19 happened.
The game was canceled. They just called them "co-champions."
It felt wrong. Coastal was the darling of college football that year with the mullets and the turnover chains and the "Chants" chant. They deserved a trophy lift. Instead, they got a press release. Louisiana eventually got their "real" standalone title in 2021, but that 2020 season still feels like a glitch in the simulation.
Why Marshall and JMU changed everything
The 2024 and 2025 seasons were a massive wake-up call. Marshall took the 2024 title by beating Louisiana 31-3. It was a defensive masterclass. Then JMU comes in for 2025 and does the same thing to Troy.
What’s happening is a shift in geography. The "Sun" in Sun Belt used to mean the Deep South. Now? It reaches up into West Virginia and Virginia. These "Eastern" schools are bringing a physical, gritty style that’s clashing with the high-flying offenses of the West.
The numbers that actually matter
When you look at the championship game records, you see how much the intensity has ramped up.
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In 2019, App State and Louisiana combined for 83 points. It was a track meet. Fast forward to 2024, and the total points in the championship game was only 34. The league has gotten tougher. It’s less about who has the fastest receivers and more about who has the meanest defensive line. In the 2025 game, JMU’s defense set a title game record with 14 tackles for loss.
Fourteen. That's essentially two entire drives of backward movement.
Dealing with the "G5" label
Most people think being a sun belt football champion is just a ticket to a mid-tier bowl game in New Orleans or Mobile. That’s a misconception. With the 12-team playoff, the Sun Belt is fighting for a seat at the big table every single year.
In 2025, JMU actually made the College Football Playoff. Think about that. A team that was in the FCS a few years ago was playing for a national title.
The struggle, of course, is money. The Sun Belt doesn't have the TV revenue of the SEC. Coaches get poached. You win a title, and suddenly your head coach is being offered $5 million to go be an offensive coordinator in the Big Ten. It’s the "success tax" of the conference.
What to expect moving forward
If you’re betting on the 2026 season, don't sleep on the middle of the pack.
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- Texas State: They’ve been knocking on the door. They have the portal talent to make a run.
- Old Dominion: They handed Georgia Southern their worst home loss ever in 2025. They’re dangerous.
- The Troy Bounce-back: They lost in 2025, but they’ve made three of the last four title games. They aren't going anywhere.
The Sun Belt isn't a "stepping stone" anymore. It’s a destination. When you see a team celebrate a Sun Belt trophy, you’re seeing a team that survived one of the most balanced, stressful schedules in the country.
If you want to keep track of the hierarchy, watch the defensive recruiting. The days of winning this league with just a "system" quarterback are over. You need monsters in the trenches.
Keep an eye on the early September non-conference games. That’s where the Sun Belt builds its reputation. When a Sun Belt team knocks off a Power Five school in Week 2, it sets the stage for the championship hunt in December.
Watch the JMU/App State rivalry specifically. That’s becoming the premier matchup in the G5, and whoever wins that usually ends up holding the trophy at the end of the year.
Next Steps for Fans: Check the 2026 spring rosters for James Madison and Troy. With the transfer portal, the "reigning champ" status can vanish in a weekend. Look specifically for defensive line depth—that’s been the deciding factor in every title game since 2022.