Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill Likes The League's Chances in Expanded Playoff Era

Joe Londergan | 9 Hours Ago

Keith Gill, commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, announces that Southern Miss will join the Sun Belt Conference at the Southern Miss Trent Lott Center in Hattiesburg, Miss. on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. Usm Joins Sun Belt Conference / Dominic Gwinn / Hattiesburg American / USA TODAY NETWORK

Sun Belt Conference commissioner Keith Gill made an appearance at Thursday night's clash between Marshall and Georgia State in Huntington. Marshall won that game 35-20.

At halftime, Gill briefly spoke with local media in attendance, mostly answering questions about Marshall's continued growth within the Sun Belt Conference.

"Marshall's a great member. Great brand, great history...It's really great to be here with all the history and tradition and we are really lucky to have them as a part of the Sun Belt Conference."

Now in the first season of an expanded 12-team College Football Playoff field, the Group of Five conferences have a pathway to actually make the field regularly. Answering a question about the opportunities the expanded field provides, GIll noted he feels good about his league's chances to seize those opportunities in the near future.

"We've got some teams that can certainly compete in that space. It's open right now, and so we're just happy to have the opportunity. The fact that the CFP expanded really gives us a legitimate opportunity to participate in that and so we're just fired up with the new kind of process for the CFP, the fact that we have a legitimate chance to participate and we certainly have some teams that if we're fortunate enough to get there can do some damage in the College Football Playoff."

Gill also noted that there will be some takeaways for him and the league's member institutions this season, especially in terms of schedule building. After all, a playoff team from the G5 not only has to win the conference, but likely will need fewer losses than an at-large playoff team from a Power Conference.

To start this season, the Sun Belt has no undefeated teams remaining. James Madison, ULM, and Louisiana are 5-1 through the first half of their respective schedules.

"I think it's really hard when you've got to be perfect," Gill noted. "I think that's the one challenging thing is to figure out 'how do you schedule in this new environment?' And I think that we'll continue to learn kind of that process in terms of how to build the best schedule to position us in the best ways. But I mean I think it's so early, I think we've got a lot to evaluate once we get through this first year and see what kind of adjustments we need to make to better position ourselves."

Watch the full media availability below.

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