— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Now in its third year as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, Marshall has settled well into its new league nicely, according to Commissioner Keith Gill, who was in Huntington last week.
Gill took in a 35-20 victory for the Herd football program over Georgia State, a game that was nationally-televised from Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Gill spent time with MU officials, such as Director of Athletics Christian Spears and President Brad Smith, and also mixed with fans in tailgate lots and inside Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
“Marshall has a great brand and great history,” Gill said. “I love being around and watching the people. One of the things we’ve done in the Sun Belt is try to find schools with great football traditions with great fan bases who are really passionate and when you come to Huntington, that’s what you see. I love college football, but I also love all that goes on around it such as tailgating, the traditions, the bands. It’s fun to see how everyone does college football and no one does it better than Marshall.”
Marshall recently opened its first on-campus baseball stadium, Jack Cook Field, as well as completing improvements to the Dot Hicks Softball stadium.
Other upgrades are on the horizon, such as a future outdoor track and field area and a practice facility for the golf programs at Guyan Golf and Country Club.
Gill, who has been in his current position since March 2019, says these are investments that are not just needed at Marshall, but at each Sun Belt school to elevate the league’s national footprint.
“It’s important to invest, particularly in baseball,” Gill said. “Baseball is important to our league. We had four teams in the NCAA Tournament last year and we want to continue to do that. Softball is also important to us.
“We had 37 teams play in an NCAA Tournament or a bowl game and that’s the most among our peer conferences. We want to be good at everything. We’re good in football and that’s important to us, but excellence in athletics in general is important across the board.”
The Sun Belt has strived to improve basketball with events such as the Mid-American Conference-Sun Belt Challenge and incentives to strengthen non-league schedules on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Gill expects that work to pay off after placing two teams in both the men’s and women’s Top 75 NET rating last season.
While it may not be this season, Gill remains hopeful that a Sun Belt team might find its way into a spot in the newly-expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
Louisiana (6-1, 3-0) and UL Monroe (5-1, 3-0) are the league’s two teams with one loss to this point. They’ll play November 30 at UL Monroe in the regular season finale for both squads. Marshall does not face Louisiana and plays its next game November 2 at UL Monroe.
“We’re fired up about the new College Football Playoff format, and the fact that we have a legitimate chance to participate,” Gill said. “We certainly have some teams that if we’re fortunate to get there have the ability to do some damage.”