Over the next several weeks we'll be doing a quick writeup of each of the universities that will be around when we officially join the Sun Belt on July 1st 2014. It's not an in depth analysis of any of the universities but simply a quick writeup on the current state of the athletic department and programs.
We'll have a new school posted every few days and I encourage anyone to post any additional information that they have and hope we can even get a few folks from each school from the Sun Belt message board to give us some more detailed insights into each of the programs. Enjoy!
THE FACTS
University: Arkansas State University
Team Name: Red Wolves
Mascot: Howl
Colors: Scarlett and Black
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Enrollment: 14k
Sports sponsored: 16
Official Athletics Site
Overall Football record: 422-455-37 (started 1911)
Distance from Boone: 619 miles
THE RUNDOWN
Arkansas State University was founded as a primarily agricultural school in 1909 and began playing football in 1911. Formerly known as the Indians, Arkansas State changed their team name to the Red Wolves in 2008.
The football team is currently coached by first year head coach Bryan Harsin. Arkansas State played in 4 Division I-AA playoffs, losing their only championship game to none other than Georgia Southern University (1986). Arkansas State joined the Sun Belt for football in 2001 and have participated in 3 bowls; New Orleans Bowl (2005) and the GoDaddy.com Bowl (2011 and 2012), winning the GoDaddy.com in 2012. Their main rival is the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
The basketball team is currently coached by John Brady who has an overall record of 360-291, going 79-75 in five years at Arkansas State. The remaining head coaching experience is from his time at LSU and Samford. In the 2012-2013 season, Red Wolves basketball were 19-11 (12-8 in conference).
