Sun Belt Championship Game Canceled Due to COVID-19

The pandemic has canceled its first conference championship game. The Sun Belt matchup between No. 12 Coastal Carolina and No. 19 Louisiana is officially off because the Chanticleers are dealing with COVID-19 issues.

Ross Dellenger with SI Now was the first to report the news via Twitter:

NEWS: The Sun Belt championship between Coastal Carolina and Louisiana is off because of COVID issues with the Chanticleers, sources tell @SInow. SB bylaws call for co-champions.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 18, 2020

According to Dellenger’s tweet, those two teams will now be labeled as co-champions.

This is an unfortunate development. But with teams struggling to play all season, it isn’t a huge surprise.

The official Twitter account for the Ragin’ Cajuns released the following statement:

Update on the @SunBelt Football Championship, which has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues within Coastal Carolina's football program >> pic.twitter.com/DEUvKHhF1c

— Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns® (@RaginCajuns) December 18, 2020

Coastal Carolina has played a historic season. They are currently 11-0, and that undefeated record includes a victory over a top 25 BYU team that was also undefeated at the time.

Louisiana was also having one of the best seasons in school history. Bill Napier had that squad sitting with a 9-1 record in 2020, and that includes an opening-week win against now No. 6 Iowa State.

We will still get to see both these teams in their respective bowl games, but it’s an unfortunate situation. Hopefully, this will be the only canceled championship game.

Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.