The Sun Belt Conference grew by one Monday, when the return of current Colonial Athletic Association-member Georgia State University — an original Sun Belt member in 1976 — was made official.

GSU officially will re-join the Sun Belt on July 1, 2013.

And if new commissioner Karl Benson has his way, more members are soon to join the conference UL calls home.

"Today’s addition of Georgia State, I think it’s safe to say," Benson said, "is more than likely just the first of other additions we hope to make in the next 90-to-120 days."

Benson has suggested previously that he wants 12 football-playing members, so that the conference can meet the NCAA-required minimum for holding a football championship game.

Georgia State will become No. 11.

But he also wants to balance basketball and other sports, and — with Denver leaving after this season, UALR not fielding a football program, and GSU soon coming in — total conference membership, including UALR, now will be 12 starting in 2013.

The Sun Belt reportedly has held talks already with Charlotte and Texas-San Antonio, with Texas State and Louisiana Tech among other schools frequently mentioned as possibilities for future conference expansion.

Announcement of the addition of GSU, Benson said, is "a strong declaration of the Sun Belt’s commitment to getting better."

"And it shows," he added, "that the Sun Belt is prepared to move forward to be a stronger player in the future."

Georgia State — situated in downtown Atlanta — fits criteria Benson outlined for future conference membership earlier this year, when he was hired away from the WAC to replace outgoing Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters.

Among them is geographic locale in the current Sun Belt footprint, which stretches from Texas to Florida and north to Arkansas and Kentucky.

(GSU will become the only school from Georgia in the Sun Belt.)

Another criterion, beyond perhaps finding a partner for non-football-playing UALR, is programs possessing a desire to play FBS-level football if they aren’t already.

With an enrollment of about 32,000 and a $22 million athletic budget — both well more than that of longtime Sun Belt-member UL — GSU fields 18 varsity sports teams, including football.

But its football team — coached by ex-Georgia Tech, Alabama and Kentucky head coach Bill Curry — didn’t start play until 2010 and has been playing as a lower-level FCS program.

GSU’s football games will count in the Sun Belt standings starting in 2013, according to a news release from the conference.

LEARNING ABOUT GEORGIA STATE

Location: Atlanta, Ga.
Designated Market Area: The Atlanta metro area is No. 8 in the United States
Enrollment: 32,000
Current conference: Colonial Athletic Association
Former Sun Belt member: 1976 to 1981
Nickname: Panthers
Football coach: Billy Curry (NFL center with the Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Colts, Houston Oilers and Los Angeles Rams from 1965-74; Georgia Tech coach from 1980-86; Alabama coach from 1987-89; Kentucky coach from 1990-96; ex-ESPN college football analyst)
Home football stadium: Georgia Dome, also home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, the Chick-fil-A Bowl, the SEC football Championship Game and the 2013 NCAA Basketball Championship; configured to hold 28,155 for GSU football
2011 football record: 3-8 (beat Clark Atlanta, South Alabama and Campbell; lost to Old Dominion, Jacksonville State, Houston, Murray State, South Carolina State, Texas-San Antonio, St. Francis and West Alabama)
Men’s basketball coach: Ron Hunter (IUPUI head coach from 1994-2010)
Home basketball arena: GSU Sports Arena (capacity 4,500)
2011-12 basketball record: 22-12, including a win over Sun Belt-member Florida International and a postseason loss to Mercer in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in which UL played.