Sun Belt Conference
Louisiana, Marshall, and Southern Miss are the favorites in the Sun Belt men’s basketball conference tournament.
The run to the Final Four kicks off in earnest on Tuesday night, with the Hercules Tires Men’s Basketball Championship.
This has been a rather tumultuous year in the “Fun Belt,” thanks to conference realignment. While the moves were largely made to address the changing landscape of college football — the Sun Belt added added Marshall, Old Dominion and Southern Miss from Conference USA, alongside James Madison from the Colonial Athletic — the new landscape had a huge impact on the college basketball season.
All four additions finished in the top half of the conference standings, and each finished with a winning record on the year. In fact, three of the additions — James Madison, Marshall, and Southern Miss — are among the top four seeds in the tournament, with Southern Miss entering this week as the top seed.
Marshall currently sits as the highest-ranked Sun Belt team in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings, ranked 79th. The conference overall rose to 13th in Pomeroy’s rankings, up from 17th a season ago.
Here is the bracket, along with the schedule of games.
2023 men’s Sun Belt tournament bracket
2023 men’s Sun Belt tournament schedule
February 28 First Round
Game 1: No. 12 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 13 Arkansas State, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Game 2: No. 11 Texas State vs. No. 14 Georgia State, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
March 2 Second Round
Game 3: No. 8 South Alabama vs. No. 9 App State, 11:30 a.m., ESPN+
Game 4: No. 5 Troy vs. Winner Game 1, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Game 5: No. 6 Old Dominion vs. Winner Game 2, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Game 6: No. 7 Georgia Southern vs. No. 10 ULM, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
March 4 Quarterfinals
Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. No. 1 Southern Miss, 11:30 a.m., ESPN+
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. No. 4 James Madison, 2 p.m, ESPN+
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. No. 3 Marshall, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. No. 2 Louisiana, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
March 5 Semifinals
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 5 p.m., ESPN+
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:30 p.m., ESPN+
March 6 Championship
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, 6:00 p.m., ESPN2
