2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Game Basics
Format
For the second consecutive season, the Sun Belt is adopting a demonic seven-round ladder format that allows all 14 teams to compete in the women’s (day games) and men’s (night games) championships, while having both events take place on the same day at the same venue. The bottom four teams would need to win seven games in as many days to earn an automatic bid (unlikely), while the top two teams would only need to win on Sunday and Monday.
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Of course, this format works better in less even sessions. Last season, there was a four way tie Top of the league. After all tiebreakers were tallied, the top two tie-for-champion teams in the Nets rankings, No. 91 Arkansas State and No. 107 Troy, were relegated to Saturday’s quarterfinals, while No. 119 South Alabama and defending champion James Madison, No. 156, advanced to the semifinals.
This season, Troy won the regular season championship with a full game advantage, but there was a problem Six-way tie 11-7 won second place. As a result, Sun Belt Arkansas (142, four spots behind the Trojans), ranked No. 2 in the network, ended up being No. 7 seeda fate even worse than the one they drew a year ago as co-champions. Therefore, the Red Wolves need to win five games in five days to win the championship.
Here’s where all six 11-7 teams are ranked in the NET, along with their seedings and how many games they need to win.
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Arkansas State (Net 142, No. 7 seed, third round, five games)
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Marshall (NET 162, No. 2 seed, semifinals, two games)
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South Alabama (176, No. 6 seed, fourth round, four games)
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App State (183, No. 4 seed, quarterfinals, three games)
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Coastal Carolina (217, No. 3 seed, quarterfinals, three games)
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Texas (236, No. 5 seed, fourth round, four games).
If I were an athletic director in the Sun Belt, I would throw this championship format into the Gulf of Mexico.
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Participants
While all 14 Sun Belt members played in the game, this would be Texas State’s last appearance as they compete in the rebuilding Pac-12/9 after this year. The next tournament will likely only feature 13 teams, as Louisiana Tech is currently scheduled not to join from CUSA until the 2027-28 school year.
Place
This will be the sixth consecutive season that the Sun Belt Championship will be held in Pensacola, Florida, and the fifth consecutive season that the event will be held exclusively at the Pensacola Bay Center.
schedule
Downloadable PDF stand
TV/Streaming Information
ESPN+ ($) will broadcast all games leading up to the tournament.
Round 1 (Tuesday 3/3)
General Motors. 1: (13) Georgia (10-22, 7-11) 75, (12) Louisiana 84
General Motors. 2: (14) Ulm (4-28, 1-17) 80, (11) Old Reign 87
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Second round (Wednesday 3/4)
General Motors. 3: (12) Louisiana (11-22, 7-11) 72, (9) James Madison 87
General Motors. 4: (11) Old Dominion (12-20, 7-11) vs. (10) Georgia Southern (16-15, 8-10), 8:30*
Hawks sweep: 93-86 (away) at 1/3 and 87-84 (home) at 1/15.
Round 3 (Thursday 3/5)
General Motors. 5: (9) James Madison (18-14, 9-9) vs. (8) Southern Miss (16-15, 9-9), 6
On January 31, the Golden Eagles won 73-65 in Hattiesburg.
General Motors. 6: General Motors. 4 Winner vs. (7) Arkansas (20-11, 11-7), 8:30*
Round 4 (Friday 3/6)
General Motors. 7: General Motors. 5 Winner vs. (5) Texas State (19-12, 11-7), 6
General Motors. 8: General Motors. 6 Winner vs. (6) South Alabama (21-10, 11-7), 8:30*
Quarterfinals (Saturday 3/7)
General Motors. 9: General Motors. 7 Winner vs. (4) App State (19-12, 11-7), 6:30
General Motors. 10: General Motors. 8 Winner vs. (3) Coastal Carolina (19-12, 11-7), 9*
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Semifinals (Sun. 3/8)
General Motors. 11: General Motors. 9 Winner vs. (1) Troy (20-11. 12-6), 6
General Motors. 12: General Motors. 10 Winner vs. (2) Marshall (19-12, 11-7), 8:30*
Championship (Mon. 3/9)
General Motors. 13: Semifinal winners, 7 (ESPN2)
potential for chaos
Data originally published by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter In 2020 I will be adding my own content for future seasons.
Considering the regular season is approaching in the Sun Belt, you shouldn’t be surprised by the proliferation of conference tournaments in the seeding rounds. Since the NCAA expanded its field to 68 players, No. 1 seeds have won just three championships, while No. 2 and No. 3 seeds have also won three.
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3 seeds(3): 2014, 2022, 2025
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2 seeds(3): 2018, 2023, 2024
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1 seed(3): 2015, 2016, 2019
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4 seeds(1): 2021 (Eastern District)
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5 seeds(1): 2011 (Western District)
NCAA seeding records in the 68-team era
The NCAA’s winning days are behind us Bold.
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No. 11 Seed(1): 2013 (At-Large)
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No. 14 Seed(4): 2014, 20152019, 2025
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No. 16 Seed(4): 2011, 20122013 (automatic), 2022
The last two NCAA wins have come to JMU, which beat Wisconsin in a 12-5 upset in March 2024, while Little Rock needed two overtimes to win against Purdue on 5/12 in 2016. The Trojans are now in the OVC and will head to the Conference Athletic Conference (the WAC’s rebranding) next season.
Troy, Marshall and Arkansas State (with five wins) are more likely to earn a No. 14 seed than the other 11 teams, with some contenders even finishing No. 16 in recent bracket projections.
Last NCAA Tournament appearance
Troy: 2025 (14th seed, first round)
james madison 2024 (12th seed, second round)
Louisiana: 2023 (13th seed, first round)
Georgia: 2022 (16th seed, first round)
Appalachia: 2021 (16th seed, first round)
Old rule: 2019 (14th seed, first round, C-USA member)
Marshall: 2018 (No. 13 seed, second round, C-USA member)
Coastal Carolina: 2015 (16th seed, Round of 64, Big South member)
Southern Mississippi: 2012 (9th seed, At-Large, Top 64, C-USA member)
South Alabama: 2008 (10th seed, at-large, first round)
Arkansas: 1999 (No. 15 seed, first round)
Texas: 1997 (16th seed, first round, Southland member)
Super LM: 1996 (No. 15 seed, first round, Southland member)
Southern Georgia: 1992 (No. 15 seed, first round, member of TAAC (ASUN))
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All 14 Sun Belt members have been in the 68/65/64 team era. Six of them, however, had to look back through their conference membership history to find their last trip.