Its gauntlet time in the Sun Belt Conference, AKA the Fun Belt. America’s most entertaining conference is back in Pensacola, Florida for its conference tournament and here’s all the info you need to know.

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These teams have the easiest paths and have a decent shot at meeting in the championship game.

South Alabama: The Jaguars come into this tournament as the one seed after a strong regular season; finishing 13-5 in conference play. USA got the one seed after themselves, James Madison, Troy and Arkansas State all finished with a share of the regular season title, the Jags won on a tie breaker. South Alabama is led by Junior Forward Barry Dunning Jr. He led the team in points and rebounds with 14.7 PPG and 7.0 RPG. The dynamic forward is supported by Senior Guard, Myles Corey who adds 13.8 PPG and 4.4 RPG making this team poised to do well. However, South Alabama has an interesting placement to deal with. With the Sun Belt being a gauntlet style tournament, USA is already in the semi-final and will only have to win two games to punch its ticket to the big dance. This can be seen as an advantage or disadvantage depending on how one looks at it. The Jags will have extended rest time compared to the other teams and need to win fewer games. That, however, makes it hard to build momentum which can be crucial in tournaments like this.

James Madison: The Dukes enter this tournament as the two seed looking to defend its title from last year. Finishing in a tie at a 13-5 record as well it slid into the other semi-final. Similar to South Alabama it will only need two wins to punch its ticket.. JMU is led by Senior Guard, Mark Freeman. Freeman, a transfer from Morehead State, was not a part of last year’s championship team. He, however, has made a strong impact on this squad with 15.2 PPG and 3.2 APG to lead the team in both categories. Junior Guard AJ Smith adds 6.4 RPG in support making this a strong squad. Important to note that the Dukes had the opportunity to win the outright one seed, but fell short in overtime to Texas State to close out the regular season. 

James Madison and South Alabama played only once in the regular season with the Jags winning at home in dominant fashion 77-49.

Contenders

Not too much harder than the favorites, but that extra game can add a little more stress and challenge. 

Troy: The Trojans are the third in the tiebreaker between four teams and will be placed in the quarterfinals giving them one more game than the previous two need to punch their ticket to the big dance. This can either be seen as draining or a potential warm-up game before the semi-final should Troy win its first game. The Trojans star is Senior Guard Tayton Conerway, who leads them in three statistical categories including points, assists and steals per game. With strong support on the boards from Sophomore Forward Thomas Dowd, this team could absolutely punch its ticket. Troy is going to Pensacola with a lot of momentum as it is on a three-game win streak.

Arkansas State: The final of the four-team tie is the Red Wolves. ASU will also find itself in the quarterfinals with the same situation affecting Troy. ASU has the best overall record of the four teams highlighted by a win against at the time No. 16 Memphis in their house. The Red Wolves are led by a collection of players including guard combo Taryn Todd and Terrance Ford Jr. Todd leads the team in scoring at 15.0 PPG while Ford Jr. leads in assists at 4.9 APG. Izaiyah Nelson is also a huge contributor leading the team in rebounds and blocks, with 8.6 RPG and 1.3 BPG. ASU comes in hot on a three-game win streak as well.

Dark Horses

At this point, the chance of winning the whole thing shrinks dramatically as teams will have to fight through quite a few games in the gauntlet.

Marshall: The Thundering Herd has a tall task ahead of itself but not an impossible task. This team finished only one game back of the lead in the conference but nevertheless will be playing one more game than the four teams ahead of itself if it wishes to have a spot in the NCAA tournament. Marshall is led in scoring by forward Obinna Anochili-Killen and will need a big performance from him over the next few days if the Herd are to succeed. Marshall does come in hot on a four-game win streak and will need that momentum to continue.

Appalachian State: The Mountaineers have been one of the conference’s streakiest teams this season. With multiple win streaks longer than four games and multiple losing streaks just as long. Guard Myles Tate leads App State in both scoring and assists and must show up to get this team out of the three-game losing streak it had to end the season. Again there is a path with how streaky the Mountaineers can be, but they must start with a win and notch three more victories which is a tough task for any team. 

Potential Cinderellas

It would be truly shocking if any of these teams made a run through the gauntlet to win the tourney, but nothing is impossible in college basketball.

Texas State: The Bobcats are entering at 9-9 largely in part to a five-game losing streak in the middle of Sun Belt play. Texas State does have some impressive wins though, including splitting the season series with both South Alabama and Troy. As well as defeating James Madison in overtime in the team’s only matchup of the year. Forward Tylen Pope is this team’s rock and it will take a masterful performance to run the gauntlet. If this was any other format Texas State would have a much better chance of winning, but the draining nature of a gauntlet-style tournament will make it a much tougher run.

Longshots.

If teams past this win it will truly be a “March Miracle”. 

Georgia State: The only longshot really with a chance based on the bracket-style is the Panthers. At 8-10, GSU holds the eight seed and the last real chance to win. Past this point are probably too many games in too many days.

Prediction:

In my opinion, there will be no long run of the gauntlet this year in the Sun Belt. It’s just too many games. One of the top four teams will almost certainly win and punch its ticket. With that being said I think the team headed to the dance is Arkansas State. The Red Wolves hold the best win in the conference over Memphis and have the most momentum going into this. While it has to play one more game than James Madison or South Alabama I think that it can be used as a warmup game rather than going cold for a day longer without playing.