Sun Belt: Conference Tournament Preview

Begins: March 12
Championship Game: March 15
Television Coverage: ESPN3, ESPN2
Tournament Bracket: http://sunbeltsports.org/documents/2014/11/12/2015_MBB_Basketball_Championship_Bracket.pdf


Overview:

Joe Lunardi says in his latest Bracketology that Georgia St., the number 1 seed in the Sun Belt, would be a 13 seed. That's fairly high praise for the Panthers as it puts them on the same line as Valparaiso, Yale, and UC Davis. They may be the Sun Belt's best chance at avoiding a 16 seed, though. Georgia St. has an RPI of a respectable 71. The next closest team is Georgia Southern at 125, and it continues downhill from there. Still, whichever Sun Belt team claims the automatic bid, you can bet they won't be intimidated because all the Sun Belt favorites tested themselves in their nonconference schedules playing teams like Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, UAB, Florida, Iowa St., and Old Dominion.

Favorite to Win Tournament: Georgia St. (22-9, 15-5)

As was mentioned, Georgia St. is the number 1 seed and favorite to win the Sun Belt's automatic bid. They have won 7 of 8 and 11 of 13 coming into the tournament and, more importantly, finished the season with back-to-back wins over the tournament's 3 and 2 seeds respectively. The Panthers can, and have recently, beat their closest competition for the Sun Belt Championship.

Most Likely to Upset Favorite: UL Lafayette (19-12, 13-7)

The Ragin' Cajuns are the tournament's 4 seed, but they finished just a game behind 2-seeded Georgia St. UL Lafayette will face Georgia St. in the semifinals if they win their first tournament game, but that might not be a bad thing. The Cajuns have already beaten the Panthers once this season. They know what it takes. Plus, they are playing their best basketball of the season right now. They have won a season-high 6 games in a row to put themselves in this position to make a run at a title. If there is a team who can upset Georgia St., it's the Ragin' Cajuns.

Dark Horse to Win Tournament: UL Monroe (20-11, 14-6)

Who are you calling dark horse? UL Monroe is the tournament's number 3 seed and hardly a team flying under the radar. Still, the Warhawks haven't beaten a team from the top half of the conference in a month. They have lost 3 of 5 heading into the conference tournament. And yet, here they are as the dark horse pick. Why? Because of how competitively they have played the top of the league. They split their games with Georgia Southern, winning by 3 and losing by 4. They lost both games to Georgia St. but played them well just a few days ago. The Warhawks won 6 games in a row in late January and early February. If they can get back to playing that type of basketball, they could punch their first ticket to the NCAA Tournament since 1996.

Expected Tournament Bid(s): Conference Tournament Champion

Georgia St. has had a nice season, but they are not an at-large contender. When teams like Murray St. and Iona lose and are not considered real at-large candidates, you know teams like Georgia St. won't get close. This is a one-bid league, so the winner goes dancing and the losers look to the NIT, CBI, and CIT.