2018-19 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Weekly News and Notes:
Week 1 Release (PDF) | Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Media Guide
AROUND #SUNBELTMBB
• Sun Belt men’s basketball tips off its 43rd season with eight teams in action on the opening day of the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
• The Sun Belt Conference is poised to enjoy its most expansive broadcast coverage of men’s and women’s basketball in conference history during the 2018-19 season. Highlighting the league’s regular-season slate are a pair of men’s matchups on ESPN2 – Georgia State at Louisiana on Friday, Feb. 8 and Troy at Georgia Southern on Friday, Feb. 15. Tipoff of both games is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT/9 p.m. ET. The league’s remaining regular-season games will be carried live on ESPN+.
• Sun Belt men’s basketball has three new head coaches roaming the sidelines for the 2018-19 season – Little Rock’s Darrell Walker, South Alabama’s Richie Riley and UTA’s Chris Ogden.
• Georgia State was tabbed as the preseason favorite to capture the 2018-19 Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball title and Panthers junior guard D’Marcus Simonds was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year in a vote of the league’s head coaches.
• The first Sun Belt men’s basketball Player of the Week award will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 13. The season’s first three weekly awards will be announced on Tuesdays and then will move to Mondays beginning Monday, Dec. 3.
• The 2019 Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship is set for March 12 and 14-17. The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 12, with two first-round games taking place at on-campus sites. The remaining eight teams converge on Lakefront Arena in New Orleans starting on Thursday, March 14, with the winner earning the league’s automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. First-round, second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games are set for live coverage on ESPN+. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, November 6
Mars Hill at Appalachian State, 6 p.m.
East Tennessee State at Georgia State (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
Ferrum College at Coastal Carolina, 6:30 p.m.
ULM at Jackson State, 7 p.m.
UT Tyler at UTA (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
Fort Valley State at Troy, 7 p.m.
University of the Virgin Islands at Louisiana (ESPN+), 7:15 p.m.
South Alabama at Auburn (SECN), 8 p.m.
Wednesday, November 7
1-Carver College at Georgia Southern, 6 p.m.
Thursday, November 8
Southeastern Oklahoma State at Little Rock, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, November 9
2-Louisiana at Tennessee (SECN+), 6 p.m.
Coastal Carolina at Campbell, 6:30 p.m.
Air Force at Texas State (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
Arkansas State at Abilene Christian, 7:30 p.m.
Georgia State at Montana, 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 10
3-Millsaps at ULM, Noon
Northern Iowa at UTA (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
4-Troy at Saint Louis, 7 p.m.
Sunday, November 11
Huntingdon at South Alabama (ESPN+), 4 p.m.
5-Appalachian State at Alabama (SECN), 6 p.m.
All Times are Central and Subject to Change
*Sun Belt Conference contest
KEY:
1-Islands of Bahamas Showcase (Nassau, Bahamas)
2-NIT Season Tip-Off
3-Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational
4-Barclays Center Classic Presented by Continental Tire
5-Gildan Charleston Classic (Charleston, S.C.)