Men's Basketball Scottie Rodgers

Men's Basketball News and Notes - March 2

2019-20 Sun Belt Men's Basketball News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Records Book | Championship
 
AROUND #SUNBELTMBB
• The final games of the regular season for Sun Belt Conference men's basketball are full of intrigue as all six matchups on Tuesday, March 3 are going to have an impact on the final standings and seeding for the 2020 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship.
 
• The only seed determined going into the Tuesday tilts is Little Rock (21-9, 15-4 Sun Belt) locked up the Sun Belt regular-season title and No. 1 seed with its 91-69 victory over Louisiana (12-18, 7-12) on Feb. 29. The Trojans secured their first regular-season title since 2015-16. With the top seed, Little Rock has earned a bye to the tournament semifinals on Saturday, March 14 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
 
• Little Rock is one of two just teams, joining Merrimack in the Northeast Conference, in NCAA Division I leading its conference after being picked 11th or lower in its conference's preseason poll.
 
• Texas State (20-10, 13-6) controls its own destiny in its final game but faces a tough road challenge at South Alabama (19-11, 12-7). The Bobcats can take the No. 2 seed and a bye to the tournament semifinals with a win on the Jaguars' home court. South Alabama sits tied for third with Georgia Southern (18-12, 12-7), which hosts Arkansas State (15-15, 7-12).
 
• South Alabama takes the No. 2 seed either in a two-way tie with Texas State or three-way tie with Texas State and Georgia Southern. With a loss, the Jaguars could fall to as low as the No. 5 seed. South Alabama enters its regular-season finale on a league-leading seven-game winning streak.
 
• Georgia Southern and Georgia State (18-12, 11-8) can finish no higher than the No. 3 seed and no lower than the No. 5 seed as both teams have secured the right to host their respective first Sun Belt Tournament game.  
 
• Appalachian State (16-14, 10-9) has clinched the right to host its first game, whether it is a first-round or second-round game. The Mountaineers can finish as the No. 6 or 7 seed based on their result at ULM (9-19, 5-14) and the outcome of UTA (13-17, 9-10) at Troy (9-21, 5-14).

• UTA is in a similar position, earned the right to host but could be as high as the No. 6 seed. The Mavericks hold the tiebreaker over Appalachian State but could fall to as low as the No. 8 seed with a loss.
 
• Coastal Carolina (15-15, 8-11) is sandwiched between one game behind UTA and one game ahead of Arkansas State and Louisiana. This cause for several scenarios involving the Chanticleers finishing as high as the No. 7 seed and as low as the No. 10 seed.

• Arkansas State holds the tiebreaker over Louisiana if the two teams are tied, but Louisiana has the advantage if the two teams end up  in a three-way tie with Coastal Carolina. The Ragin' Cajuns need to grab the win against the Chanticleers and hope for a Red Wolves' loss to move to as high at the No. 8 seed and host a first-round game.

• The bracket for the 2020 Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship will be unveiled Tuesday night.
 
• The final Sun Belt Player of the Week will be announced on Wednesday, March 4.
 
• The 2019-20 Sun Belt postseason awards, including All-Sun Belt Teams, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year, will be announced on Thursday, March 5.
 
• The 2020 Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship is set to feature a 10-team bracket with first-round games on Saturday, March 7, second-round games on Monday, March 9 and quarterfinal games on Wednesday, March 11 hosted by the higher seeds on campus sites. The four men's teams that advance from the quarterfinals will then converge on New Orleans and the Smoothie King Center, home of the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans, for semifinals games on Saturday, March 14 and championship game on Sunday, March 15. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds receive byes directly to the semifinals. First-round, second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games are set for live coverage on ESPN+. The championship game is set for Sunday, March 15 at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 3
*Little Rock at Georgia State (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
*Arkansas State at Georgia Southern (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
*UTA at Troy (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
*Appalachian State at ULM (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
*Coastal Carolina at Louisiana (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
*Texas State at South Alabama (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
 
*Sun Belt Conference contest
All Times are central and Subject to Change