NEW ORLEANS – Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer passes the midpoint of its league slate as all 10 programs play their fifth of nine total Sun Belt matches this weekend. No. 24 West Virginia hosts Kentucky on Friday night to leads things off before the remaining eight teams meet over four matches on Saturday. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
REACHING THE MIDPOINT
Sun Belt programs are through four weeks of conference play and have each played four of their nine total conference matches. The fifth match of league play is the last of single-match weeks of conference play as the final four games of Sun Belt action will take place over two weeks. James Madison, the preseason No. 8 pick in the Sun Belt Coaches' Poll, currently sits atop the league standings with a 3-0-1 Sun Belt record and 10 conference points. No. 6 South Carolina and (RV) Georgia Southern both sit within striking distance each with eight points and 2-0-2 SBC ledger. A trio of teams stand in the middle with five points apiece with No. 24 West Virginia, Marshall and Coastal Carolina all tied at 1-1-2. UCF and Kentucky round out the top eight and the postseason tournament field if the season ended today with four points and a 1-2-1 record. Kentucky heads to No. 24 West Virginia on Friday night while the remaining eight programs all take the pitch on Saturday. (RV) Georgia Southern and James Madison face off in a match that could shake up the standings while Marshall and Coastal Carolina face off in an attempt to break the five-point tie. (RV) Old Dominion will look to jump back into the top eight in a visit to UCF while No. 6 South Carolina hosts Georgia State.
 
POWER-UP PICKSLEY
Georgia Southern's fourth year forward Mitch Picksley picked up his first career weekly honor after leading the Sun Belt last week with three goals and six total points. He helped the (RV) Eagles to two impressive ties with a 2-2 decision at No. 5 Clemson (Oct. 6) and a 2-2 decision at Marshall (Oct. 9). He carried Georgia Southern with his first career brace at nationally-ranked Clemson on just three shots and two on goal. He posted his third goal of the week at Marshall as a key contributor to the Eagles' undefeated week of play. The Leeds, England, native now has 13 total points on the year - fourth-most in the Sun Belt - with six goals and one assist this season. Twelve of his 25 shots have been on goal so far and he has started in all 11 matches.
 
FRAISER'S FINEST
James Madison's senior defender Brock Frasier helped his Dukes to an undefeated week and two clean sheets for the Duke defense. James Madison picked up victories over Mary Baldwin, 6-0, and Georgia State, 1-0, for a combined 7-0 scoring week. His contributions from the backline limited the Georgia State offense to just five shots in the contest and only two on goal. Frasier has helped James Madison to a league-best 0.25 goals allowed per game. With Frasier on the field, the Dukes have posted six shutouts in 2026. Frasier leads the Dukes with 1,017 minutes played and 84.8 minutes per match.
 
POLL PARTY
Four Sun Belt Conference programs were listed in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll. South Carolina and West Virginia both stay checked inside the top 25, marking the ninth-straight week this season with a Sun Belt program ranked 25th or better. The No. 6 Gamecocks have now been ranked in the top 25 for seven weeks and the No. 24 Mountaineers for four. Old Dominion and Georgia Southern are tied with one another in the receiving votes portion of the poll, each with two votes. The Sun Belt has four teams repped on the poll for the fifth time this season and now has had at least three teams represented in eight out of nine total polls.
 
THE BEST IS IN THE BELT
The Sun Belt is well-represented among the NCAA statistical top 10s this season across multiple categories. Georgia State owns the sixth-most saves per game with 5.85 and the ninth-best save percentage with a .835 mark. Georgia Southern's .513 shot accuracy is the eighth-best mark in the country. James Madison moves into the top 10 in shutout percentage with a .500 mark, ranking ninth. Old Dominion ranks second in shot accuracy (.533), fourth in total goals (35), fifth in scoring offense (2.92), sixth in points per game (8.08), eighth with 97 total points and 10th in shots-on-goal per game (7.33). South Carolina's .833 W-L-T percentage is seventh nationally. UCF is fifth in DI with a .545 shutout percentage. West Virginia's 7.45 corner kicks per game is sixth. Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion, South Carolina, UCF and West Virginia are all tied with a perfect 1.000 penalty kick success rate.
 
RPI SUPERSTARS
Seven Sun Belt teams are inside the top 100 of the NCAA Division I RPI. South Carolina (3rd), Georgia Southern (24th), Old Dominion (25th), West Virginia (32nd), Marshall (46th), James Madison (62nd) and UCF (79th) are in the top 100. Coastal Carolina sits just outside the top 100 at No. 101 with Kentucky (123rd) and Georgia State (132nd) rounding out the 10-program group. The Sun Belt is third in conference RPI ratings and is one of five conferences with at least seven teams in the top 100 joining the ACC (15), Big Ten (11), Big East (8) and CAA (7).
 
NATIONAL NOTICE
West Virginia forward Pablo Pozos is in the national spotlight after earning a spot on the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List earlier this year. He also notched in on the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch listing and was ranked 53rd in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Preseason Top 100. UCF’s Takahiro Fujita also made the United Soccer Coaches listing and ranked 50th in TDS’s Top 100.
 
MIDSEASON MARVELS
Three Sun Belt Men’s Soccer athletes earned a spot on the Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List as announced by the Herman Trophy Midseason Watch List Committee and the United Soccer Coaches. South Carolina’s Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez, West Virginia’s Pablo Pozos and Old Dominion’s Lewis Rourke represent the trio of Sun Belt players named to the coveted list. As noted before, Pozos was a preseason selection on the same list while Velazquez Lopez and Rourke are on the 30-man listing for the first time this season. Fifteen members of the midseason watch list will be selected as semifinalists on Dec. 4 to be voted on by NCAA Division I head coaches. From there, three players will be named finalists with the 2026 recipient named on Jan. 8, 2027, at the Missouri Athletic Club in Saint Louis, Missouri.
 
TITLE DEFENSES
Reigning Sun Belt regular season champion Kentucky is looking to turn things around after a 1-7-3 start to 2026. 2025 Sun Belt Tournament Champion UCF look to continue building on their 2025 momentum and 5-3-3 start to 2026. Historically, repeat conference champions are hard to come by as four different teams have hoisted the Sun Belt Championship Trophy since 2022. They are: Kentucky in 2022, Marshall in 2023, West Virginia in 2024, and UCF in 2025
 

Date	Time (CT)	Matchup	Coverage
Friday, Oct. 16	6 p.m.	Kentucky at No. 24 West Virginia	ESPN+ | Stats
Saturday, Oct. 17	5 p.m.	Marshall at Coastal Carolina	ESPN+ | Stats
Saturday, Oct. 17	6 p.m.	No. 6 South Carolina at Georgia State	ESPN+ | Stats
Saturday, Oct. 17	6 p.m.	(RV) Old Dominion at UCF	ESPN+ | Stats
Saturday, Oct. 17	6 p.m.	James Madison at (RV) Georgia Southern	ESPN+ | Stats