NEW ORLEANS – All 14 teams are in action on the final evening of the 2025-26 Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball regular season on Friday, February 27 with seven teams in contention for at least a share of the league’s regular season championship.
 
All seven games will be available on ESPN+, as the final game of the night spotlights Georgia Southern (15-15, 7-10 SBC) at Marshall (19-11 11-6 SBC) on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
TITLE HUNT: Seven teams are in position with a chance to claim at least a share of the Sun Belt’s regular season crown. South Alabama (21-9, 11-6 SBC), Marshall and Troy (19-11, 11-6 SBC) and App State (19-11, 11-6 SBC) can each claim at least a share of the title with respective victories, while Texas State (18-12, 10-7 SBC), Arkansas State (19-11, 10-7 SBC) and Coastal Carolina (18-12, 10-7 SBC) can also claim shares of the regular season championship with wins in their games and losses by all four teams tied for first place. Texas State hosts App State in San Marcos with a chance to make a direct impact on seeding in next week’s conference tournament.
 
For South Alabama and Troy, victories would guarantee both programs a share of the title for the second year in a row after sharing the crown in a four-way tie with James Madison and Arkansas State in 2024-25. An App State win would mark the second regular season crown in three seasons for the Mountaineers after claiming the title outright in 2023-24. Since joining the Sun Belt four years ago, Marshall’s highest finish was a tie for second place during the 2022-23 campaign and a victory Friday evening would give the Thundering Herd a share of the regular season conference championship for the first time since 1996-97 as members of the Southern Conference.
 
SCORING TITLE SHOWDOWN: South Alabama senior guard Chaze Harris and Southern Miss (15-15, 8-9 SBC) junior forward Tylik Weeks enter the final game of the regular season tied for the Sun Belt scoring title averaging 18.8 points per game, respectively, and will face off against one another when the Golden Eagles meet the Jaguars in Mobile, Ala. Weeks has scored 546 points in 29 games, while Harris has 564 points in 30 appearances this season. In conference play, both standouts have played all 17 games to date, while Harris is averaging 21.9 points per contest over Weeks’ 20.1 points per game. In the last meeting on Feb. 12 in Hattiesburg, Miss., Harris scored 26 points and Weeks had 25 of his own.
 
DUKES ON THE DRIVE: James Madison (17-13, 9-8 SBC) owns the Sun Belt’s longest active winning streak at six in a row - including five-straight wins in conference play - and close the regular season in search of a regular-season series sweep of Coastal Carolina (18-12, 10-7 SBC). During the winning streak, fifth-year guard Cliff Davis has emerged as one of the league’s premier scoring threats at the tune of 21.3 points per game while registering four games with at least 22 points during the span, including three-straight outings.
 
20-WIN CLUB: The Sun Belt has had at least four teams reach the 20-win benchmark in four-consecutive seasons. South Alabama became the first Sun Belt team to reach 20 wins this year, while Troy needs just one more victory to extend its league-leading streak to five-straight seasons reaching the benchmark. Arkansas State can notch its third consecutive 20-win campaign with one more win, and Marshall needs just one victory to accomplish the feat for the second year in a row. James Madison needs three more wins to record its fourth-straight season with at least 20.
 
PARTY IN PENSACOLA: The 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve will be held March 3-9, 2026 at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla., The championship game will be televised nationally on ESPN or ESPN2 on Monday, March 9 at 6 p.m. (CT). The 2026 tournament will mark the sixth consecutive season the Sun Belt hosts the event in Pensacola, which will remain at the venue through the 2029-30 campaign. A different program has been crowned champion in each of the first five years in Pensacola: Troy (2025), James Madison (2024), Louisiana (2023), Georgia State (2022) and App State (2021).

IMPACT PLAYERS – Sun Belt Statistical Leaders
Points Per Game: Chaze Harris, South Alabama (18.8)
Rebounds Per Game: Thomas Dowd, Troy (10.1)
Assists Per Game: Jalen Speer, Marshall (5.5)
Blocks Per Game: Matt Van Komen, Marshall (2.6)
Steals Per Game: Kaden Gumbs, Texas State (2.0)
Field Goal Percentage: Chaze Harris, South Alabama (.553)
3-Point Field Goal Percentage: Jordan Battle, Old Dominion (.409)
Free Throw Percentage: Jelani Hamilton, Georgia State (.890)

 WHERE TO WATCH
 

Date	Time	Matchup	ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27	6:00 p.m.	ULM at Troy	ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27	6:30 p.m.	Old Dominion at Georgia State	ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27	7:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at James Madison	ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27	7:00 p.m.	App State at Texas State	ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27	7:30 p.m.	Southern Miss at South Alabama	ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27	7:30 p.m.	Louisiana at Arkansas State	ESPN+
Friday, Feb. 27	8:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern at Marshall	ESPN2