It’s a new year and the weather is getting colder, in the college basketball world that means teams are entering the conference portion of their schedules and each begins the fight for a chance to play in the NCAA tournament in March.
The Sun Belt Conference is no different as each team is in the beginning of what coaches and players say is the most important part of the season.
By the time this hits the news stands on Sunday, each team has played three or four SBC games.
Note: All of the stats are currently as of Friday. Yesterday’s games are not included.
With it being so early in the conference schedule, it is a jumbled mess in the standings.
Currently, the Blue Raiders hold the top spot in the Eastern Division, while the defending SBC tournament champion, University of Arkansas-Little Rock, leads the West.
Most SBC teams are trying to recover from poor records during the non-conference portion of the schedule. In fairness, some of those same teams played the nation’s top squads.
In the East, the Blue Raiders are on a five-game winning streak and are 3-0 in conference play with their latest win over Troy on Thursday, with a game against Louisiana-Lafayette on the schedule Saturday.
Florida International and Western Kentucky are at .500 as of Thursday, but each team already has 10 losses on the season thanks to a tough non-conference schedule, which included the Hilltoppers losing by only 10 to then No. 4 ranked Louisville on Dec. 23.
Becase of Western’s less than stellar season, the university fired head coach Ken McDonald on Friday morning and named assistant coach Ray Harper as interim head coach.
Defending East Division champion, Florida Atlantic, along with South Alabama and Troy are currently winless in conference play.
In the West, Denver currently has the best overall record, with an 11-3 mark, but the Pioneers are 1-1 in conference action, which puts them fourth in the standings.
Denver is in the middle of its final season in the SBC. It will move to the Western Athletic Conference this summer.
As for the three teams ahead of them, Arkansas-Little Rock has a 2-0 mark and it is looking for its second consecutive SBC tournament championship and another trip to the NCAA tournament in March. The other two are Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette; each is 1-0 in the conference.
North Texas was 1.5 seconds away from beating Arkansas-Little Rock in the 2011 SBC tournament finals, but lost 64-63 on a three-pointer.
This season, the Mean Green is looking for its sixth consecutive 20-win campaign with one of the tallest teams in the conference with the height averaging six feet, five and half inches.
Currently, University of North Texas is 1-1 in the conference.
Louisiana-Monroe brings up the rear of the West, with a 0-2 mark in conference and 1-14 overall. However, the Warhawks have lost both close SBC games by an average of 3.5 points.
Before the season started, MTSU head coach Kermit Davis said the SBC will be “balanced” as usual come January.
As of right now, it is too early to tell who will be the front runners when each of the 12 teams gather in Hot Springs, Ark., in March for the SBC Tournament. But, the Blue Raiders will likely be toward the top. |
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